OUTscene: (PRE-view) Fashion, at 240 mph. Brace Yourself for This Saturday!

The 4th Annual Forbidden Fashion Show kicks off this year with a James Bond themed event titled “Live Another Night” on Saturday, May 21st at the Seattle Art Museum. From sexy lingerie via France, UK and Italy to bikinis from local swimwear designers, this show goes undercover exposing designs not normally featured on a runway. The show will also feature men’s underwear and swimwear from well known designers such as Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Diesel as well as international favorites Australian AussieBum and French Les Garcons.


Producer and director Eduardo Khawam has planned many surprise elements to this year’s must see event. “We like to give our audiences a little peek at what is fashionable underneath for both men and women”, said Khawam. “It’s sexy, beautiful and a little bit titillating – that’s why I call it forbidden fashion.”

OUTscene: (PRE-view) DIFFA and Dot429 to Join Forces with Queer Eye's Thom Filicia for an Event to remember!

dot429 and W Seattle invite you and guests to join us for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.

Hosted by special guest Thom Filicia and benefiting DIFFA, Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS.

Mandatory RSVP: https://dot429.com/events/seattle-diffa-event/

$30 admission includes donation to DIFFA

OUTscene: (PRE-view): MK to make appearance in Beaverton this weekend!

MK Scott heads to his hometown of Beaverton, OR this weekend to attend the opening of the Historical Quilt Exhibit "Historical Quilts of the Beaverton Community: 1850-1950," with a special speaker and giveaways on Saturday, May 7.

The free event will run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the center, 12412 S.W. Broadway. A total of 100 free 9-patch quilt kits will be given away to attendees.

Mary Bywater Cross, author of "Treasures in the Trunk: Quilts of the Oregon Trail," will be the featured speaker. Her presentation starts at 2 p.m.

The display will include quilts from the Washington County Museum, and will also feature a legacy quilt honoring the late Beaverton High School drama teacher James N. Erickson, Borrowed from MK Scott.

Brooks Ashmanskas
(Barnum, 1985)

As MK has mentioned before Erickson was mentor to such notables as Journalists (MK), Broadway stars (Brooks Ashmanskas, Shoshana Bean), Gay Icon (Jesse Archer), and recording artists (Stephanie Schneiderman, Michael Hermann of Buoy LaRue and Oracle).

MK is honored to be in the group of people who we owe so much to. If you are in the area come see some photos of these future stars.

The exhibit runs May 7-31. For more details call 503-895-3233 or log on at http://www.historicbeaverton.org./

OUTscene: (PRE-view) Stevie and Rod Play Key this Saturday!

(SEATTLE, WA) ROD STEWART and STEVIE NICKS are joing forces and coming to the Key arena in Seattle this Saturday, April 23th to their highly anticipated THE HEART & SOUL TOUR. The tour will unite two of music’s most legendary forces beginning March 20th in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a series of arena concerts which Billboard Magazine has just ranked #16 on their list of “2011’s Top 40 Best Bets.” THE HEART & SOUL TOUR will treat audiences to a once-in-a-lifetime concert experience featuring both artists performing rock & roll sets from their incomparable catalogs of hits and backed by an incredible band of musicians and stage production.

OUTscene: A Seattlite in a Norwegian reality TV show? Ja, sure, you betcha!



Courtesy of TVNorge.no
Doug Miner (far right) and his fellow contestants on the Alt for Norge reality TV show.

 Doug Miner is one of many Norwegian-Americans living in Seattle but he knew very little about his heritage until he was cast in a reality TV program.


“I literally knew lefse, Oslo and uff-da before I went on this show,” Miner said. “It was a history lesson, sight-seeing tour, competition and meeting family all in one trip.”

Miner was one of 10 contestants on “Alt for Norge”, a Norwegian reality TV show which casted Norwegian-Americans from all over the U.S. to compete in various activities throughout Norway. The winner received $50,000 and a chance to visit with family.

“The show is similar to ‘The Amazing Race' in the fact that we traveled every week and did locally traditional challenges,” explained Miner. “We just never left Norway.”

OUTscene: (PDX PRE-view) Scandals Kicks Off Anniversary Celebration Thursday

The word “institution” is defined as “something or someone firmly associated with a place or thing,” a significant organization in a society or culture. Scandals—also lovingly referred to as Portland’s gay Cheers—certainly meets the criteria. It’s been around for a great while, was groundbreaking, and caused quite a scandal when it moved to its second location (now Kenny & Zuke’s), becoming the first gay bar in Portland with sidewalls consisting of large, see-through windows. Keep in mind this was back when most queer watering holes were covered up and dimly lit speakeasies, Details from Just Out..

Three decades and another move later, Scandals remains a trailblazer. In an age when most gay bars rely on DJs to provide canned dance tunes, Scandals is introducing a series of live music acts every Thursday throughout the summer in honor of its 32nd anniversary—christened, fittingly enough, Thursday Night Live!

OUTscene: (PRE-view) 5th Avenue Theatre Welcomes Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5: The Musical Playing April 5-24, 2011

PRESS RELEASE:

9 to 5: The Musical arrives at The 5th Avenue Theatre, just in time to brighten the final grey days of spring. Based on the wildly popular 1980s film of the same name, this outrageously funny Broadway delight features the original movie’s blockbuster title tune, plus more than a dozen new songs by the queen of country music, iconic songwriter, movie star, and entrepreneur -- Dolly Parton! Parton’s Tony Award-nominated score mixes her signature witty lyrics with infectious Broadway, pop and country-inspired melodies. 9 to 5: The Musical plays for three weeks only -- April 5th through the 24th -- at the historic 5th Avenue Theatre in downtown Seattle.

Set in the male-dominated, me-first world of 1980s office politics, 9 To 5: The Musical is a light-hearted story of friendship and revenge. It’s all about teaming up, getting even, and taking care of business as three overworked and harassed secretaries turn the tables on their chauvinistic-sexist-egotistical-lying-hypocritical-bigot of a boss with side-splitting and satisfying results.

OUTscene America: (PRE-view) Sons of God Photography Show at SF LGBT Community Center!

The San Francisco LGBT Community Center and Queer Cultural Center presents "Sons of God", photography of the male nude by local photographer Tom Schmidt. With this work the photographer reclaims visual images from his strict Catholic upbringing (as the 11th of 12 children) and highlights the beauty and innocence of the nude male form!

Sons of God runs at the Center from April 12 through May 13.

Opening reception Thursday April 14 7-9 pm. All are welcome.

OUTscene: (PRE-view) Getting Ready for Palm Springs' Fabulous White Party!

By Collin Zidan Kwan
OUTscene Special

Join OUTscene as we descend upon the largest gay dance music festival in the world and mingle with men and women from around the globe at White Party Palm Springs. The 3-day long annual spectacular will take place on April 8-11, 2011 in the California desert and is the marquee event of the circuit party season.

Your OUTscene Team will be there as Swedish pop sensation Robyn headlines at the Palm Springs Convention Center on the main event stage. Also, direct from Las Vegas , select performers from Zumanity, The Sensual Side of Cirque Du Soleil, will appear live throughout the evening to dazzle and amaze us with their signature brand of cutting-edge entertainment.

OUTscene: (PRE-view) 'Tales of the City’ makes musical debut!



The team behind the brand-new musical
Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City:  (from left)
director Jason Moore, librettist Jeff Whitty
and composers Jake Shears and John Garden
of the band Scissor Sisters

 American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) has announced that Tony Award winner and A.C.T. favorite Judy Kaye (Mamma Mia!, Ragtime, Phantom of the Opera) will be taking on the iconic role of Anna Madrigal in the world premiere production of Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City.

Based on Armistead Maupin’s popular series of newspaper columns and novels, Tales of the City was adapted into an award-winning television production on PBS, but this will be the first time it has been put onstage. The already-extended world premiere production has been extended an additional week through July 10.

Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City plays May 18-July 10, 2011, at the American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Tickets are available by calling the A.C.T. Box Office at 415-749-2228 or at act-sf.org.

OUTscene: Gov. Kitzhaber to proclaim May 21 'Gay & Grey Day' in Oregon!

Gov. John Kitzhaber will officially proclaim May 21 as "Gay & Grey Day" in honor of a Northwest Portland program that caters to gay senior citizens, Reports the Oregonian.

Friendly House, a Northwest Portland nonprofit, is the coordinator of Gay & Grey, a program open to LGBTQI senior citizens and allies that offers regular social events, peer support groups and other resources.

Gay & Grey's largest event each year is the Gay & Grey PDX Expo, which will be held May 21, with two new pre-parties. It's a free event that offers free health consultations, gay-friendly senior service information, GLBTQI senior housing resources, breakout sessions, presentations, music and food.

OUTscene: (PRE-view) Hugh Jackman Coming to San Francisco to Sing Showtunes!

Undeniably straight [*cough* - site NSFW] and proud actor Hugh Jackman just can't shake the Broadway bug, and he'll be coming to San Francisco in May to do a one-man revue of sorts! Jackman appeared on Broadway in '03-'04 and won a Tony for his work playing Australian homosexual Peter Allen in "The Boy from Oz." Now, the Curran Theater is giving him the opportunity to "develop new work" in the form of a musical revue in which he'll be singing and dancing some of his favorite Broadway and Old Hollywood numbers, backed by a 17-piece orchestra. The show will run from May 3 to May 15, and tickets will go on sale to the general public on April 1.

Details at SFist.

Opening Scene of 'Grey's Anatomy' Musical Episode!

OUTscene: (PRE-view) Seattle Men’s Chorus are 'Falling in Love Again' at McCaw Hall April 2 & 3!

For the 2011 Seattle Men’s Chorus (SMC) Spring concert, Falling in Love Again, the Chorus takes on the ambitious task of examining two radically different periods in German history through song. Act I, titled Life is a Cabaret recreates Berlin’s free-wheeling pre-war Weimar period that ended with Hitler’s ascendency in 1933. Nick Garrison (5thAvenue Theatre, Cabaret) will join the Chorus with Wilkommen and Cabaret, among others. Spectrum Theater dancers help interpret this riveting chapter of gay history through dance. SMC’s delightful staging, costumes, and choral arrangements for beloved tunes like Mack the Knife, Love for Sale and Falling in Love Again will not disappoint.

OUTscene: What's Brewing at Seattle Children's Theater?

From the recent SCT producion of Go, Dog, Go!

By Miryam Gordon
OUTscene Special

Seattle Children’s Theatre has sent its dogs to their crates to rest, again, as their best-selling adaptation of  by Steven Dietz and Allison Gregory danced and sang itself into an extended run through popular demand.

Adapting the easy-reader into a song-and-dance extravaganza with primary colors and few words, just like the book, Go, Dog, Go!, the production appealed to the exact age of child that demands that a parent read the book over and over and over and over and over. These four to six year olds found the staging to be exactly what they expected, which is a great plus for picky children. If a play gets it wrong, the makers will hear from the families!

OUTscene: (PRE-view) Three Dollar Bill’s “Velvet Goldmine” Dinner and Auction, this Friday!

The only thing better than a Goldmine, is a Velvet lined Goldmine and Three Dollar Bill is GIVING us a “Velvet Goldmine” this Friday, March 25 with their 4th annual dinner/auction/fundraiser, previews Seattle Gay Scene. It’s being held at the lovely Sodo Park, 3200 1st Avenue South starting at 6pm and features delicious food from Herban Fest and the chance to bid on some amazingly decadent prizes including a 5 night vacation from Mead Brown Costa Rica Vacation Rentals, a private party at the ultra swank Grim’s Butterfly Lounge, or a 7-day Holland America cruise to Alaska or Mexico and much, much more.

To buy tickets, donate an item, or volunteer, visit the Three Dollar Bill website or call 206-323-4274.

OUTscene (PRE-view) Top 10 Most WTF Band Names at SXSW!

You'll be kicking up plenty of gravel waiting to see Cee Lo Green, Queens of the Stone Age and The Kills at this year's SXSW, March 15-20 in Austin, TX. Chances are, the lines will be much, much shorter for Go Back to the Zoo, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Amusement Parks on Fire or the dozens of other requisite oddly-named (as in arty farty, lost-in-the-American-translation or just plain silly) SXSW artists. It was a tough call -- the bands whose names include "gay" and "turtle" alone -- but we picked the top ten. Hey, don't get mad. We're not the ones calling ourselves Ham Sandwich.

10.  Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson Norwegian emo rockers who clearly think Carol Brady was the real rock star of the bunch, and not Johnny Bravo, aka Greg Brady.

9. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs One man (UK DJ Orlando Higginbottom), too many words.

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Detroit electro-pop band, led by Joshua Epstein and Daniel Zott, not sponsored by NASCAR.

7. Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers Pimpin' ain't easy for singer Ray and her N.Y. group, whose current album, Teenage and Torture, includes the single "Venus Shaver."

6. Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! Italian! Indie! Trio! Trio!

5. Spermbirds And it's filled with boot-in-your-face German hardcore.

4. Butts Totally ass-inine name for two Seattle punk chicks.

3. Uncle Bad Touch Folk/rock trio from Montreal with a lot of repressed childhood memories.

2. Nid & Sancy "The original Electropunk couple" of Belgium's Bart Demey and Tania Gallagher no doubt inspired by the original punk couple.

1. Gay for Johnny Depp Brooklyn metal/punk act whose current album, What Doesn't Kill You, Eventually Kills You, includes such songs as "Suckcess," "Nine Inch Males (Born to Hate)," and "Cum On Feel the Boize."

OUTscene: (PRE-view) The Dinah 2011 coming to Palm Springs, 3/30 to 4/3!

Last year's Big Draw: Ke$ha

The Dinah 2011 is around the corner! Do you have your tickets yet? Get them here!

My Pal, JD Disalvatore sent me this video Preview. ENJOY!

OUTscene: (PRE-view) Quake Rugby’s “Magnitude 15.11″ with VERY special guest, Ben Cohen is Coming!

Seattle Quake Rugby is hosting “Magnitude 15.11″ the big, annual North American Gay Rugby tournament that weekend with hordes of burly, masculine athletes with thighs of steel descending upon the Emerald City. Fans of Rugby, (and thighs of steel) are trembling in anticipation for the four day long event which begins Friday, May 27 with the opening reception followed by two days of intense scrums and the big wrap up on Monday, May 30.

But, the REALLY big news, is that rugby legend, international heart throb, and amazing LGBTQ ally Ben Cohen will be in Seattle for the tournament as part of his 2011 United States tour to help promote anti-homophobia in the sporting world in collaboration with GLSEN, (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) as well as promoting youth rubgy with the Washington State Youth Rugby Association.

Details at Seattle Gay Scene!

OUTscene: (PRE-view) Le Faux welcomes Drag Race star, Shangela on 4/8-9!

An Evening at Le Faux has entertained audiences for over four years at Julia’s on Broadway,
with an array of guest entertainers dropping by. We’re excited to announce our first guest
entertainer for the 2011 season, Shangela. Shangela was a cast member of RuPaul’s Drag Race season 2, and is currently on season 3.

Shangela has been a guest on several TV shows, including the FX series “Terriers” as well as the ABC drama “Detroit 187”. In 2010, Shangela brought on the laughter in Downelink.com’s “ONE NIGHT STAND UP!” on LOGO, and later that year performed to a sold-out crowd of more than 1500 in the Drag Queens of Comedy showcase alongside legends Lady Bunny, Jackie Beat and Coco Peru. On the big screen, she recently starred in the short film “Body of a Barbie”, which aired on BET and was recognized as a Top 7 National Finalist in its ‘Lens on Talent’ series.

Also In 2010, Shangela won the first ever California Entertainer of the Year Pageant at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. Later that year, she was awarded first-runner up at National EOY pageant in Louisville. Shangela has a great love for the stage, recently appearing in productions of La Cage Aux Faux (Knightsbridge Theatre), The Daddy Machine (Celebration Theatre), and This Is Me Being Free (Theatre Ashe!).