What to watch
GuadaLAjara film festival
The L.A.-based Latin film festival FICG in L.A. celebrates its 10th year with a new name and virtual platform. Now called the GuadaLAjara Film Festival, the event runs from Dec. 17 to 19. This year’s festival focuses on amplifying diverse voices of Latin films that are fundamental to understanding one of the largest minority groups in the U.S. Premiering the festival’s opening night is La Gloria, directed by Mary Evangelista, which follows a queer lovelorn teen days after her attempted suicide. She finds herself connecting with her abuela through her dreams, and the connections she experiences in her sleep lead her to find solace.
The GuadaLAjara film festival will be available online from Dec. 17 to 19. Tickets and festival passes are available here.
Undertaking Christmas
Stellar, a streaming platform for live-performances, is presenting a campy holiday musical, Undertaking Christmas, on Dec. 18. The comedy musical pays homage to the Hallmark Channel holiday movie genre but centres a gay love story. The musical follows a party planner, Nick Holliday, who leaves New York City to return to his hometown of Sadness, Indiana, where Holliday struggles to save a family funeral home from going under right before Christmas.
Written and performed by composer Joel B. New, the musical is narrated by “Mrs. Claus,” played by Broadway’s Carolyn Mignini. Some of the original musical numbers include, “All I Want For Christmas Is a Boyfriend For My Dad,” and “Death and Taxes and Christmas and You.”
Undertaking Christmas will be available to stream exclusively through Stellar beginning Dec. 18 at 9 p.m. EST.
What to read
Drag Queens and Beauty Queens: Contesting Femininity in the World’s Playground by Laurie A. Greene
Laurie A. Greene, an associate professor at Stockton University and founder of the LGBTQ Youth Safe Space Initiative, is releasing her debut book Drag Queens and Beauty Queens: Contesting Femininity in the World’s Playground, on Dec. 18. The book takes a look at the history of drag culture and its impact on Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The popular Miss America pageants have been held in Atlantic City for almost a century, but so have the Miss’d America drag pageants just a few streets away. Drag Queens and Beauty Queens looks at how the Miss’d America pageant emerged in a gay neighourhood during the AIDS crisis and helped a community feel safe and united. It also explores how femininity is performed at pageants and analyzes how both Miss and Miss’d America had moments of embracing and critiquing traditional gender roles.
Drag Queens and Beauty Queens: Contesting Femininity in the World’s Playground by Laurie A. Greene will be available on Amazon in the U.S. and Canada on Dec. 18.
The Prophets by Robert James Jr.
New York City writer Robert James Jr. is releasing his debut novel, The Prophets, on Jan. 5, 2021. The author is the creator of the social justice media community, Son of Baldwin—an inclusive space that works toward dismantling structures of oppression.
The author’s debut follows a forbidden union between two enslaved young men, Isaiah and Samuel, on a plantation in the Deep South as they try to carve out a space where they can care for each other—all while as an evil system and treacherous characters work against them.
The Prophets by Robert James Jr. will be available on Amazon in the U.S. and Canada on Jan. 5 2021.
What to listen to
(At) Home for the Holidays
The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus is holding its 30th annual Home for the Holidays concert online this year, streaming Dec. 24. The notable group has grown since its first public performance at a vigil at City Hall following the assassinations of Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. Reflecting on the group’s 30 years, this year’s show centres on the theme of celebration and will feature new “show-stopping numbers” along with updated versions of longtime favourites. The concert will also feature celebrity guests, including Tony Award-winner Laura Benanti, RuPaul’s Drag Race icon Bianca Del Rio and India’s first openly gay royal figure Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil, among others.
(At) Home for the Holidays will take place on Dec. 24 at 5 p.m. PST. Tickets are available here. This event is available for San Francisco Bay Area residents only.
Live at the Lortel: An Off-Broadway Podcast
The second season of the podcast Live at the Lortel is now available online with new episodes released weekly. The off-Broadway podcast is hosted by American performer and celebrity acting coach Eric Ostrow, and co-hosted by actor John-Andrew Morrison and Panamanian-American actress Daphne Rubin-Vega. The second season of Live at the Lortel is focusing on the voices and stories of BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ community members, as well as artists who stand in solidarity with the fight against racial injustice.
The 13th episode of the season is set to release Dec. 18 and features New York-based actor Hubert Point-Du Jour. Among the podcast’s previous guests is filmmaker, educator and actress Pooya Mohseni, who shares her experiences as an Iranian trans woman and discusses trans representation in her films.
The Live at the Lortel podcast is available to stream on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the series’ website.
What to look at
It’s Not Over! art exhibition
The oldest active LGBTQ2S+ organization in the U.S., the ONE Archives Foundation, is holding a temporary outdoor art exhibit in West Hollywood running until Dec. 31 called: It’s Not Over! Posters and Graphics from Early AIDS Activism. The exhibit features a curated set of activist posters and images from the mid-1980s to late 1990s that showcase the longstanding fight for resources and respect for those living with HIV/AIDS.
The exhibit includes graphics from artist and activist Keith Haring, picket signs from historic protests in Los Angeles and New York, safer sex campaign posters and more. With tens of millions of people still living with HIV globally, the show’s curators point out that the conversation about HIV/AIDS is not over. If you can’t make it in-person, the exhibit is also being offered online via a photo gallery accompanied by detailed descriptions.
It’s Not Over! Posters and Graphics from Early AIDS Activism art exhibit will be available in-person and viewable online until Dec. 31.
Scott Shoemaker’s War on Christmas!
Seattle-based production company Shoes and Pants is presenting a holiday variety show, Scott Shoemaker’s War on Christmas!, streaming now until Jan. 4. Co-creator Scott Shoemaker stars alongside a cast of Seattle-based performers like Waxie Moon, Many Price, Fageddy Randy and more. Marking their third annual event, the holiday camp-stravaganza is packed with new comedy, songs and dance numbers, and features classic performances from previous years. With outrageous comedy, singing, dancing and partial nudity, this kooky variety show promises some holiday cheer this season.
Scott Shoemaker’s War on Christmas! is available to stream now until Jan. 4. Tickets are available here.
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