Open Thread

The Christian Post reports: Eight former gays and lesbians who are residents of California have released a video resisting pending state legislation banning therapy for individuals with unwanted same-sex attraction, arguing their state government considers them frauds. The video, which was published Saturday by Church United on the video sharing site Vimeo, features eight men and women who once lived …

Courthouse News reports: Nearly seven months after his criminal indictment, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has yet to gather the $10 million in assets needed to ease his house arrest. But that could soon change. On Friday U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered prosecutors to say by May 25 whether a property in Renton, Washington can be posted …

Billboard Magazine reports: Elton John performed for guests at newlyweds Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding reception on Saturday (May 19). The singer was among 600 people invited to the marriage ceremony at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. He sported a bold pair of pink spectacles as he arrived with husband David Furnish. The palace did not disclose which …

As tonight’s starter topic, consider the below video from Vox, which explains how the “orchestra hit” so popular in pop music production got its start over a century ago in Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird and became common in the 80s with the advent of the Fairlight CMI synthesizer. As you’ll see, that one digital sample has appeared in countless familiar hit …

So this happened today: The so-called “deportation bus” that a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Georgia is taking across the state broke down on Thursday, after water got into the fuel tank. Georgia state Sen. Michael Williams’s bus was sidelined on Interstate 75 in Calhoun, Ga. Seth Weathers, a spokesman for Williams’s campaign, said that “a closer watch will be kept …

Variety reports: Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine is developing its first feature-length documentary about tennis legend Martina Navratilova in partnership with Glenn Greenwald and Suzanne Gilbert. The documentary will explore Navratilova’s achievements as a social justice pioneer told through Greenwald’s personal lens as a gay child growing up in Reagan-era Florida. The documentary will examine Navratilova’s impact on him as his …

Two-time Tony winner Nathan Lane has some tips for attending the awards show, where this year he’s nominated for playing Roy Cohn in Angels In America. “I love the Tony Awards. They’re just like the Oscars if the Oscars had a fabulous Queer Eye makeover. I look forward to the afterparty where I get to explain who Roy Cohn was …

Playbill reports: As part of his press tour for Deadpool 2, Hollywood heartthrob Ryan Reynolds appeared on the South Korean TV show King of Masked Singer May 13th. The show features celebrities singing while disguised, and is one of the country’s most popular programs. Reynolds, dressed as a masked unicorn, chose to sing “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie. Reynolds marks …

Billboard Magazine reports: On the May 12 episode of Saturday Night Live, the NBC sketch comedy show parodied the Hulu dystopian drama The Handmaid’s Tale, but this time reimagined it as a spinoff of Sex and the City. In the spoof, called Handmaids in the City, SNL host Amy Schumer is joined by her fellow maids around the cafeteria table, …

The New York Post reports: It’s no secret that UPS is keenly interested in upgrading its fleet of trucks to more environmentally friendly models. As a quick example, UPS just a few months ago agreed to purchase 125 Tesla Semi trucks, the largest order Tesla has fielded since pre-orders opened up. Taking things a step further, on Friday UPS announced …

Reuters reports: Losses more than doubled at the US Postal Service in the first three months of the year to $1.3 billion. But that’s not Amazon’s fault. President Donald Trump has frequently complained that Amazon (AMZN) takes advantage of the post office, which has a contract to help deliver many of the online shopping giant’s packages. Last month he created …

Billboard Magazine reports: Kylie Minogue captures her 14th No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart, as “Dancing” rises 2-1 (on the list dated May 12). The Australian icon ties Dave Aude, Lady Gaga, Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull for 10th place on the list of acts with the most leaders in the chart’s nearly 42-year history; Madonna reigns with 46 …

Live Science reports: A backhoe approaches a pine tree at the height of allergy season. It takes only a single nudge — boop! — and a massive cloud of yellow dust oozes from the branches like a toxic fog. But that’s no fog. As anyone who has to park their car under a tree in springtime will tell you, this …

The Washington Post reports: Polls closed Tuesday night in four states as Republicans, eager to claim Democratic Senate seats in states won by President Trump, closely watched races in Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia, as well as North Carolina. Battling anti-establishment fervor that threatened their position ahead of November’s midterm elections, GOP leaders were on edge about the race in …

Billboard Magazine reports: Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears has found a successful career as an out musician — his band achieved a cult fanbase within the LGBTQ community, and Shears himself has been working on his debut solo album, along with his headline-making stint as Charlie Price in the Broadway musical Kinky Boots earlier this year. On Sunday, Shears sat …

Courthouse News reports: Fighting to suppress evidence obtained with a search warrant, former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort argued in a court filing Saturday that the FBI entered his Virginia storage unit a day before the search with improper authorization. Manafort’s arguments comes in response to an April 23 brief by the government where it said an employee of a …

200K+ views in one day. Playbill reports: As the musical adaptation of Moulin Rouge! approaches its world premiere, get a first listen to the love story’s signature tune, “Come What May,” as performed by Aaron Tveit in the music video below. The video, directed by Ezra Hurwitz, features Tveit in a theatre—filled with raining score pages and flower petals—as he …

Via Playbill: The Boys in the Band, Mart Crowley’s groundbreaking 1968 play, on Broadway for the first time, began previews at the Booth Theatre this week. Tony winner Joe Mantello directs a cast that includes Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, and Matt Bomer. The limited engagement, produced by Ryan Murphy and David Stone, will open May 31 and is …

From the Hollywood Reporter: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has expelled Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski from its membership, the organization said Thursday. The Academy’s board of governors, following its new procedure for enforcing a Standards of Conduct that it adopted in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, voted to expel the comedian and the director …

Theater Mania reports: Jake Gyllenhaal is set to produce and star as Leonard Bernstein in the upcoming biopic The American. Cary Joji Fukunaga (True Detective) will direct the film, with screenwriter Michael Mitnick adapting Humphrey Burton’s biography Leonard Bernstein. The film will reportedly be structured in five moments and follow Bernstein’s life from age 25, when he first conducted the …