almost in love

Here is a website for a film I was in, written and directed by my friend Sam Neave.  It has just gone up and stuff will be added to it from now on.  I think it looks great.

Today I visited the Lower East Side Troll Museum. That's right.  I met the lovely Reverend Jen and her chihuahua, The Reverend Jen junior, and we shot a segment for the Itsasickness TV show.  It was a hoot.  You can call to make an appointment to visit at 212-560-7235.  It is really worth it, and as it is housed in a tiny sixth floor walk up apartment, you will also get buns of steel.

Here's a virtual tour...

I am craving

My friend Eddie works for Daily Front Row. He used to do the Chic Report films, and I used to see him on red carpets.  That was really funny.  Like one of your friends suddenly showing up in your workplace.  It used to make us both laugh and he would get all flustered when he had to ask me the questions because I was laughing so much.

 Anyway, he has asked me to do a column where I will impart my wisdom and general tips on how to have fun.

What is it you can't face?

On Sunday I went to the matinee of Divine Sister, the hilarous new play written by and starring one of my performance heroes, Charles Busch. It's at the Soho Playhouse in NYC and you'd be really dopey to miss it. Charles is witty, vulgar, so amazingly skilled and subtle and then a total old ham all rolled into one. Here I am camping it up after the performance with him and his co-star, the amazing Julie Halston.  You can buy tickets here. If you're not in NYC you might want to check out Charles' film Die, Mommie, Die!, his 60s Hollywood take on the Agamemnon story.

I also want to share my excitement about today being 1.11.11 and the date of my friend Lance Horne's album First Things Last. I sing Lance's song American on it, and I am joined by a range of others including Ricki Lake, Meow Meow and Cheyenne Jackson. You can buy it by clicking on the box on the right.

But also this Friday as part of the Lincoln center American Songbook we will all be singing songs from the album and more of Lance's songs at the Allen Room of the Lincoln Center. You can buy tickets here for the 8.30 show and here for the 10.30.

Then on January 30th we'll be doing the whole thing again in London at the Garrick Theatre.  Buy tickets here.

Finally on Monday February 7th, I will be performing in Broadway Backwards, the annual fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS at which men sing women's songs and women men's from Broadway shows. I cannot reveal which song I will be singing except to say it is a song from a show I have been in, though I did not sing it.  (and it's not Mein Herr). I will be joined by a bunch of loves including the brilliant Denis O'Hare and Clay Aiken. Buy tickets here

And on January 25th (Robert Burns night!!) I will be appearing on Live with Regis and Kelly

That's enough schilling

Happy New Year

Happy everything, everyone! I hope you had a great and fun holiday season. I had a ball, surrounded by friends and loved ones in the snow, eating and drinking and laughing.  I also read a fascinating book about Gertrude Stein.  What a pompous lady!

Today, Lindsay Lohan and I share a great deal: it is the first day of the rest of our lives.  And I am going to have a good old think and start writing and seeing what Alan wants to do this year.

In the meantime, here is a video I did for the Ali Forney Center which reminds us all that there are so many who are not having a good time at this or any other time of the year...

Snowed in

I just found this little interview which I did right after I had appeared on the Joy Behar show earlier this year.  I have to say that I really feel that the circumcision issue is being dicussed more these days, and people are questioning its merits (or lack of). I am very happy to report that last week I met up with an old friend whose son is genitally intact thanks to my exhortations!!

I am snowed in and I love it. I really like the sound of snow.  The way the quiet is magnified and numbed at the same time. Last night our house creaked and groaned and the wind howled outside.  My dog Honey was pressed up against me like one of those African babies who never loses contact with its mum.

The next few days are always interesting ones in that, in the lead up to the New Year, they are days which are usually pretty quiet and involving no work and so we are able to reflect and project about this year and the next.

Last year I made quite a few resolutions and kind of put out some things to the universe which, I must say, came to fruition.  So I am trusting in my power of being again and going to make a list over the next couple of days with what I would like and where I want to go on Planet Alan. 

My biggest thing is that I want to write this year.  Last year I started to blog every day and I thought that would help get me in front of the computer keyboard and also jump start my creative juices.  Well, it did and it didn't.  I sort of became more involved with the blog than I had intended and ultimately it got too much to deal with and so I slackened off my pace of posting and also stopped the Ask Alan part of the site in which people could contact me and ask me questions. I did enjoy the regularity of it, but sometimes when I was really busy it became more of a chore and a duty, and also there were several moments when the volume and content of the mail I was receiving became overwhelming and scary, sometimes both at the same time.

So for next year, I think I have learned my lesson. I will blog when I have something to say or share.  I will even tweet occasionally!! Yes, despite my worry that Twitter is the downfall of analysis I started to tweet last year on a day when I couldn't get online to do my blog and I wanted very badly to say something publicly about the spate of gay youth suicides.  And now I tweet about less important matters from time to time. But really the thing I will do every day is write.  Write my new book. Just write.

And now I am off to have a bath and watch a documentary about Noel Coward. How's that for procrastination?