June 3, 2012
It Doesn't Get Any Gayer: June 18 1,000 Judy Garlands Benefits Ali Forney Center
Steve Weinstein READ TIME: 2 MIN.
With the "Night of 1,000 Stevies" behind us, and (so far at least) no "NIght of 1,000 Barbras," "Night of 1,000 Madonnas," or "Night 1,000 Gagas," New Yorkers can anticipate the truly gayest gay icon of them all.
No, it's not "Night of 1,000 Lizas." Actually better: It's Liza's mom, Judy Garland. Yes, the MGM superstar who was born in a trunk, went over the rainbow, being washed up, coming back, being washed up, rinse, repeat, and who finally could "drink enough to sink all of Fire Island" (a line from her last film, for real).
The second annual "Night of 1,000 Judys" will take place Monday, June 18, at Playwrights Horizon, just west of Ninth Avenue on Theatre Row (42nd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues). Best of all, by attending, you'll be helping one of the very best charities around, the Ali Forney Center.
This pioneering group was the first to target homeless LGBT teens and provide shelter specifically for them. With the group facing cutbacks by the city, your money will literally be the difference between a night on the street and a night in a shelter for youth who have been thrown out of their homes because they were gay or transgendered.
The night includes an array of Broadway and cabaret talent that is one of the best lineups I've ever seen for an event like this, including Tonya Pinkins (Tony, "Jelly's Last Jam"), Ashley Brown (the original "Mary Poppins"), Andrea McArdle (Tony, "Annie"), Nellie McKay ("Three Peny Opera") and Molly Pope, a really terrific singer. That's only a partial list.
This is a special edition of "The Meeting," a regularly variety show Sayre puts on that is an underground meeting of the group that actually determines the Homosexual Agenda. Think "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," but with better haircuts. You can visit the website "InternationalOrderOfSodomites.com" to determine where we will next strike. (How about infiltrating NASCAR and the National Rifle Association?)
Tickets begin at only $25. Go to Ali Forney's website for more information.
Steve Weinstein has been a regular correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, the Advocate, the Village Voice and Out. He has been covering the AIDS crisis since the early '80s, when he began his career. He is the author of "The Q Guide to Fire Island" (Alyson, 2007).
