Every week, The GLAAD Wrap brings you LGBT-related entertainment news highlights, fresh stuff to watch out for, and fun diversions to help you kick off the weekend.
1) The hit web series Husbands will premiere its second season at a special advanced screening event at Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills on August 13 with the episode being uploaded to YouTube for its official premiere on August 15. The series follows athlete Brad Kelly and actor Cheeks after they find themselves unexpectedly but legally wed and the couple decides to give the marriage a chance. This season will see some format changes with three episodes of eight minutes each rather than several shorter episodes, and a bevy of celebrity guest stars including director Joss Whedon who makes an appearance in the season premiere. Watch the pilot episode below.
2) Earlier this week, the cast of RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race was announced and Entertainment Weekly now has the exclusive on this season’s guest judges viewers can look forward to. The judges will include some familiar faces as well as Drag Race virgins: Kelly Osbourne, Rosie Perez, Ross Matthews, Rachel Hunter, Vickie Lawrence, Busy Phillips, Rachel Dratch, Janice Dickinson, Wendy McClendon-Covey, Elvira, Beth Ditto and Cheri Oteri.
3) Ryan Murphy continued digging into the Glee vault this week and released several deleted scenes via Twitter. Among them was the much hoped for scene with Santana herself coming out to the Cheerios that was cut from the “I Kissed a Girl” episode this past fall. Murphy’s other released scenes, including the Dalton Warblers lead singer Sebastian flirting with Blaine through the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back,” Rachel’s yearbook message to Kurt and more, can all be seen at his YouTube channel. Check out Santana’s coming out scene below.
4) Number one New York Times bestselling author Chris Colfer plans to follow his book The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell with his first young-adult novel, Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal. The new novel hits bookstores on November 20 and will be a book adaptation of the film of the same name written by and starring Colfer which will be released by Tribeca Film later this year. Struck by Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal is now available for pre-order at Barnes and Noble. Watch the Struck by Lightning film trailer below.
5) Tony-winning actress Julie White will be playing a lesbian lawyer whose partner just passed away in the new NBC fall comedy Go On. Lead character Ryan King (Matthew Perry) is forced to join group therapy when grief over his wife’s death interferes with his work. White’s character Ann is part of the same group as she tries to work through her own grief and anger while still raising her and Patty’s children. "Not that I want to make anything a teaching moment," White said in an interview with AfterEllen, "but it's always good when America sees a family that's gay, lesbian or transgender. She's a good mirror for Matthew's character — somebody who says 'We're not buying that line of bullsh*t that you're putting down.” You can watch the pilot now at NBC.
6) GLAAD Media Award nominated all-girl band Girl in a Coma just release a video for “One Eye Fool” off their album Exits & All The Rest.
7) Rufus Wainwright stars in an upcoming episode of PBS’ Live from the Artists Den stripped down concert and interview series. He opened the show at Manhattan’s Church of the Ascension with “Candles” from his acclaimed new album Out of the Game and ran through an emotional 22-song set, including a tribute to his late mother Kate McGarrigle with a cover of her song “On My Way to Town,” and closing with another Out of the Game track, “Bitter Tears.” Watch his performance of “Candles” below.
8) Allegiance, a new American musical, premieres at The Old Globe in San Diego with preview nights beginning September 7 and opening night on September 19. The musical stars George Takei as Sam Kimura, Lea Salonga (singing voice of Mulan, Jasmine) as Kei Kimura and Telly Leung (Glee) as Sam Kimura. Allegiance tells the story of the Kimura family in the years following Pearl Harbor as they are relocated from their family home in California to the Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming. Tickets are available now.
9) Dance Like No One’s Watching is a new documentary that explores the culture of competitive country and western dancing within the LGBT community. The film primarily focuses on contestants and fans at The International Association of Gay/Lesbian Country Western Dance Clubs annual International Dance Competition that took place in Austin, Texas. Interviewees talk about how important it is to have an organization dedicated to this subculture because same-sex couples are not allowed to compete in many country/western dance competitions and how for many of the dancers involved, this event is the only time they are able to live freely and be out and accepted. Filmmaker Jenn Garrison is hoping for funding help to cover the cost of post-production and distribution to the festival circuit. Read more at the film’s Kickstarter page and check out the trailer below.