Rent on Fox
Fans of Rent or "Rent-heads" as they're known, are measuring this year so far waiting for Rent on Fox to drop at the end of January. The beloved 1995 musical Rent, with it's myriad queer characters and a storyline that focuses heavily on living with HIV/AIDS, stars out actress Kiersey Clemons (Hearts Beat Loud) as Joanne, Vanessa Hudgens as Maureen, Brandon Victor Dixon (Jesus Christ Superstar, Hamilton) as Tom Collins, RuPaul's Drag Race star Valentina as Angel, Brennin Hunt (Nashville) as Roger, Tinashe as Mimi, and Jordan Fisher as Mark. The Greatest Showman's Keala Settle will also appear.
The Rent Live musical event brings to life Jonathan Larson's timeless LGBTQ-themed musical on Jan. 27th on Fox.
Sundance Film Festival
Much ado has been made about Jake Gyllenhaal and his performance as Morf Vandewalt, a gay art critic, in Netflix's Velvet Buzzsaw. But if you're at the Sundance Film Festival, which runs from January 24 to February 3, 2019, there are plenty of other queer films, short films, and special events to see. Take a look at some of the LGBTQ highlights at The Advocate's guide, and visit Sundance.org for more information.
Will & Grace
Will & Grace returns from its midseason hiatus on January 31. This marks the second season of the beloved gay sitcom's revival, after the election of Donald Trump spurred Will, Grace, Jack, and Karen to return to network television to "Make America Gay Again!" Chelsea Handler will be the special guest in the new episode, which continues to focus on the friends' search for soulmates. Watch it on NBC.
Kelly Clarkson's Meaning of Life Tour
The original American Idol and outspoken LGBTQ ally Kelly Clarkson kicked off her first tour in three years at the Oracle in Oakland, Ca. this week. The Voice coach will take her Meaning of Life Tour on the road through March with stops throughout the country. The belter makes a stop at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Saturday before heading to Salt Lake City, Utah and on to stops in the Midwest before hitting the east coast. The set list, based on her performance in Oakland, includes a solid cross-section of new and old hits including an a capella "A Moment Like This," "Love So Soft," "Behind These Hazel Eyes," "Heat," and "It's Quiet Uptown" the song she sang on The Hamilton Mixtape. Opening for Clarkson is Grammy nominee Kelsea Ballerini and Brynn Cartelli (last year's winner of The Voice as part of Team Kelly).
SAG Awards
The Screen Actors Guild Awards is a key event in Hollywood's awards season, as it honors the standout actors and casts of the year's best films and television shows. Celebrating its 25th year, the ceremony will be hosted by Will & Grace's Megan Mullally and will honor actor Alan Alda as its life achievement recipient. Watch the two-hour SAG Awards Sunday, 8 p.m. Eastern and 5 p.m. Pacific on TNT and TBS.
Shortest Way Home: One Mayor’s Challenge and a Model for America’s Future
Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., announced this week that he wants to be the nation's first openly gay president. A Rhodes Scholar, Afghan War vet, and former business consultant, he's formed an exploratory committee as the first step in a run for the Democratic nomination. Now he's published a memoir, which has become common for politicians with presidential ambitions. The publication of his memoir when he's only 37 "does seem a little early," writes Adam Nagourney in The New York Times. Nagourney notes that Barack Obama's memoir Dreams From My Father came out in 1995 - Obama was 34 then - but Obama was a transformative figure. The reviewer eventually concludes, though, that Buttigieg may be transformative as well: "When Obama wrote his memoir, the idea that the nation would soon put an African-American in the White House seemed beyond the realm of the possible. After reading this memoir written 25 years later, the notion that Buttigieg might be the nation's first openly gay president doesn't feel quite as far-fetched." Order here or visit your local bookstore.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix's most successful half-hour comedy, is coming to close with its fourth and final season. The show still follows Kimmy (Ellie Kemper), a woman who escapes captivity in a male-led doomsday cult and is determined to live life with a positive outlook in New York City. Debuting in 2015, the show preceded the #MeToo movement and the Trump administration -- and its sunny outlook in the face of depressing realities will be sorely missed, as will the show's breakout star, Tituss Burgess. Watch Burgess sing "Magic Boy" below.
Premieres January 25 on Netflix.
