Hot Sheet: Cher Your Love

10. THEATER: The Murder of Venus Xtravaganza 1988
Venus Xtravaganza, a transgender woman well-known in New York City's drag ball culture and made famous posthumously in the film Paris Is Burning, was strangled to death in a seedy hotel in 1988, and her killer has never been found. Carlo D'Amore's new play not only explores Venus's life and world but also gives audiences a chance to investigate the mystery surrounding her death. This interactive production, presented by Live in Theater, just opened at New York's Hartley House and runs through November 15. For tickets and more info, click here.

9. DVD: Hannibal: Season One
Much to-do was made about how homoerotic The Following was last season, but Hannibal, the new TV series based on the Thomas Harris novels, seems to be even more so. If you missed it the first time, snag the DVD or Blu-ray and you'll watch the whole season in one sitting. In it FBI agent Will Graham (played by a handsome Hugh Dancy) hunts the most notorious serial killers, excelling because he can envision what they see and experience what they feel. His new partner, a highly respected psychiatrist named Hannibal Lecter (a very creepy Mads Mikkelsen), happens to be a serial killer, though nobody knows that yet. As Hannibal toys with Will's mind, pulling Will ever closer and separating him from his friends and colleagues, there's an underlying homosexual tension that is highly addictive to watch. Bonus points: Gillian Anderson is Lecter's shrink, and the DVD/Blu-ray sets have some great bonuses like a featurette called The FX of Murder.Buy it here.

8. EVENT: Boston Open DanceSport Same-Sex Ballroom Dance Competition
Are you a master at box-stepping? Can you heel-turn like a pro? If so, get your toned rump to Beantown for Boston Open DanceSport, a same-sex ballroom dance competition being held Saturday. Billed as "the first event of its kind in New England," the contest will crown the best waltzers, tango-ers, fox-trotters, quick-steppers, swingers, and mambo-ers. Live out your Silver Linings Playbook fantasy this weekend. Held at the Hynes Convention Center.

7. FILM: The Colony
If you were one of the people who fell in love with supersexy Kevin Zegers this year, you'll be happy to know he's back, in the creepy new post-apocalyptic thriller The Colony. Zegers, you might recall, plays the gay kid on Mortal Instruments (producers have promised his character will get even gayer as the series goes on, as in the books). Here he's a hunky but het guy in a remote underground outpost who gets a distress call from another settlement. When he sets out with Laurence Fishburne's leader character, Sam, to find what they think is salvation, they -- and the folks left behind -- learn more than they bargained for about human nature.

6. THEATER: Radar L.A.
There's LGBT content aplenty in this second annual festival of contemporary theater from around the world. Shows of particular interest include writer-performer Luis Alfaro's autobiographical play St. Jude, which takes him back to his childhood in California's rural Central Valley; Stardust, a dance-theater piece by director-choreographer David Rousseve and his company Reality (pictured above), telling the coming-of-age story of a gay African-American teen; Dogugaeshi, a collaboration between puppeteer Basil Twist and musician Yumiko Tanaka, drawing on traditional Japanese art forms; and Jerk, based on a short story by Dennis Cooper, with a serial killer's accomplice using puppetry to spin the tale of his crimes. These and other shows will be presented at venues around Los Angeles, beginning Tuesday and continuing through October 1. For the full schedule, check here.

5. TV: Emmy Awards
Will Kevin Spacey make history by winning an Emmy for his Netflix series House of Cards? Will The Big Bang Theory triumph over underdog comedies like Louie? Will 30 Rock get any post-run love? Will Jane Lynch topple the women of Modern Family? Will Dan Bucatinsky show up with his Creative Arts Emmy just to show off? Will Neil Patrick Harris rap at the end? So many of these questions will be answered this Sunday, beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern.

4. DVD: Dear Mom, Love Cher
Her name alone is enough to evoke images of award-winning works, but in Cher's newest film, Dear Mom, Love Cher, Georgia Holt, Cher's mother, is the real star. Set for worldwide VOD and DVD release Tuesday, the documentary is executive-produced by Academy Award-winner Cher. A previously unreleased duet between Cher and Georgia is included, along with extensive interviews with Cher and her son Chaz, remastered recordings of Holt, and a birthday video from Cher to her mother. Find more information about the film here.

Watch the trailer below:

3. EVENT: Stand Out: The National Queer Comedy Search
The Advocate's readers voted in August for three up-and-coming comedians as their favorites to compete in Stand Out: The National Queer Comedy Search. On Tuesday, hilarious out jokesters (from left) Jerry Harvey, Dana Goldberg, and Cody Melcher will take on five other comedians from across the country in a live show. If you're in Chicago, head to Zanies for the 8:30 p.m. comedy cage match. Tickets are only $10. Order here.

2. MUSIC: The Garden, the Shondes
Plenty of adjectives exist to describe the Shondes -- queer, Jewish, transgender, riot grrrl -- but the Brooklyn quartet's fourth album, The Garden, defies the need for anything other than open-eared appreciation. On the just-released album, the Shondes, as always, provide energetic yet carefully orchestrated songs that capture emotion in its most sincere forms. Though the band's name is Yiddish for "disgrace," this album is nothing of the sort; each song has its own spirit that will break your heart and then effortlessly mend it.

1. DVD: Behind the Candelabra
Nobody does extravagance better than Liberace himself did, but HBO's Behind the Candelabra comes fabulously close. Starring Academy Award-winners Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, the critically acclaimed film was released this week on Blu-ray with digital copy, DVD, and digital download. The movie explores the volatile relationship between Liberace and lover Scott Thorson, and it was inspired by Thorson's tell-all book of the same name. Also included with the Emmy-nominated film is an extensive behind-the-scenes feature that details Liberace's life through costumes, prosthetics, and interviews with cast and crew.