Elizabeth

I always been fascinated by the figure of Elizabeth I , Queen of England who reigned for 44 years in the second half of the 16 century. Called the Virgin Queen because she never got married, she had in reality many lovers in the close walls of her court.My friend Kelley recommend me to watch the HBO movie "Elizabeth" where Hellen Mirren plays the role of this fascinating queen. She did really a great job giving humanity to the character in a deeper and more elaborate way than of the esthetically perfect version with my fantasy sister Cate Blanchett.
Last night then I had tickets for Frederich Schiller's play on Broadway " Mary Stuart " that focus on the tormented relationship between Elizabeth and her cousin the catholic Mary of Scotland accused of treason and plots to assassinate the protestant Elizabeth. In this stage version Harriet Walter plays the role of Elizabeth, giving another completely different interpretation of her.
This made me think how the perception of a person and the real facts of this person's life are always reported by the history in different ways.

Check the video below to get a sense of the modern and powerful adaptation of the Shiller's drama " Mary Stuart " on Broawdway now.
http://www.marystuartonbroadway.com/video/

My new crush : Henry Cavill

Rediscovered after watching the new Woody Allen movie " Whatever works" Henry Cavill was in my fantasies since I saw him for the first time in the tv show " The Tudors". I'm happy to see that the british theater actor is doing amazing in Hollywood and I hope to see more and more of him ..hopefully in flesh ..

Gay Pride Parade

In a super hot Sunday the 40th Anniversary Gay Pride Parade came down Fifth Avenue from 50th street to Christopher street in the West Village. I think it was the longest I could remember since I moved to New York ten years ago : six hours ! The diversity of the gay groups and associations went from Asian butch lesbians to Bollywood gay dancers and all in between ! So many lesbian floats this years and also a lot of religious groups . But over all it was strong the sense of pride of a community that has a spectrum of personalities more colorful than the rainbow itself !

Pride Weekend

Happy Pride ! Last night after a lovely dinner at always fashionable Vietnamese restaurant Indochine me and my friends Gary and Franz started the celebrations for Pride Weekend. We went first to see trashy drag queen comedian Jackie Beat at the Gramercy Theater. Jackie is a youtube sensation for reinventing the lyrics of famous pop songs in a smart, bitchy and filthy way. The show was hilarious and of course with the help of few martinis we were silly laughing .

Next stop was "Habibi ", the new Arabian dance party. Honey, it was a big hit ! The intoxicating middle eastern beats kept us on the dance floor for hours where a mixed crowd of Israeli, Persian and Arabic cuties gave up all their best moves and energy. This party is so energetic and fascinating and help to discover the beauty of the music and the dances of Middle Eastern countries. A good occasion to reconfirm that only knowledge and understanding can fight ignorance and prejudices towards different cultures, sexual orientations, religious believes and skin color .



Me , new friend Jo from Beirut , Gary and Franz ended the evening in Times Square just keep laughing and spinning around. Huge hangover this morning , but I have to put myself together for the parade and more parties to come !

Remembering Micheal Jackson

I grew up in Rome and all my teenage Micheal Jackson was my idol : I had all his records, went to all his concerts, even waited outside his hotel for hours just to catch glimpse of him. Last year I had the honor to meet and work with him .I met Micheal over his Penthouse suite at the Four Seasons in New York during a fitting for a cover shooting with Italian Vogue. After passing an army of security guards his children appeared first and he came after kissing them and saying it was time to go to sleep. He was very sweet and caring with them. Micheal was wearing a pair of dark jeans , a t-shirt , his famous black loafers and a baseball hat. He hugged me and kissed as we've known each other for years...at that moment I smelled his powdery perfume...he was very polite, soft spoken and his voice had a child/cartoonish intonation.
After 20 years I was sitting next my idol : I could not believe life gifted me with such experience. He looked tired, fragile, very skinny and very different from the " moon walker hero" I used to workship on stage. But his presence and carisma in that room was so powerful that I could feel of being in the presence of a unique soul. When I asked him : " Micheal when are you going to give us another album ? " he replied " We're working to give the magic to the world " moving his hands in a circular gesture as when magicians pronunce their magic words.
That "new magic" never arrived... but his legacy will live forever for all the beautiful dreams he gave us in so many years.Thank you Micheal,I'll never forget

9 to 5 : the Musical

Last night I went to see the Broadway musical " 9 to 5" , revival of the famous 1980 movie.The story concerns three working women living out their fantasy of getting even with, and their successful overthrow of, the company's autocratic, "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss. Even though the show is not as powerful and innovative as the movie ( especially considering the time when the movie came out and the whole feminist movement) I have to say Dolly Parton did an amazing job creating the music and the lyrics, and it's overall entertaining. My "palme d'or" goes to the bubbly Megan Hilty who plays the role of blond secretary in a perfect interpretation of Dolly's movie role.

Beyonce's concert

I think Beyonce is today's most talented entertainer in the world. She has the voice, the moves, the body and a powerful fan that follows her everywhere ! Her colossal curled wig flies incessantly making any drag queen jealous ! She is gorgeous in flesh as "Hawaiian Barbie" and her concerts are always so much fun. After sending Francesco, Damien , Orlando and the most hardcore Beyonce's fan of all Pedro, to the Madrid's concert, last night was my turn to go for the New York date at Madison Square Garden. The boys told me they LOVED the show , but I could not imagine was so good ! Simply spectacular ! Sweetiepie Brazilian Giuliano and I ruled the " almost on stage" seats dancing and singing like no tomorrow ! We even got caught by stage cameras and ended up on those huge arena screens !