Super trouper Streep to star in Mamma Mia!
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She was hilarious as a washed-up Broadway diva in “Death Becomes Her” and was poignant singing country songs in “Prairie Home Companion” and “Postcards from the Edge.”
But now Meryl Streep will sink her teeth into ABBA with the upcoming screen version of the hit stage musical “Mamma Mia!”
Streep stars as an ex-bohemian mom who comes face-to-face with three old boyfriends one of whom now identifies as gay when her daughter decides she wants to meet her real dad before she gets married.
The “Devil Wears Prada” star has a busy schedule, with “Lions for Lambs” (opposite Robert Redford and Tom Cruise) and “Rendition” (co-starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon) on the horizon.
No start date announced yet, but Streep has probably already memorized the lyrics to “Dancing Queen.”
“‘Naked Boys’ sing on screen
It’s one of off-Broadway’s longest-running shows, and local productions have incurred the wrath of authorities from Atlanta to Milwaukee to Puerto Rico.
But now “Naked Boys Singing!” makes it to the big screen in a new movie version.
The title pretty much tells you what you’re getting 10 unclothed gentlemen doing a revue featuring songs like “The Bliss of a Bris” and “Gratuitous Nudity.”
Stage director Bob Schrock is performing similar duties on the movie for Funny Boy Films the company behind “Latter Days” and “Adam & Steve” and he hopes to capture the flavor of the stage show by shooting the performances inside a theater.
Cameras began rolling at the end of 2006, so don’t be surprised if the Naked Boys start popping up on this summer’s queer film festival circuit.
“‘Jackass’ crew gets “‘Hosed’
The many queer fans of “Jackass” love the MTV show and the movies for their rampant male nudity and sexy outrageousness.
And while we wait to see if the boys can handle making “Jackass Number Three,” a quartet of the show’s stars will be appearing in the fireman comedy “Hosed” for HBO Films and Madonna’s Maverick Films.
Chris Pontius who enjoys dancing in a G-string in his “Party Boy” persona, and who has said (perhaps in jest, perhaps not) that it makes no difference to him if he’s with a man or a woman will star alongside Steve “Steve-O” Glover, zaftig funnyman Preston Lacy and Jason “Wee Man” Acuna as misfit firefighters from the wrong side of the tracks.
“Hosed” is in the early stages of development, so it may not set theater screens ablaze until 2008.
Coen brother creates “‘Drive-Away Dykes’
If you’ve seen the trailers for “Grindhouse” or “Black Snake Moan,” you know that ’70s exploitation is all the rage among American indie filmmakers.
And now the genre is getting queered up, but by an unlikely source Ethan Coen (half of the legendary Coen Brothers) and his wife Tricia Cooke, whose script for “Drive-Away Dykes” is already generating deafening buzz.
Alison Anders (“Grace of My Heart,” “Mi Vida Loca”) has been attached to direct the sexy road comedy, perhaps best described by its tagline: “Women on the road. All kinds of action.”
While these folks are all straight, Anders has frequently presented compassionate and funny queer characters in her films, and “Dykes” promises to deliver a Russ Meyer-esque blend of thrills, laughs, and smokin’ babes.
The filmmakers hope to begin production this year.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition January 19, 2007