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22 April 20, 2016 WINDY CITY TIMES NUNN ON ONE Vanessa Williams talks gay classmates, fashion, ‘Ugly Betty’ by Jerry Nunn Vanessa L. Williams, not to be confused with the actress Vanessa A. Williams, is more than just a triple threat. The actress, singer, and dancer is now branching into fashion with V. by Vanessa Williams. She also adds writer to the list with a book teaming her up with mother Helen Williams. Williams is a Grammy nominated singer for hits like “The Right Stuff,” “Save the Best for Last,” and “Colors of the Wind.” Her awards continue with Tony nominations, Emmy nominations, seven NAACP Image Awards, and four Satellite Awards. Her television shows include Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives and The Good Wife, among others. She returns next year with a Star Jones vehicle called Satan’s Sisters, based on The View. In addition, the former Miss America has starred in multiple theater roles in Kiss of the Spider Woman and Into the Woods. Movies in her vast career include Soul Food, Dance With Me and My Brother. At a recent UNICEF fundraiser event at The Geragthy we caught up with her on the blue carpet. Windy City Times: Hi, Vanessa. How are you doing? Vanessa Williams: Pretty good. My plane was delayed but no major snow to keep me away. I was here last week for snow and I see the snow is still on the ground. It is springtime but I am glad to be here in Chicago. WCT: How did you become involved with UNICEF? VW: They called me up. I happened to be available. I am a mother of four. My children have always been my priority. I travel a lot. I extensively tend to meet people and I am drawn to children. I have a worldwide scope, both physically and historically. WCT: When did you realize you had a gay following? VW: Probably in middle school [laughs] when I started doing theater! I danced my whole life but when I started acting then I noticed all my friends were fantastic, well-read and gave me great advice—then, I knew. We are talking the ‘70s, so not a lot of people were out. When I looked back, all of my guy friends from high CULTURE CLUB WRITERS THEATRE WITH THE SECOND CITY PRESENTS WRI BEGINS APRIL 27 TH WRITERSTHEATRE.ORG | 847-242-6000 PICTURED: MICHAEL PEREZ, KAREN JANES WODITSCH, JENNIFER ENGSTROM, JOHN HOOGENAKKER AND MARC GRAPEY. PHOTO BY SAVERIO TRUGLIA. Vanessa Williams. PR photo school were fabulous men. I loved them deeply. WCT: You have been a big supporter for gay marriage in the past. VW: Yes—cheers! WCT: Do you want to do more Broadway? VW: Yes. I have been doing a lot of benefits. I did a 50th anniversary show for Roundabout Theatre. I sang with Norm Lewis. I saw Barbara Cook. She gave me her new memoir called Then and Now. I have an exclusive because it doesn’t come out for a few months from now. I just finished reading it on the way here. I will be doing my notes in the back of the book. It boggles the mind when you major in musical theater—studying Sondheim and all of these classical pieces with Barbara being in the original cast of Music Man—and then they call and invite you over to their homes. They recognize you and suddenly you are part of the “in crowd.” It still flabbergasts me. Every time I walk into Stephen Sondheim’s house I think, “Is this really happening?” WCT: I want to see that house! Your nephew was just performing in Aurora at the Paramount Theater and I saw on social media you came out to support him. VW: Yes; he is playing Tony [in West Side Story]. Will did a phenomenal job and has a gorgeous voice. I am married to his uncle Jim, who has been on Broadway, so the fact that he is a musical-theater guy is a great combination. WCT: Your new fashion line is debuting this year? VW: Yeah, I did it last month and sold out. We are doing really well. I am going back to Minnesota to add more pieces to the line. It is sold on Evine, a home network. WCT: You are returning to TV with Satan’s Sisters? VW: Yes, we start filming in August in Atlanta. I have only seen the pilot, which is what I agreed to do but they are getting the writer’s room together, and starting to cast. I am in contact with Star Jones on a weekly basis. We are trying to figure out what studio we will be at and setting up shop. WCT: How do you pick a script? VW: I like to do what is fun on the page. I read a script, and things that excite me or get a laugh out loud is something I tend to gravitate toward. At my age, 53, you go through being the young ingenue to playing a mom to now playing a character. You are seen differently and don’t have to worry about being the young attractive thing and can lose yourself to what is on the page. WCT: I heard you are reuniting with the Ugly Betty cast. VW: We will be in Austin the second week of June. America [Ferrara, who played Betty] got the request and, of course, did a mass email. Everyone was in! We keep in touch and see each other—not a lot, but we love each other. WCT: Michael Urie told me about that. Comedian Tig Notaro at BookCon in Chicago May 14 Stand-up comedian Tig Notaro is taking the stage May 14 in Chicago at BookCon, the annual celebration of books, to discuss her upcoming memoir I’m Just a Person. During an “in conversation” panel, Notaro will take fans on a journey through the darkest year of her life—the year she was diagnosed with cancer. Notaro will discuss how she channeled her grief and vulnerability into her work, leading her to break comedic ground with a Grammy-nominated stand-up set. Notaro writes, produces and stars in the semiautobiographical series One Mississippi for Amazon Studios, where she can also be seen in her recurring role on the critically acclaimed series Transparent. In 2015, her HBO stand-up special premiered along with Tig, the Netflix original documentary about her life. Notaro remains a favorite on Conan and This American Life, tours internationally and enjoys bird-watching with her partner at their home in Los Angeles. According to Bookcon organizers, her memoir I’m Just a Person delivers a “darkly funny, wryly observed and emotionally raw account of Notaro’s year of death, cancer and epiphany. In the span of four months in 2012, Notaro was hospitalized for a debilitating intestinal disease called C.Diff; her mother unexpectedly died; she went through a breakup and was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer.” Notaro is just the latest addition to Book- VW: Did you see his show? I saw it three times. WCT: His one-man show was great. Are you doing anything fun while in town? VW: I just went to the Ralph Lauren restaurant for the first time. I’m getting some deepdish pizza delivered to me tonight after I am performing tonight, from Giordano’s. That is it for this trip! Visit vanessawilliams.com to keep up with the diva. Tig Notaro. Photo by Kevin Winter Con’s line-up of best-selling authors and Hollywood heavyweights including Samantha Bee, Chris O’Dowd, The Property Brothers, Sabaa Tahir, Veronica Roth and Meg Cabot with many others to be announced in the coming weeks. An original consumer extension of Book- Expo America, North America’s largest gathering of book industry professionals from around the globe, BookCon is the ultimate fan event where storytelling and pop culture collide. Tickets for BookCon are available at The- BookCon.com/Tickets/. Additional details about BookCon Exhibitors, guests and sponsors will be revealed soon.
WINDY CITY TIMES April 20, 2016 23 Gayby. ‘Gayby’ screenings April 30 in Chicago “Our Families: A Conversation,” a special screening of the film Gayby Baby followed by a discussion, will happen in two showings Saturday, April 30, in Chicago. The goal of the event is to create a community-building opportunity and discussion for LG- BTQ+ families who often do not see themselves reflected in the world around them, and sometimes feel their voices are silent in schools and public places. The film is a springboard for the conversation and a means to empower children of LG- BTQ+ parents to embrace their diversity and celebrate their families. Aside from the panel experts, the audience will hear stories from the perspective of children and young people living in diverse families. The film’s director, Maya Newell, and family advocate Zach Wahls will also be sharing a special recorded message with the audience. Gayby Baby is an Australian feature documentary in which four kids take viewers into their homes and share what it’s like growing up with same-sex parents. The film takes an intimate, character-driven approach to issues at the heart of modern social politics: family, gender, sexuality, parenting and youth; skewering some of the most hotly debated contemporary issues with rarely heard voices that work to cut-through the saturation of political rhetoric—the voices of the kids. Entry for the first screening is at 12 p.m., with a panel discussion to follow at 3 p.m.; entry for second screening and discussion panel will open at 2:20 p.m. (Second-screening guests will hear the 3 p.m. panel discussion first and then view the film 4:45 p.m.) See gaybybabychicago.splashthat.com for tickets and location. The panelists are: Kara Ingelhart of Lambda Legal; Katie Slivivsky, exhibit development director at the Chicago Children’s Museum; author Jerome Pohlen (Gay & Lesbian History for Kids); Julie Toole is the mother of two children and teaches art to Grades 1-8 at Baker Demonstration School where she advocates for inclusion of gender expansive students; and Kim L. Hunt is the mother of two and is executive director of the Pride Action Tank. Moderators will be Theresa Volpe, a children’s book author, LGBTQ+ family advocate and mother of three; and Erin Flynn is a mother, children’s musician, teacher, and the Wiggleworms and Kids’ Music Program Manager at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Hannah Free cast and crew at re-release celebration. Photo by Hal Baim Gless part of ‘Hannah Free’ re-release celebration Sharon Gless—star of the feature film Hannah Free, shot in Chicago in 2008—was in town for a special re-release party and screening at the Gene Siskel Film Center April 16. Several of the stars of the film, directed by Wendy Jo Carlton and written by Claudia Allen, were at the event. Pictured front are Gless (Cagney & Lacey, Burn Notice, Queer As Folk) and Claudia Allen. Back row, from left: Taylor Miller, Meg Thalken, Maureen Gallagher, Pat Kane, Ann Hagemann and Elita Ernsteen, who played one of the young girls in the film. Also at the screening were many of the film’s crew, producers, extras and investors. The film will be available as a DVD and for streaming soon on Amazon.com. See HannahFree. com. Photo by Hal Baim Black Playwrights Festival April 24-27 Black Ensemble Theater has announced its 11th annual Black Playwrights Festival, to be held April 24-27 as part of the company’s Black Playwrights Initiative (BPI). The festival will take place at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark St. The 2016 BPI Black Playwrights Festival opens on Sunday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m., with opening ceremonies honoring director, playwright and MPAACT Artistic Director Carla Stillwell and playwright Reginald Edmund. The evening will also feature three BPI “Shorties” (10-minute plays) by BPI members Audery Naomi Smith, Jill Ross and Viola Irvin, along with selections from work by the honorees. The festival’s full-length plays include works on April 25-27 by Wendell Etherly, Ervin Gardner and Leonard Maceo Ferris. Tickets are $15 per evening or $40 for a festival pass. Items are available at the box office, online at BlackEnsemble.org or at 773-769-4451. PFP holding film festival April 25 Pride Films and Plays announces five short films receiving their Chicago premieres during Queer Bits AltReels Film Festival at the Public House Theatre, 3914 N. Clark St., on Monday, April 25, at 7:30 p.m. The program includes a documentary about the toll of an illness on a long-term relationship; a thriller about a quiet man whose dragqueen alter ego starts to take over his life; a pop musical about heartbreak and hope; a comedy about a brother and sister saving their video store; and a fairy tale about two men who give each other newfound purpose in life. Some of the shorts contain adult themes and strong language. Tickets are $15 each, with student and senior admission going for $10; call 800-737- 0984 or visit PrideFilmsAndPlays.com. FRIDAY, JULY 22 ON SALE FRIDAY, APRIL 22 AT 11AM WWW.THECHICAGOTHEATRE.COM The Chicago Theatre provides disabled accommodations and sells tickets to disabled individuals through our Disabled Services department, which may be reached at 888-609-7599 any weekday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Ticketmaster orders are subject to service charges.
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