The disarmingly charming Luis Santeiro the out American/Cuban writer who has managed to win over twenty EMMYS (so far), sat down with QUEERGURU to talk about his new Cabaret Show From The Shower To The Stage. He’s found his singing voice and with Musical Director Paul Greenwood weaves some of his favorite sings with a wealth of stories about his fascinating life.
One of his grandfathers was a President of Cuba but the whole family had to leave the country when the Regime confiscated all their businesses and properties. Looking back now at when he arrived in Miami at the tender age of 12, Santeiro’ s memories are positive images of both his old and new lifes.
His first big break came when he became the head writer of ¿Qué Pasa, USA?, a groundbreaking bilingual sitcom set in Miami’s Cuban exile community that traced the lives of three generations of Cubans trying to make it in their new homeland. It won Santeiro his very first Emmy too.
His main claim to fame is the past 40 years as a writer on the iconic children’s show SESAME STREET which has always been known for its progressive thinking on educating and entertaining children. We naturally had to ask if Bert and Ernie are gay, and Santeiro spilt the beans.
Santeiro is also a very successful playwright, and we finished the interview talking about his latest play that is due to premiere in Miami in the Fall .
Although homosexulaity was only just de-criminalised in India last year, there has been a small steady flow of LGBT movies for a few years. Because of the legal situation and society’s taboos, many were made on the down-low and struggled to find a way to access the audience they deserved.. However some managed to get global releases, and although their community may have a different sensibility about their sexuality, many of the situations they deal with are exactly the same of ours. Queerguru welcomes these movies, and here are our top 7 must sees for you to watch.
The indefatigable Rikki Beadle-Blair is a queer culture phenomenon. The face behind and also upfront in so many mega-successful projects, films and plays, is an unstoppable force who is always plotting on how to keep entertaining and educating our community and beyond, This Brit is an actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, singer, designer, choreographer, dancer, songwriter, activist, producer and mentor.
We arranged an interview to talk with him via Facetime as he is currently directing a new play by Tom Wright called Undetectable at London’s Kings Head Theatre ….. although as usual that isn’t the only project he is working on. Given such limited time we didn’t get to even touch on his impressive packed resume that includes creating the hit Tv series Metrosexuality etc etc . Maybe next time.
This multi-talented gay renaissance man has an infectious humor and energy and within five minutes of meeting him you can easily see why we queens love him. Even the real Queen does too and she awarded Beadle-Blair an MBE in recognition of his work, and for a Brit, things do not get much better than that.
New York artists Serge Strosberg and David Mandel who collaborate as Strosberg Mandel produce a whole body of extraordinarily beautiful queer art that fuses the visual language of Flemish and German portraiture with fantasy jewelry and fabric design. Queerguru spoke with the delightful pair at their Booth at Superfine – The Fair In Miami Beach