Back in the Big Apple!

Hello All!

Barry, I, Jackie O., Sherman (Barry's Father) and his wife Marilyn arrived in NYC on Friday. Sherman and Marilyn left yesterday, but we had a great time with them. Jackie has been loving NYC, although she don't know what she'd do with out the warm clothes Marcy gave her!



On Friday night we saw The 39 Steps which is a spoof of Alfred Hitchcock.



To be truthful I wasn't crazy about the script. HOWEVER, the acting was stupendous and the direction was one of the finest jobs I have ever seen. It was a four person show, 3 of which played multiple parts and did so with such perfection it was pure joy to watch. The set was minimal but utilized above and beyond its potential. A real fun time, enjoyed immensely by all four of my party.

Then we went to a Saturday Matinee of In The Heights. Now this show couldn't have been further from my musical taste but was quite lovely. I cried twice, I was a little emo that day anyway. But it really touched me. I will say I was moved by the score and lyrics more than the book. But the choreography was wonderful, and I couldn't take my eyes of the details of the set and lighting.



Overall...very enjoyable, even explaining to Sherman why I cry at plays?!?!?!

Yesterday we cleaned out closets and did chores around the condo, today we went to blockbuster and forgot how much Jackie hates 8th Ave. Take a look at this...



Hysterical. She really does like the city though...I swear.

Tonight it's off to see All My Sons with the wonderful Patrick Wison.



I'm very excited to see this play for many reasons, the above just being one of them.

Lastly, on a personal note I am thrilled to report that I have been tapped to direct John Ryan's My Pal Bette New York Premiere.


We open at the Producer's Club here in the city in June. More news on this later, but I had to share in my excitement. If I don't blog before I wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving! XOXO

My sentiments exactly!

Doug Bowser passed this on to me and I just had to share!

"One sunny day in 2009 an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue , where he'd been sitting on a park bench.

He spoke to the U.S. Marine standing guard and said, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'

The Marine looked at the man and said, 'Sir, Mr. Bush is no longer President and no longer resides here.'

The old man said, 'Okay' and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'

The Marine again told the man, 'Sir, as I said yesterday, Mr. Bush is no longer President and no longer resides here.'

The man thanked him and, again, just walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same U. S. Marine, saying 'I would like to go in and meet with President Bush.'

The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, 'Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mr. Bush. I've told you already that Mr. Bush is no longer the President and no longer resides here. Don't you understand?'

The old man looked at the Marine and said, 'Oh, I understand. I just love hearing it.'

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, 'See you tomorrow, sir.'"

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

Well, hey everybody!

So much has happened since by last posting. First off Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States! Yeah!!!! I can't believe it, I know that we have a lot to work on as a country, but I was struck by his 60 minutes interview by how much I have missed listening to a President. See, over the last eight years I could do little more than stomach approximately 5 minutes of Bush's speech, for usually by then he had smirked enough to turn my stomach which signaled by brain to tell my arm to reach for the remote to turn the channel. Fast forward to this Sunday where I sat glued to the TV while Barak and Michelle Obama were interviewed. They have such great chemistry and I look forward to having a President for the first time in a long time that came from humble beginnings, and will govern with a political team that I feel he has formed, instead of a political team forming the politician. I loved when Michelle said, "Since when do you do the dishes!" Hysterical. But enough of that, it just makes me proud to be an American again. I almost forgot what is what like to vote for a winner in the presidential race, thank you to anyone and everyone who voted.

There was also the hateful passage of Amendment 2 and Proposition 8, which I have to believe will finally galvanize the GLBT citizens into action to finally fight this hatred and bigotry head on. It's time to have our collective voices heard, and I think it is in the long run going to be more effective to fight this as a national issue than trying to take on each state.

On a personal note, I took Barry and Jackie O. to meet my dad's side of the family in GA, and what fun. We had a whirlwind road trip that took us to Marietta, Douglasville, Carrolton, Gainesville, FL and back to Orlando in 72 hours. It was mind-blowing that in 15 years Barry had not met any of them, but that is a thing of the past. They welcomed him with open arms and as 50 of us sat down for dinner, I felt like all my worlds finally became one. It was a great feeling and made my heart smile.

This Saturday we protested at the steps of City Hall here in Orlando as part of a nationwide effort to bring awareness to the unfair violation of constitutional rights of gay marriage. I beg all of you to get involved, make a difference, it DOES matter.
Here is Barry, Jackie O. and I doing our part.




My dear friend/hip hop ab partner/extraordinary actress Becky Fisher finally returned from her 10 week touring gig with Menopause: The Musical on Monday. YEAH, we were right back at the workout Tuesday morning and it felt SOOOO Good.

Tonight is Welcome Back Becky Bingo followed by the wonderful one man show of Leslie Jordan's entitled My Life on the Pink Carpet. I actually saw this before when he came to Orlando the first time.




But tonight and tomorrow's encore performance is to benefit OYA, the Orlando Youth Alliance. It is an organization that is currently fundraising to buy their own building and stop meeting our offices at The Closing Agent. It's my understanding that both shows are sold out, but for more information on the organization and to make donations, please visit www.oya.org.

Friday Barry and I leave for NYC for 10 days, three of which will be spent with his father and mother-in-law, before we are left alone to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Lots of shows and fun to hopefully report, so please check back. Until then be safe and Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

Today is the day!!!!

Okay, I've been up since 5:30. I've watched the polls open in 26 states so far and I could not be more hopeful of our country's future. So, please get out and do your part and vote. To Floridians, I beg you to vote no on Amendment Two, and California please uphold the current gay marriage law and vote No on Proposition 8; my marriage depends on it.

Regardless, of the outcome, I am proud to be an American today. With that said, I am also proud to be a democrat and hope that by the end of the day, when all the votes are tabulated, we have made history by electing Obama. Happy voting! Wear comfortable shoes. After you vote, you could spend half the day travelling around getting free goods from the likes of Starbucks and Krispy Kreme, so have fun, be patient, but above all...VOTE!

Election Day is almost here!

This last week has been a whirlwind of activity. Being a Floridian for over a decade now, I always look forward to October. It's usually a beautiful time of year, where the temps during the day are not only bearable, but downright perfect, and the nights are stellar, allowing for maximum patio time. October also brings my favorite Theme Park event of the year which is Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights. This year, like last, I took my nephews Ari and Andrew, and with our fast passes in hand we entered the park at 6:30. It was still light out, so the scare zone at the entrance was still light, so I took the opportunity to take a picture of them with the Wicked Witch of the West. This scare zone was...what if Dorothy's mission failed and she was now the ruler of Oz.

Personally, I love Wicked so much now, I find it hard to picture "Elphaba" as anything other than a misunderstood and misrepresented do-gooder, who at any minute is going to break into "Defying Gravity" and float above the crowd as she belts her final notes...so needless to say it didn't really get scary until the sun went down, and then we had a blast. 8 houses, 5 scare zones and we still managed to make it home by midnight. Good times.


Barry and I continued our uncle weekend, by taking our nephews to see "W" at the matinee on Saturday. We went at noon expecting to have a theater practically to ourselves and were shocked at the amount of people who had an early brunch in order to see Oliver Stone's new flick. To be truthful, I went in with a preconceived notion that I was about to see a movie to laugh at the antics of our current President and was caught off guard by the delicate dance Brolin danced from idiot politician to son searching for his father's approval. I actually left the theater with empathy for Bush, but still disgusted at the GOP's behavior in misleading this President. I thought some of the casting lacked depth. Brolin, and the woman playing Laura Bush were wonderful. But, I really believe that Richard Dreyfuss gave an Academy Award winning performance. I won't say anymore, except that don't stay away because you think you know it all, because there are some surprises. But a quick question to my readers, both of you :), who is the third and youngest Bush brother? Please tell me there's not another one out there! (I said I was empathetic, but I still think he is one of, if not the worst President in US History.)


And thus began my political days. That night Barry and I, along with 18 other Miller/Shaffer/Greenbergs, went to Capone's Dinner Theater for his father's 75th birthday. It was alot of fun, more than I ever expected. Barry was pulled onstage by one of the lead women, placed in a chair, and had a sexy song delivered to him. At intermission, I passed by the woman on my way to the bathroom and informed her "to stay away from my man!" We laughed and she promised she would.


Monday was an amazing day. In Florida it was the first day to early vote AND Obama and Hillary Clinton were speaking at the Amway Arena. So Michael Wanzie and I went to the Supervisor of Elections at 10am and gleefully waited an hour to cast our votes. I know that I said this blog would remain largely unpolitical, but people, you have got to vote. The lines are going to be long, unlike anything we have probably ever seen in our lifetime. I believe it is because now more than ever people are wanting, if not demanding "Change." And I'm sorry... just because McCain stole the word "change" directly from Obama's playbook, does not mean that he will provide anything other than more of the same. Also, If Palin is any kind indicator as to his abilities to make decisions then we simply can't take a bite out of that apple. With that said, here are just a pics of my that Monday:

This is just a reminder to:


Here is a sampling of the amazing crowd, estimated at 60,000

And although we weren't incredibly close to the stage, I got a great shot of the large screen with Hillary and Obama. Hillary's speech was so inspiring. As a Hillary supporter, it was so important for me to hear her personally, not only throw her support behind Obama, but try to make people truly understand the importance of NOT voting for McCain. There were many "I love Hillary" signs, but the group erupted collectively as she introduced Obama. So enough of my "soapbox," just vote, early if you can.



After seeing the two of them the rest of the week paled by comparison. However, last night I was lucky enough to catch up with Monique and Tom, who have been hibernating from all social engagements as of late, but rejoined the fold by meeting Barry, myself, David Lee, Rich, Brian, and Wanzie at Funky Monkey (yummy) for dinner before going to see The Glass Menagerie at Orlando Shakes.



This play was one of the first plays I worked on at college, and I have always loved it for many reasons, but mostly its text. However regardless of the times I've seen it since, on a stage or on film, I would say this productions was one of the best I have ever seen. Doug Bowser said it was better than the last Broadway revival. It was light and airy, yet full of substance, the whole production floated through the air like a smoke ring in a old school jazz club before it settles in your gut. The cast was superb and the direction crazy wonderful. If you haven't seen it, I would encourage you to do so before its too late. You can get tickets at www.orlandoshakes.org. This weekend we are just playing Canasta and catching up some DVR. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I hope to see you back here soon!

Come Out With Pride 2008

What a wonderful day! "Come out with Pride 2008" in Orlando this year was hugely attended and was a great time to spend reconnecting with the large gay community. It made me feel so proud to see the huge crowds and think back to when Orange Avenue would just be sprinkled with a few watchers here and there. The Thornton Park/Lake Eola route is soooo much better. The sidewalk cafes are just brimming over and you can feel the excitement in the air.

Fortunately it also means that the parade passes right in front of our downtown office, so we get a really nice spot to watch the parade from. Here's a picture of Barry and Jackie O. waiting for the parade to begin. It was Jackie's first pride parade!



Wanzie and Doug were one of the first cars so they could get to the end of the parade route and get to the platform at the end of the route to commentate on the remaining floats. Here they, and every pink feather in a 5 county radius are:


For some of you hearing of Jackie O's excursions to New York, you've heard me talk of the awe she has when seeing horses. Well, there were horses and here is her in awe:

She looks just like Daniel Radcliffe in Equus, but she doesn't whip herself or try to blind them if she has sex...which she hasn't...at least under our watchful and ever mindful care.

You knew is was a pride event if two of the most talented drag performers in Orlando were on a float singing live. Here's a pic of Miss Sammy and Carol Lee on board the Hamburger Mary's float. Thanks for the pose gals!


But what struck me most about this parade and the following festivities was the amount of children. The picture of the child below was of him on a float from one of the local churches (I think). He was surrounded by love and emitted a glow that I will hope nourish, educate, and endear the acceptance of homosexuality to his generation. We have come such a long way, but even as I say that, we hear in Florida are facing Amendment 2, and California is facing losing the Gay Marriage they have just recently secured. Please everyone, do your part. Vote for love, not hate. Happy Pride, congrats to everyone involved for making it so successful.



Between the parade and the Florida Equality fundraiser Barry and I attend last night at the home of Mark and Robert, and the recent polls, I am cautiously optimistic at the prospects of the near future.

Yippee I O, Ky A...

Well, I thought I could keep up with my life and write a blog at least every few days, but that was just simply not possible. But, here I am, back giving it a go. The reason I felt so moved this week is my want to tell you my experience at the Silver Spurs Arena this last Saturday. Yes, you read it correctly. I, Kenny Howard, went to a RODEO. Well, I actually didn't go to the Rodeo, I went to outside the arena at 11:30 in the morning to watch our nephew in a makeshift outdoor arena in the tailgating area compete in a "Whip Popping Contest!" Officially it was "The First Annual Florida Beef Association Whip Popping Contest" (or something like that). Now, this might be confusing for moment...Sam Shaffer is Barry's Father's Step grandson. I stopped trying to form the family tree, I just know them as family, plain and simple. Anyways, Jill and Scott Shaffer are his parents and FUN FUN FUN. Scott is Jewish, Jill is southern, and so the dynamics between them and Barry and I are similar, plus their the most liberal of the Miller/Howard/Scaffer/Greenbergs, so we are always getting into trouble at family gatherings for our political beliefs (we love that!) Any who, their son has taking a liking to whips and even has a relative who has been teaching him. Due to this passion they found a contest at this Rodeo and signed up so... away we all go.

The contest was in 3 parts. The first group of the 25 went at 11:40, the second group went at 2:0. Then the winners would be announced, the prize money and BELT BUCKLES would be awarded, then the top three would be showcased in the real arena at night as part of the rodeo!

The competition was not separated by any age group and Sam was third to the last (or so) in the 11:40 grouping. Thank god, as I doubt I could have taken the crowd for 2.5more hours. Now, we all sat and watch Miss Beef Association of Florida, or some such title, announce the rules and judges of the competition. As a side note, she seemed as one to really enjoy beef, and it was the first time I had seen a pageant crown on someone wearing a flannel shirt, denim jeans, boots, and a belt buckle bigger than some of the smallest contestants. I'm not sure what she said for awhile due to my fascination with the aforementioned mixture of tiara and western wear, but I was brought back to the contest as she called up the first contestant.

We then watched a parade of adults and children, the smallest of which was a little girl by the age of 7, stand on the black spray painted mark, wait for the air horn, then do their "popping" until the air horn blew after a certain predetermined amount of time. We saw whips wrap around adults, one was smacked by the tail of his whip across his cheeks as the audience gasped (secretly hoping for blood), we watched some crash and burn before our eyes, then we saw some talent, but almost everyone made a mistake. Then it was Sam's turn...

Now I had only ever witnessed Sam on youtube, here is the link, (finish reading before watching)


but let me tell you what, he got up there and was crazy crazy crazy good. Sam at 10 had amazing showmanship and SKILL, amazing skill. As his whipped popped his last pop, the Schaffer/Miller and friends group at 13+ people went crazy as did the rest of the crowd. As the final 11:40 group Sam was clearly only topped by an 19 year-old who had his own booth at the fair surrounding the Rodeo Arena.

Unfortunately, there were no age separations as then two other adults from the two o'clock group and the 19 year old from Sam's group made it into the finals. But the organizers told Sam's mom how good he was and that this was their first year and they would reorganize for age categories in the future. So anyway...GO SAM. I never thought I would have so much fun at the Rodeo, but I did. Thank you Sam, Scott, and Jill for the invite. ( I think they never thought we'd come! :)

Saturday night was the closing of Two Men Trapped. It was great fun, well attended, and I think everyone had a really great time.

Tonight's the debate, for whatever that's worth. Happy watching. More later...