September 29, 2017 | Volume XV, Issue 11
All Eyes on B’more Black Film Festival as Black Pride Begins By Kenneth Moore, Jr. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” is the advice given by Todrick Hall in the Katherine Fairfax Wright-directed documentary film Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall. The film premieres in Maryland October 4th as the opening feature of the fourth annual Baltimore International Black Film Festival (BIBFF), which is present by Sogaa. This film offers an intimate look into the creative process Todrick undergoes as he tells his life’s story in “Straight Outta Oz,” a theatrical reimaging of the Wizard of Oz. Forget about clicking red emerald slippers to find your way home. When you see Todrick in his glittery red Timbs, you’ll know for sure that home for everyone is a unique and special place. Our individual journeys
By Frankie Kujawa The “Music of the Night” will waft through the streets of Baltimore as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies spellbinds audiences at the Hippodrome Theatre this month. Running from Tuesday, October 3rd to Sunday, October 8th, the sequel to Webber’s Phantom of the Opera will play its special preview engagement in Baltimore as the season opener of the 2017-2018 Hippodrome Broadway Series, prior to the official opening of its North American Tour. Baltimore OUTloud spoke to Katrina Kemp, who plays Fleck in a performance that will entrance and captivate audiences. “I think audiences are going see something brand new that they’ve never seen or experienced before,” Kemp told me.
International event showcases 85 movies
of self-discovery and self-acceptance can be influenced by family and friends, but ultimately we all must find our own paths. Todrick teaches this through a humorous, emotional, and honest depiction of how dogged perseverance led to his improbable success as an openly gay black pop vocalist, YouTube sensation, TV personality, and Broadway star. Behind the Curtain: Todrick Hall kicksoff the festival, but there’s so much more in store down the road in the over 85 films this year. Another highlight is The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, which
features never-before-seen footage of the final days of the Stonewall Riot veteran and a trailblazer in the modern gay and transgender rights movement. Twenty-five years after Marsha’s mysterious death, follow one woman’s cruTodrick Hall – king of the sade to solve this cold documentary Behind the Curtain, opening BIBFF case and unearth answers to how we lost this beloved resistance leader. males in New York City. How the club scene provides safe In Jewel’s Catch One, we see the othspaces for young black gay and lesbian in- er side of this phenomenon, when blackdividuals is central to Dancing in the Dark, owned establishments close after decades a documentary about black and Latino —continued on page 23
Love Never Dies Brings Phantom to Baltimore Breathless Phantom sequel at the Hippodrome
“It’s very fast-paced and it’s very cinematic. The transitions between each scene are seamless, in the way that the first Phantom makes you feel that you’re sort of in that voyeuristic, erotic cloud. As an audience,
you were forced to see the drama behind the scene and in the dressing room, but also experienced the opera itself. They did a very good job of that in Love Never Dies, but it’s almost like a fever dream with all the elements coming together so that you can’t hardly Katrina Kemp – Los Angelena take a breath between can’t wait to hit scenes.” Charm City For Kemp, the Los Angeles-native whose acting and professional credits include several music videos (for Rihanna), guest-starring roles on TV (“RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “American Horror Story,” “Fameless”) and twerk-
ing her way across South America with Miley Cyrus on the Bangerz international tour in 2014, her role in Love Never Dies is a dream. “[Fleck] is an aerialist extraordinaire. She is one part of the three-headed dragon that is nicknamed ‘The Trio’ and I’m the only girl in the trio. The boys are Gangle and Squelch. Fleck is a little bit of a scallywag. She’s definitely born and raised by the circus and lives for the drama backstage. We’re a little bit of conniving instigators, but at the same time we live for the show. Fleck, especially, has an ear out for everything going on with our main cast divas and our main Phantom. She’s always ‘in the know.’ Wherever the party is at – —continued on page 22