The Google logo has been blacked out today. Wikipedia, reddit, Mozilla and Twitpic are all blocking access to content.  Even Star Trek icon George Takei has blocked his site.  The moves are displays of cyber-protest against the heavy-handed and ill-conceived Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

From a political and public relations standpoint, this has already been a complete and utter failure for Hollywood and their formerly formidable lobbying arm, the Motion Picture Association of America. Former Sen. Chris Dodd became the new CEO of the MPAA after he realized he would never be re-elected in his home state of Connecticut due to his personal scandals with Countrywide Mortgage and his involvement in the mortgage collapse at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. So naturally, Hollywood hired the failed Senator as their man in Washington. Dodd has been the chief architect of SOPA, which was written with about as much subtlety and constitutional protocol as his equally disastrous Dodd-Frank banking law.

The merits of SOPA and the overall issue of online piracy is a worthy topic, and it can be argued that the federal government should have some hand in policing and enforcing piracy on behalf of private industries and artists who rely on royalties as a major part of their profit structure. These details can and should be debated here and in Washington DC. What is striking about today’s Internet blackout and the over-the-top reaction to it from Dodd is that this arrogant, befuddled and inept former Senator has finally figured out a way to unite the left and the right to focus their passion against a common enemy:  Hollywood. 

When was the last time left-leaning companies like Google aligned themselves with the Heritage Foundation? When have you seen left-wing think tanks like Demand Progress taking the same stand on an issue as Tea Party organizations? How often do you see Huffington Post columnists parrot talking points from the CATO Institute? Yet, thanks to the arrogance and ineptitude of Chris Dodd and the MPAA, these disparate groups are all aiming their ire at the Hollywood industry and the politicians who gladly take their donations and then push through ill-conceived legislation with the subtlety of an elephant in a ballet.

No matter how the SOPA legislation ends up, this episode should send a clear message to Hollywood and the elite few who share the same big government nanny-state desires embodied in the SOPA bill. Annoyance and anger at the pompous industry transcends ideological lines, and when an industry chooses a buffoon like Chris Dodd to handle what should be a nuanced and introspective regulation that polices piracy without stifling free expression, they deserve the black eye they are getting.

Face it, Hollywood: America is telling you to take a leap, and take your failure of a lobbyist with you.

I planned on doing the same thing. I planned on going to the movie theatre in Orange, CA (AMC 30 at The Block) and report back to the Big Hollywood readers how Palin was being accepted in the county that Ronald Reagan described as “where good Republicans go to die.” Now Coner [sic?] is a real journalist, as he often reminds us. And I’m just a Breitbart blogger, so what do I know, but it seemed to me that the best time to go check out the audience reaction was during the DAY of the release, not at the midnight showing last night.

The Atlantic’s Conor Frieders-whatever demands girls talk to him at midnight

Connner [sic?], being the brilliant and reliable “capital- J journalist” that he is, reported to the intellectual readers of the Atlantic that he was the only person in the theatre at midnight last night – along with two young girls that he creepily interviewed for his column (hey there, I’m a JOURNALIST, want to tell me your name and what brings you here to this dark theatre after midnight?). He also claims that the manager wouldn’t tell him how many tickets had been sold for the film.

Funny, the manager I spoke with the next day had no problem telling me (more on that later). Maybe the guy Connnor [sic?] talked to was creeped out about the guy who was still lingering in the cinema after 2:00 AM after seeing a movie about Sarah Palin and after scaring two teenagers out of the place. (That’s just conjecture, I have no proof that Coonor’s [sic?] odd inquisition of the teenagers is what led them to leave the movie early, but it’s strange that it didn’t occur to him that a guy sitting all alone in a movie theatre after midnight showing a movie about Sarah Palin might not be the first person two teenage girls from out of town would want to talk to, and maybe THAT’s why they left early and didn’t want to hang out with him).

I can tell you that at 10:45 this morning, the theatre was about 1/3 full and the audience sat riveted. I stood on the side and watched the audience more than I watched the film. They skewed a but older, I’d say 47-ish was the average age. But remember that this was at 10:45 in the morning on a work day. Most good conservatives are working at that time and aren’t able to go catch a flick. Not one of them looked at their watch. Not one left to use the restroom. The only movement was of people turning to their friend or spouse in reaction to the action on the screen.

At the end of the film when the titles began to appear, the audience did something I rarely see, especially at a documentary. They applauded… all of them did. Long, sustained and loud applause. I felt that they weren’t just applauding the film, they were applauding Palin.

I spoke with Joan Maltese from San Diego afterwards (yes, San Diego. She drove two hours to see the movie, Connnnor [sic?]. She said that she’d always loved Palin but after seeing this movie she hoped more than ever that she would get into the race. She told me how she feared what the media would do to her, but as Tammy Bruce says in the film, Palin is “like a Marine. She goes into the line of fire” where others would run.

I explained that the greatest danger that Palin faces is not from the left and the elites in the media, it’s from the establishment Republicans and so-called conservatives in the media who seek instant credibility by auto-bashing Palin for no good reason other than to feed the beast that is the MSM reward system. Bash Palin and get celebrated. I’m talking to you, Conur [sic?], tell Kathleen Parker I said “hi”.

I suspect that the 10:45 AM showing will be the lightest attended of the day. Reuters is reporting that a theatre in Texas has been sold out. But, I doubt the midnight showing do any better tonight in Orange than it did last night.

Although, that  screening didn’t even do as poorly as Conor reported. He says that he was the only one there, then he concedes that two teenage girls were there, by mistake. He then claims the manager would not reveal actual figures to him. I spoke with Aaron at 12:10 PM at the very same cinema. He told me that there were six tickets sold to the midnight showing that Conoor[sic?]  reported on. Six, not three and not one. Six.

To me, six tickets sold to a political documentary showing at midnight without any advertising on the same night as the biggest film premiere of the year is kind of astounding. But, maybe that’s the difference between a conservative like me and a conservative like Con-ner [sic?]. I see the glass half-full, and he sees the glass half-full of piss.

In the inherently egocentric world of entertainment, no one wants to reveal themselves to be the bitchy, obnoxious, catty, vindictive, mean-spirited and selfish person that they really are.  So they hire others to do it for them.  This is especially true with the part of the business revealed by Steven Crowder’s stunning new video that shows how Jon Stewart’s PRODUCER told Crowder’s MANAGER that the Daily Show doesn’t book conservative pundits.  In the extra sensitive realm of hiring or not hiring (especially in such a subjective and sensitive industry as ours) these extra layers are essential to keeping everyone looking like the great guy and gal we are all sure they are.

Think about it: Jay Leno was the nice guy back in the late show booking wars, Helen Kushnick was the monster, right?  And actor’s are never to blame for the outrageous demands their cut-throat agents squeeze from the studios, right?  As a theatrical general manager I handled duties like this all the time.  I was the asshole who had to tell Val Kilmer he couldn’t do all the crap he tried to do, and the producer who hired me came in right behind me and gave Val’s ass a nice air kiss, but make no mistake, if I air-kissed any part of Kilmer that producer would have canned me.  My job was to be the asshole so my boss could schmooze with Val Kilmer.

And so it goes.

This truth about our demented industry is what kept sticking in my craw as I read the email delivered to Crowder’s manager from the Daily Show producer.  You see, I have sent these e-mails before.  And when you know the e-mail is just meant for an actor’s manager or agent, you have a lot of leeway to deliver some harsh truths about the talent involved.   There are a lot of ways to reject an actor and when you are communicating confidentially with an intermediary.  You often reveal things so that you can build a level of trust with the manager or agent because said agent has many other clients.  Frankly, actors come and go but you always end up dealing with the same agents year after year after year.

What stuck in my craw was this: “Steven is definitely a talented guy.”  See, this was totally unnecessary, if it wasn’t true.  In these communications, there is no reason to add a kiss-ass comment because it is assumed that the information won’t be shared with the client (clearly this was the case because notice the Stewart team’s reaction upon the news of the e-mail being made public).  The fact that the producer saw fit to include this suggests to me that the entire contents of the e-mail should be taken as the full truth and not as some Hollywood kiss-off letter churned out as an excuse to not hire some talentless jerk whose feelings you don’t want to hurt.

To me, the producer included it as a geniuine attempt to encourage the manager to continue offering talent at this caliber, just as long as they aren’t conservative.  Remember, producers need agents and managers to keep the flow of talent.  Producers can care less about the feelings of the actor in this case because the manager is the layer that protects their true feeling from getting to the actor.

The bottom line in this revelatory tale is that in this case the layers protecting all sides of the talent-hiring operation broke down a little.  The layer that protects an actor from the ugly truth of political bigotry broke down.  And thank God it did.  Now Crowder at least knows who he is dealing with when he submits himself for a job.  He knows that being talented and funny and attractive isn’t enough.  You gotta stop being so damn conservative too.

And, the layer that protects Jon Stewart broke down too.  That’s the layer that kept Leno from looking like the jerk years ago.  See, when word got out about the e-mail, Stewart’s apparent reaction wasn’t outrage at his show’s policy, it was outrage that Crowder’s manager let the world know about his show’s policy.

The layer that protects Jon Stewart from getting his hands dirty with these decisions broke down in a big way.  And his entire operation has been revealed.  It’s too bad.  When Stewart so famously had trouble shining his well known sanctimonious wit against his friend Rep. Anthony Weiner, wouldn’t it have served his show to have someone in the room who could point out the hypocrisy, the seriousness and yes, the obvious humor in the story that dominated headlines for two weeks?  Someone like Steven Crowder?  Of course it would have served his show.  It would have made his show better.

Now we all can see that despite what he would have you believe, he clearly has a priority much higher than that.

Her knowledge of the founding fathers, the national debt problems and the current state of the elite media led her to a new career as a radio talk show host.  Her new show, “The Janine Turner Show”, will stream live here at Big Hollywood at 11:00 PM ET.

Enjoy this glimpse of Janine as we discuss her show, her enthusiasm for the work done by Andrew Breitbart and the crew here at Big Hollywood.  I even get her to sing a verse from her favorite Broadway musical,  “1776″:

The Janine Turner Show on KFIL will stream live here at Big Hollywood at 11:00 PM ET.  Tonight’s guests are Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and actor Rob Morrow.

UPDATE: As of 3:30 pm an appeal has already been filed.

The provocative headlines you’ll see on the Internet this weekend will state that Jennifer Lopez’s ex-husband has won a court battle allowing him to release an intimate videotape featuring himself and the Grammy-winning mega-star.  That’s not it at all.  What really happened is much less salacious and a lot more significant.  What you won’t read about is the unbelievably arrogant and unconstitutional lengths Lopez’ attorneys went to to not just squelch her ex but ANYBODY from saying ANYTHING derogatory about her.  Seriously:  ANYBODY.  Including you.

It is a story of the arrogance of power within Hollywood, and how a team of Los Angeles lawyers including Big Hollywood’s own Kurt Schlichter, and a judge who understands the law and American values, helped stop it.

Ojani Noa came to the United States from Cuba with nothing except good looks and ambition – a classic American story.  He met and fell in love with a rising star, Jennifer Lopez, and for a time they were married.  But happy endings are rarer in Hollywood than monogamy in the Kennedy compound; their divorce turned bitter and the newly-minted mega-star turned the full force of her Hollywood big gun lawyers on Noa.

Noa, who at one time was once represented by a man who later served time for impersonating a lawyer, was hit with an injunction that prevented him from taking a number of actions regarding Jennifer Lopez, including speaking about her in a derogatory fashion.  Except the restraining order was not just focused on Noa – by its own terms, this order (which was drafted by Lopez’s high-priced counsel at Lavely & Singer, recently in the news as the sharks retained by Charlie Sheen), applied to every person with knowledge of it.

It was the Hollywood celebrity dream order – an injunction that puts anyone at risk of being hauled into court for contempt should they speak words that displease a movie star.

It was also clearly unconstitutional.

A woman named Claudia Vazquez, who had made a name for herself in Hollywood as a rising producer, saw that the story of Noa and Lopez was more than just a celebrity tale but a fascinating (and potentially hilarious) meditation on the nature of celebrity as well as a celebration of the American dream.  Vazquez went forward with her own dream and attempted to pitch the story as a film project around Hollywood.  However, no one would touch the project after Lopez and her lawyers asserted that she was barred by injunctions issued against Noa.  She became, as she put it, “radioactive.”

She enlisted the help of ace attorneys Cris Armenta and Credence Sol, who along with Schlichter, fought back.  They sought to enjoin Lopez from enforcing the Noa injunctions against Vazquez; Lopez responded with a motion to dismiss the entire lawsuit and seek a huge attorneys fees award against this single mother.

After a marathon hearing, Judge Ann Jones of the Los Angeles Superior Court took the matter under submission and issued her 16-page ruling on May 26th.  It is a stirring repudiation of the notion that the powerful can control the speech of regular people.  She noted that the language originally written and enforced in the injunction was unconstitutional on its face.  She rejected Lopez’s attempts to dismiss the case, finding that Vazquez had demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits.  The Judge then enjoined Lopez from enforcing the Noa injunctions against Vazquez.  The case will proceed to trial, with Jennifer Lopez summoned to give her videotaped deposition testimony under oath in Santa Monica on June 16th.  In the meantime, Vazquez can make her movie.  The little guy, for once, has won.

Only in Hollywood could the idea that the First Amendment came with a special exception for pop singers be even considered.  Fortunately, there are still Americans willing to fight for their rights, lawyers who will stand with them, and judges that understand that the Constitution means what it says.  Now the rest of us mere mortals can voice our opinions about the dancer turned pop star turned film star turned Puff Daddy squeeze turned American Idol judge without wondering if our next stop is the county jail.

These guys pride themselves on being the vanguards of tolerance and understanding. They have been awarded by no less than GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) for their positive and outstanding representations of gays and lesbians in the media. They have been in the forefront of breaking down stereotypes and educating Americans on the dangers of intolerance against groups who don’t fit into the cookie-cutter molds that society would force them into.

So imagine my surprise when they did exactly the opposite to conservative Tea Party activists:

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Kathy Griffin, (herself a GLAAD “Vanguard” award winner for her outstanding contribution to the depiction of gays and lesbians in the media), played a “Tea Party Candidate” who was judging a glee club competition. Dressed all in red and with Palin-esque glasses, her character bursts onto the scene by proclaiming “I am not a witch!” [Insert pause for laughter here].

It’s more than just disappointing, it’s intolerance and bigotry in the name of tolerance and understanding.

The initial reviews of this episode are pretty lousy, even from the show’s fans. And they all seem to single out the Kathy Griffin character as a “dud”. But, none of them understand the real reason why her character was a dud. I’ll explain it for them: Because it was a two-dimensional depiction of a conservative that was not based in any kind of reality or truth. The character was a cartoon image of a “Tea Partier” drawn by a group of writers who probably have never had a real conversation with one of us.

So in this episode of ‘Glee’ the writers have pretty much come full circle in their bigotry and intolerance. They did to us exactly what they feel has been done to gay people on television for years: provided a false and stereotypical character meant to convey a negative image and message to the viewer. There’s a word for that: Defamation (for those of you paying attention, Defamation is what the “D” in GLAAD stands for).

Series creator Ryan Murphy has allowed his franchise to get sloppy and careless. In their desire to promote positive images of gay people, they have fallen back to the lazy and mean-spirited trick of painting the perceived “enemies” of gays in the same way they would hate to be portrayed, as caricatures of themselves.

Look at Mr. Murphy’s speech when accepting the GLAAD Award for Outstanding Comedy:

“(This show) is about education, it is about inclusion and we are using this show, I think, in a great way.”

He then goes on to describe all of the positive and heroic depictions they are planning for the gay teen character on their show. Which is worthy of applause and recognition. The problem is the writers have not figured out a way to promote positive images for their gay characters without showing insulting and false images of conservatives at the same time.

These guys can’t have it both ways. They can’t decry the depiction of gay characters on television while at the same time forcing a false image of conservatives into the homes of Americans every week. Where is the sympathetic religious character? Where is the honest portrayal of a Tea Party member? Where is the honest depiction of someone who respects and loves a gay friend or child, yet also wants to maintain the traditional definition of marriage?

I have a better question: Where is the conservative writer in the room who voices his opinion when he sees the direction the script is going? I’ll give you the answer: They don’t have one. And that, my friends, is the problem.

If ‘Glee’ really wants to be cutting edge and really wants to be inclusive, they’ll hire a conservative writer to help flesh out some of the characters the current staff seems to have trouble with.

What’s that Mr. Murphy? You don’t know any conservative writers? Hmm… Maybe that’s the problem. You sir, need to be a little more open minded.

The latest victims of this scandalous slur are Big Hollywood’s own James Hudnall and Baton Lash. Their weekly political cartoon Obama Nation” was singled out by the totalitarian thought police at Media Matters and labeled racist. They never really spelled out exactly WHY the cartoon poking fun at the hypocrisy of the First Family’s Super Bowl menu juxtaposed with Mrs. Obama’s far-reaching “Nutrition Agenda” was racist, but it doesn’t matter: If the Media Matters says you’re racist, that’s good enough for MSNBC.

Dutifully, Lawrence O’Donnell took Media Matter’s article on the subject and turned it into an epic monologue that most of us were sure was satire. Turns out, O’Donnell is not nearly creative enough to have pulled off such a feat.

The day after the story exploded Hudnall joined me for an interview. And, half-way through, Andrew Breitbart joined the party. Fans of Big Hollywood should enjoy hearing these two discussing this latest attempt to silence creative voices who dare to oppose Obama-ism:

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The perennial best seller is undergoing a new-found popularity in the Obama Era and the themes (and in some cases the exact plot points) of Rand’s scathing critique of state-run economies with “fairness” and “the social good” as its stated goals resonate in 2011 in an eerie and prescient way.

The film’s producer, Harmon Kaslow, took thirty minutes from his hectic promotion schedule to talk with me about what it took to make this project happen and the unique ways in which he is building a grass-roots following for the film…

To paraphrase Martin Niemöller’s famous admonition about complacency with totalitarian fascists:  “First they came for Rush Limbaugh and called his satire racist, and I didn’t speak out because Rush Limbaugh is a conservative.  Then they came for Dr. Laura and called her commentary racist, and I didn’t speak out because Dr. Laura is a conservative…”

Well, this time they came after a high school drama program in far-from conservative Westbury, CT.  The Arts Magnet School in that city planned a production of August Wilson’s 20th century classic “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” until the district’s Superintendent, David Snead, tried to pull the plug because the play’s characters use the word “nigger”.

First, a little bit about the play and the playwright.  August Wilson was arguably the finest American Playwright of the past thirty years.  His monumental “Pittsburgh Cycle” of plays (of which “Joe Turner” is a part) represents a canon of literary and historic significance that will be studied and performed for centuries.  The group of plays include the Pulitzer Prize winning “Fences” (1987) and “The Piano Lesson” (1990) – yes, two Pulitzers three years apart .  All but one of the ten plays are set in the same neighborhood in Pittsburgh and focus on the African-American experience throughout the 20th century.  Each of the plays take place in a different decade, “Joe Turner” representing the 1910’s and primarily focusing on the experience of Southern Blacks’ migration to urban Northern cities looking for economic opportunities and promises of a more tolerant environment.

It’s obvious at this point, to any reader with a basic high school education, that it would be impossible to truthfully tell the stories that Wilson does in these plays without the word “nigger” escaping the lips of his brilliantly drawn characters.  Of course, if the reader happens to have more than a high school education, or worse, an advanced degree in education and school administration as I’m sure Mr. Snead possesses, you’re probably tossed into a vicious conundrum, torn between the virtues of artistic freedom and politically correct “sensitivity” to “hate speech” language codes.

So, Mr. Snead did what educated, tolerant, quasi-fascists always do:  He tried to use his power to silence what he personally found objectionable.  Even better, he used race-hustling activists as his shield against criticism.  “The use of the N-word is something all civil rights leaders around the country want us to stop using,” Snead said. “I don’t think we should be doing anything to encourage our students to use it.”

Thankfully, the school board that hired Mr. Snead (and now should fire him) saw fit to take up the issue in a public hearing this week and over-ruled the over-zealous Mussolini-wannabe.  The show will go on. And, to the great credit of the vastly left-wing theatre community, much support and advocacy was provided by producers, directors and writers who saw this move for what it was, a repudiation of the basic tenants of free artistic expression, and a not-so-veiled suggestion that future plays should be careful not to use language that “civil rights leaders” might find objectionable.

But, this story should not end here.  This can be a “teachable moment” for Americans who still find it challenging to remember the latest politically correct way to refer to their neighbor who happens to be a  2nd generation son of a Chinese mother and Guatemalan father (hint: you call him an American).

Left-wing activist groups like Media Matters and Al Sharpton’s National Action Network seek to silence voices like Dr. Laura and Rush Limbaugh under the guise of politically correct language codes that they invent and enforce to fit their needs.  It’s the classic “Al Capone” approach to political activism.  They can’t defeat Rush on intellectual grounds.  They tried and failed miserably to defeat him with competing left-wing radio programming.  So now, they lie about Rush’s supposed racism in an attempt to have the FCC remove him from the air.

Soros-funded Media Matters openly brags about forcing Dr. Laura off the air (although she’s now thriving on Sirius/XM radio) because she dared to use the same word found in Mr. Wilson’s play.  And one can argue that the political and artistic goal of Mr. Wilson’s use of “nigger” is in perfect harmony with Dr. Laura’s use.

So, what’s a lefty to do?  The same left-wing groups who fought to allow high school productions of “Rent” to go forward despite reasonable protestations from parents over its glorification of drug-use and sexual behaviors not suitable for many fourteen-year-olds are now forced to choose between those same free-speech standards and the argument they continue to use to justify silencing conservative commentators on radio, television and the internet.

It’s very instructive for all Americans to witness these events and to bear in mind one inescapable truth:  Whether it’s re-writing Mark Twain or passing laws against the use of cross-hairs on a map or banning a classic play by one of our country’s greatest writers, the knee-jerk instinct to silence speech is consistently and insidiously coming from the political left.

I pray that soon, artists in our community will start re-examining why they continue to align themselves with these speech-squelching totalitarians instead of the freedom-loving center-right Tea Party that they often find so abhorrent.  They better wake-up soon.  Remember, Niemöller’s famous statement ends with: “Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

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Enjoy this excerpt from August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” as your Sunday Matinee from Big Hollywood:

After collaborating with gay associates for almost thirty years, I’ve reached the conclusion that most gay men hold a fundamentally center/right view on most economic and national security issues.  The over-riding feeling expressed to me from my gay friends is the deeply held desire to be left alone.  And after watching GOProud Chairman Christopher Barron take this obnoxious attack from non-entity Cenk Uyger for having the temerity to identify himself as a conservative, I’ve reached the greater conclusion that the conservative movement needs articulate and courageous voices like this as part of our team.

As Mr. Barron puts it: “I have an easier time being openly gay with conservatives than I do being a conservative with other gay people.”  So, if CPAC and the Republican Party can be accepting of gay conservatives who don’t hold exactly to every single position espoused by the party, why can’t Broadway do the same?

The chill wind of intolerance was most evident when the Broadway community “outed” Sacremento Music Theatre executive Scott Eckern as a financial supporter of California’s Proposition 8 campaign which defined marriage in the state as being between one man and one woman (you know, the definition we’ve lived with for thousands of years). Unlike Mr. Barron who does not equate opposition to same-sex marriage with bigotry, the tolerant voices of Broadway sang out at fortissimo against the shocking and intolerable position that Eckern shared with the majority of Americans, including President Obama.

Eckern, classy and dignified, stepped down from his position so as to save his board the difficult task of dealing with the controversy, and the authoritarian leftists who populate Broadway choruses, wardrobe departments and front offices had a very, high-profile scalp for their efforts.  And, the clear message was sent to anyone else in the industry who might dare to think that marriage should stay defined as being between a man and a woman: Keep your bigoted mouth shut.

In response to the Prop 8 victory, Broadway composer Marc Shaiman put together this video mocking religion and characterizing Prop. 8 supporters as stupid and hypocritical while depicting supporters as intelligent, cool and enlightened:

The sketch was also performed live at a fundraiser supporting same-sex marriage efforts called “Defying Inequality” that raised $400,000 for gay rights groups.

The strict adherence to the gay left dogma can be seen in the product put forth on Broadway’s stages as well. Last year’s “Next Fall” about a gay couple comprised of a Christian and an atheist portrayed Christian Southerners as backward, hypocritical dolts while the atheist, liberal New Yorker is enlightened and full of wit.  It was produced by no less than Elton John and it received nearly unanimous raves from New York’s liberal theatre critics.  Of course, “Next Fall” was rewarded with a Tony nomination for Best Play.  The Broadway audience was not as kind to “Next Fall” and it closed after only 132 performances.

Meanwhile, one is hard pressed to find any play on Broadway in the past two decades that deals with any contrary viewpoint of left-wing gay politics with anything but derision. Characters expressing any opposing position are depicted as stupid at best, evil at worst. From Tony Kushner to Terrance McNally to Eve Ensler, playwrights who promote the extreme gay political position are celebrated, even when their behavior is repulsive (like when Ensler asked a six-year-old girl what her vagina smelled like as part of her “research” for 10th anniversary edition of “The Vagina Monologues”). The closest thing one can find to a gay-themed play that features a Republican in a positive role is an Off-Broadway disaster called “Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party” which “celebrates” the founder of the GOP as a bisexual.

The intolerance also affects the performers on Broadway. The “tolerant” left went crazy when Broadway diva Kristin Chenoweth appeared on the 700 Club to promote her album of Christian music.  Of course, Ms. Chenoweth has been nothing but supportive of the gay community and has spent exhaustive amounts of volunteer time on behalf of AIDS charities, but the fact that she would even appear on the “hate-filled” 700 Club inspired a “Boycott Kristin Chenoweth” movement that actually caused a bit of damage to her stellar reputation.  Ms. Chenoweth had to bend over backwards to accommodate the intolerant and close-minded gay-left who couldn’t see fit to allow her to promote her album to people who might not share their views.

So, as the Republican Party embarks on this very healthy and invigorating internal discussion over the inclusion of gay republicans who agree with so much of our political agenda, I yearn for a day when such an open and frank discussion could be had within the theatrical community populated by folks who pretend to be the most open-minded artists in the world but actually resemble the city council in “Footloose”.

Until Broadway opens its mind and starts including a diversity of opinion amongst its artistic ranks, how can true creativity thrive?