This reminded me of the difficulty studios had finding actors to be in Brokeback Mountain.  When Gus Van Sant was going to direct, he was turned down left and right – even though he had done “My Own Private Idaho”.  “I asked the usual suspects: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillippe.  They all said no.”  Producer and screenwriter Diana Ossana didn’t fare much better.  She reached out to Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg.  “They didn’t give us any real excuse why they wouldn’t.  I guess they saw it as too difficult.”

To show how far we’ve come, the limited Broadway run of The Boys in the Band with a completely queer cast has already recouped its $3.5 million investment.  If you plan to see it, get there before it closes on August 11^th.  This is one show that cannot extend – most of the cast has other jobs to go to.  FYI, I will be at The Actors Fund benefit performance at midnight on Thursday, July 27^th.  I’ll be the one waving from the box seat, audience left.