Let us be your Gay Desert Guide to the Weekend! 
January 4–6, 2019

The stars are in town for the Palm Springs International Film Festival, kicking off this weekend; also taking off is the new KGAY 106.5 FM with some of the best music you've heard on the radio in a long time. We also have the LiveWell mind-body-spirit Festival, a Judy Show benefit performance, and a look ahead at a plethora of January theatre productions opening soon, as well as a special reception for the new Children of Harvey Milk book. All this plus Hot Deals, Happy Hours, and top Articles We're Reading. – Happy New Year!

Palm Springs International Film Fest Now Underway

The Palm Springs International Film Festival has begun and runs January 3–14. The Palm Springs International Film Festival is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming over 135,000 attendees each year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Film Awards Gala, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents. Mary Poppins Returns receives the Ensemble Performance Award at this year's Gala on Thursday, January 3 and other honorees include  Glenn Close, Rami Malek, Melissa McCarthy, Green Book, Alfonso Cuarón, Bradley Cooper, Regina King, Spike Lee and Olivia Colman. Individual film and event tickets, including Opening & Closing Night, are available to the general public for purchase now. The entire festival schedule is also now available three ways: viewable online, downloadable as a PDF, and in print form. Get tickets and more info

106.5 KGAY – Now Playing!

The all-new 106.5 FM KGAY Radio – “The Pride of the Valley” has just launched in the Coachella Valley, serving the LGBTQ community! 
It's a different kind of radio station because it is run by a non-profit organization: Qchella Media Corporation. Qchella Media is committed to strengthening and affirming the LGBTQ community in the Coachella Valley, providing a platform for the “Q-munity” to access the airwaves and on-demand programming. This new station's website is powered by Gay Desert Guide for all the listings of gay-friendly businesses, events, and attractions in the desert! You can listen now on 106.5 FM or 1270 AM, stream KGAY 106.5 online, and be sure to “Like” Qchella Media on Facebook!
 

See 106.5 FM KGAY profiled by Vince Marino on NBC Palm Springs here.

 

Also check out the new CV 104.3 FM, Coachella Valley's new home for smooth favorites, all day with a no-repeat workday from 9 to 5, featuring Fitz in the Morning and Patrick Evans (CBS Local 2 Chief Meteorologist and Host of Eye on the Desert) hosting afternoons. Listen on 104.3 FM, visit CV 104.3 online and “Like” CV 104.3 on Facebook too!

Judy Show Benefit Performance

On Sunday, January 6, from 5:00–8:30 p.m., Michael Holmes' Purple Room Supper Club presents a special benefit performance of The Judy Show, with proceeds going to support Desert Ensemble Theatre's winter/spring 2019 season. This special edition of The Judy Show will feature Holmes' celebrated performance plus surprise guests. Get tickets

Palm Desert's 3rd Annual LiveWell Festival

The LiveWell Festival is an all-inclusive mind-body-spirit wellness festival which highlights the desert’s health and wellness service community. This event will be held on Saturday, January 5, from 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. at the Palm Desert Civic Center Park. The LiveWell Festival strives to create an energetic environment providing interactive events and demonstrations the whole family can enjoy. Festivities include Acoustic Music Performances, Massages, Group Fitness / Yoga, and Clean Eating Demos. More info

Children of Harvey Milk Book Signing and Reception

As part of a worldwide book tour for his new book, The Children of Harvey Milk, Professor Andrew Reynolds will be having a book signing at Just Fabulous and a reception at Eight4Nine on Thursday, January 10th from 6:00–8:00 p.m. The Children of Harvey Milk (Subtitle: How LGBTQ Politicians Changed the World) tells the epic stories of courageous men and women around the world who came forward to make their voices heard during the struggle for equal rights. The book is based on deeply personal and revealing interviews with over ninety elected officials and high-profile candidates from across the globe. Palm Springs, and its leading politicians, play a cameo part in the book with its all LGBTQ council. Reynolds will be joined at the reception by Irish Senator Fintan Warfield and Scottish MP Hannah Bardell who will speak to the remarkable changes in their countries, as well as Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon and councilmembers Geoff Kors and Lisa Middleton in a conversation moderated by Bryan Gallo. More info

New Theatre Productions for New Year

It's a new year, so mark your new calendar with these new productions going up this month in local theatre!

Dezart Performs presents A Perfect Arrangement from January 11–20 at the Pearl McManus Theater. This comic tale of closeted lives, written by Topher Payne, is set in 1950, and new colors are being added to the Red Scare. Two U.S. State Department employees, Bob and Norma, have been tasked with identifying sexual deviants within their ranks. There's just one problem: Both Bob and Norma are gay, and have married each other's partners as a carefully constructed cover. Inspired by the true story of the earliest stirrings of the American gay rights movement, madcap classic sitcom-style laughs give way to provocative drama as two “All-American” couples are forced to stare down the closet door. Get ticket

CVRep presents White, by James Ijames, from January 23 through February 17 at CVRep at The Atrium in Rancho Mirage. Gus is an artist. Vanessa is an actress. Gus wants to be presented in a major exhibition for artists of color, so he hires Vanessa to perform as Balkonaé Townsend, a brash and political artist that will fit the museum’s desire for “new voices.” Everything is great, until Balkonaé takes over and Gus has to deal with the mess he’s made. This plays spins out of control as it explores issues of race, gender, sexuality, and art. Get tickets

The Desert Rose Playhouse presents Confessions of a Mormon Boy for one weekend only, January 12–13. This true story told with humor, song and the Book of Mormon, concerns a young gay man’s journey through excommunication from the Mormon church, divorce, male prostitution and drug abuse, as he struggles to reclaim himself, his children and his ‘Donny Osmond’ smile. Get tickets

Also from The Desert Rose Playhouse in January: Looped, by Matthew Lombardo, running January 18 through February 10 and starring Judith Chapman as Tallulah Bankhead. During the Summer of 1965, an inebriated Bankhead entered a Los Angeles recording studio in an effort to re-record (or “loop”) a few lines of dialogue from her final film Die! Die! My Darling. Though Bankhead's outsized personality dominates the session, this dramatic comedy involves her battle of wills with film editor Danny Miller, a conservative man who guards his own deep secret. Get tickets

Palm Canyon Theatre presents Guys and Dolls from January 18 through February 12. Set in Depression-era Times Square, Guys and Dolls tells the overlapping stories of high-roller Sky Masterson, who falls in love with mission worker Sarah Brown, and lovable rapscallion Nathan Detroit, engaged for 14 years to Miss Adelaide, a headliner at the Hot Box Club. Nathan runs a famous floating crap game, and an ongoing plot line involves his quest for a safe place for the game as Adelaide continues her quest to convince him to marry her. Meanwhile, Sarah, mistakenly believing that Sky set up an illegal game at the mission, tries to fight her affection for the charismatic crapshooter. Get tickets

Desert Theatreworks presents Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs from January 11–27 at the Indio Performing Arts Center. Puberty. It’s confusing enough without having a Great Depression and a cramped Brooklyn apartment full of family members to worry about. But that’s the turbulent waters Eugene finds himself navigating in Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy Brighton Beach Memoirs. The first play of his Tony Award-winning Eugene Trilogy, this classic redefined the master of comedy’s career as he mined his own past growing up as a Jewish-American during the Depression. Get tickets
 

Looking Ahead: Southwest Arts Festival

Now in its 33rd year, the Southwest Arts Festival® will once again be held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio on January 24–27. Every year the Arts Festival continues to evolve and attract a high caliber of talented artists and unique artwork. This year’s festival will feature interactive art displays and live music, with pottery, glass and fine art painting scheduled to be on display. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of food and beverage options while casually walking the grounds. Get tickets

 

Zach & Evan Announce Palm Springs Wedding Venue

YouTube celebrities and friends of Gay Desert Guide, Zach & Evan are getting married in Palm Springs, and they recently made the big announcement of their choice of venue! Watch their video to find out here.

  

Streetbar on Arenas Road not only offers top-shelf drink specials seven days a week, it's a top destination for karaoke fun in Palm Springs! On Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights, join Lindsay and take karaoke to new heights. Enjoy a domestic beer special of $3.75 all day, every day and night and Rolling Rock only $2.75 every day, only at Streetbar. Get Happy at Streetbar

The Tool Shed is Palm Springs' “friendliest leather and Levi cruise bar,” and features Construction Zone Fridays where you can get Happy Hour prices for wearing boots and Levis, daytime Bingo and nighttime Heavy Cruising on Saturdays, and Sundays are retro with 60's, 70's and 80's Rock, Pop, Funk, Disco, R&B and more mixed by DJ Corey D! Get Happy at Tool Shed

Oscar's Cafe & Bar sits in the heart of downtown Palm Springs, walking distance from the Palm Springs Art Museum and Spa Resort & Casino. Their Cabaret Showroom features world class female & celebrity impersonation and Sizzling Seniors on Saturdays at six, and perhaps the biggest outdoor Sunday Disco Dance on the west coast! Save a ton at Oscar's with a $25 Gift Certificate for only $15 with this HOT DEAL. Get Your Deal

Located in the fashionable Uptown Design District of Palm Springs, Eight4Nine Restaurant and Lounge offers a welcoming and friendly atmosphere whether is for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Weekend Brunch, or Happy Hour! Have a conversation over a glass of wine and an appetizer, or a quiet dinner with friends and family, and take advantage of this 40% off HOT DEAL: get a $25 gift certificate to Eight4Nine for just $15! Get Your Deal

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