In Memoriam: Suzanne Pleshette, 1937-2008

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• Cheyenne Jackson, Raul Esparza, Dennis O'Hare, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Mo Rocca and more will be among the sleep-deprived stars performing the 24-Hour Musicals tonight at Joe's Pub. For charity!

• You have to get up pretty early in the morning to beat the Maxim guys at recycling gay jokes from 2004 regarding the sexuality of celebs like Matthew Broderick, Oscar de la Hoya and Hugh Jackman. Damn they're good!

• Here's an interview with Gus van Sant in which he discusses his newest film, Paranoid Park (no mention of Milk, though).

• I Now Pronounce You Razzie-Worthy: Chuck, Larry and company earn Golden Raspberry noms (the low watermark of Hollywood badness) in all major categories except for Worst Actress ... because Kevin James doesn't count.

• Terrence McNally's Corpus Christi, which depicts Jesus as a gay man who gets "Biblical" with Judas and performs a gay marriage, is still causing controversy after nearly a decade (this time in Australia).

• The enigmatic Heath Ledger talks about playing Bob Dylan in Todd Hayne's new flick about the iconic musician, I'm Not There.

• Out playwright Terrence McNally likes to collect Shakespeare figurines. Well, who doesn't?
  

• This week's "Modern Love" column is about a lesbian who wanted to have kids with a gay man. Call it When Harry Met Sally But Didn't Want to Have Sex.

• And the out Ed Droste and his band Grizzly Bear got a nice little mention.

I'm not sure how this one slipped past us, but I just uncovered this little tidbit that former porn star Ryan Idol (AKA Marc Anthony Donais) is set to make an appearance in the upcoming revival of Terrence McNally's The Ritz which opens at The Roundabout Theater Company's Studio 54 on October 11th.

For those not familiar with the play, it originally opened in 1975 and is set in a 1970's bathhouse. Don't fret Broadway purists; Idol doesn't have a starring role, but rather plays one of the patrons who frequent said bathhouse. I guess the producers just wanted that special bit of verisimilitude that only a porn star and Playgirl model can bring to a bathhouse.

The play itself is actually one of those wacky, fish-out-of-water stories that unfolds when a fellow named Gaetano hides out in what he thinks is a Turkish bath. When he tumbles to the fact that The Ritz is a gay bathhouse, he pretends to be a hot-shot Broadway producer. Because that makes a lot of sense, right?

This actually isn't Idol's first foray into the non X-rated thespian world. He also appeared in Making Porn when it was Off-Broadway several years ago and he took it on the road as well. Just call him the male Traci Lords. A little research dug up some info that Idol was strictly gay-for-pay and nearly died several years ago when he fell from his girlfriend's apartment window.

Joining Ryan will be Broadway stalwart Seth Rudetsky (who writes amusingly about having to model briefs during the audition) along with Kevin Chamberlin and Rosie Perez. Could be interesting!