I can think of few better ways to spend the holidays than seeing some live queer theater, whether it’s Golden Girls Live, a sing-along to Mame, or shows with some of my local Seattle drag legends like Dina Martina and Scott Shoemaker. And one of the most iconic holiday duos to emerge from the Emerald City is Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme. Every year they create a new holiday show and tour it around the world, and you might recall that when theaters were closed in 2020 they taped a holiday special and streamed it online. 

My latest YouTube video is the behind-the-scenes story of that special’s creation. And I was very fortunate to speak with the writer, director, co-producer, and co-star, BenDeLaCreme — who graciously made time to chat with me while on tour this year. For this week’s Sewers of Paris, we’ll hear that full conversation. We talked about DeLa’s history with the holidays, the ulterior motive behind the holiday show, and the future of queer theater.

Huge thanks to DeLa for chatting with me. When this episode goes live, there are still a few performance dates left on this year’s tour, and you should absolutely go see them live if you can. And if not, stream past year’s shows at JinkxAndDeLa.com/.

My guest this week is Steven Milliken, author of a book of autobiographical essays entitled Late Bloomer Baby Boomer. Steven was a class clown who grew up to become a teacher in some fairly rough schools, and had to move in and out of the closet over the years as he navigated sensitive careers alongside alcoholism and sobriety

We’ll have that interview in a moment. First, a quick heads up that I have a new video coming this weekend about the making of the Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme holiday special, including an exclusive interview with BenDeLaCreme and lots of never before seen behind the scenes footage. That goes live this Sunday, December 21 — check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And if you’re doing some holiday shopping right now, just a reminder that my book Hi Honey I’m Homo makes an excellent present — and although shipping deadlines might be tight, you can still get the ebook, and audiobook at gaysitcoms.com.

Plus: I’ve activated gift memberships on Patreon — so you can give your friends and lovers access to literally hundreds of hours of bonus videos. That’s at Patreon.com/mattbaume .

My guest this week had his big screen debut alongside Adam Baldwin and Matt Dillon in 1980; made a career getting gays online with PlanetOut in the 90s; and today work for TED Talks, bringing together who are doing, as he describes it, some of the weirdest work in he world. Tom Rielly’s had a lot of jobs, and one of the constants has been figuring out new ways to bring audiences along for an unpredictable ride.

We’ll have that conversation in a moment. First, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video out about the powerful gay magic behind The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. Check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And if you’re doing some holiday shopping right now, just a reminder that my book Hi Honey I’m Homo makes an excellent present — you can get it in paperback, ebook, and audiobook at gaysitcoms.com. And I’ve activated gift memberships on Patreon — so you can give someone access to literally hundreds of hours of bonus videos starting at about $21 for an entire year. That’s at Patreon.com/mattbaume .

For this week’s Sewers of Paris, I’m chatting with four Oz superfans about their intense connections to films like The Wizard of Oz, books like Return to Oz, and adaptations like Wicked. These conversations are all part of my new video about Oz and queer culture that just went live on YouTube — check that out at YouTube.com/mattbaume . In this episode, you’ll hear from writer and artist Terry Blas about his childhood traveling between Idaho and Mexico, which felt very similar to Dorothy’s journey; you’ll hear from writer Josh Trujillo about his youthful obsession to Oz collectibles; from YouTuber Emma McMahon about the positive lessons she picked up from Wicked, before she even knew she needed to hear them; and Oz scholar Dee Michel about his surprising historical discoveries about Oz and queer culture.

Dee Michel: https://www.deemichel.info/

Josh Trujillo: https://www.joshtrujillo.com/

Terry Blas: https://terryblas.com/

Emma McMahan: https://www.mcmahan.media/

Emma’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@mediaprocessingchannel/

Watch Emma's video about Wicked's stage-to-screen adaptation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWZ1nB1mNy0

To mark the recent release of the second Wicked film, for this week’s episode we’re revisiting my 2020 interview with Dee Michel, author of the book Friends of Dorothy: Why Gay Boys and Gay Men Love the Wizard of Oz. Dee’s book is an in-depth examination of queer Oz fandom, which for him has its roots in happy memories of watching the movie with his dad. Dee grew up in the 1950s with the threat of the red scare looming over his family — his parents met at a Communist Party meeting, and there was the constant threat that the family would be exposed. Added to the general chaos of the time was the discovery that his father was gay, and Dee’s own struggle to find his place in the world.

And before we get to that, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video coming this weekend about the powerful gay magic behind The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. Check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume.

I am delighted to welcome back a friend of the Sewers, film critic and holiday aficionado, Linoleum Knife’s Alonso Duralde. His book, Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, is now out in a revised and updated edition, gathering even more expert recommendations for holiday films to enjoy this season and year-round. We chatted about how Christmas movies have changed since he wrote the first edition of his book, fifteen years ago, and what the future of holiday films might be. And also why he’s been baking Christmas cookies all year long.

And before we get to that, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video coming at the end of this month about the powerful gay magic behind The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. Check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and much more.

The second of the Wicked films comes out later this month, and so for this week’s episode we’re jumping into the Sewers archives to hear my 2017 chat with Tony winner Stephen Oremus, who was the music director for Wicked on Broadway and conducted the orchestras for the two Wicked films. He was also music director for the Academy Awards, taught Idina Menzel how to sing “Let it Go,” and worked on everything from Book of Mormon to Avenue Q to 9 to 5. Not bad for a kid who started his musical career by sneaking out of the house to sing showtunes at his best friend’s piano.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video out about Frankenstein and the gay director who brought the monster to life, James Whale. And I have a new video coming later this month about The Wizard of Oz. Check out my videos at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And throughout November, join us for Wizard of Oz themed livestreams over at http://twitch.tv/mattbaume.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and much more.

My guest this week is Trung Le Nguyen, author of the new graphic novel Angelica and the Bear Prince. Trung’s books emerge from his lifelong love of fairy tales, some of them quite dark, and also his fascination with people figuring out how to take care of each other. 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a quick heads up that I have a new YouTube video out about Frankenstein and the gay director who brought the monster to life, James Whale. That’s at youtube.com/mattbaume. And throughout November, join us for a week of Wizard of Oz themed livestreams over at http://twitch.tv/mattbaume — leading up to a new video at the end of the month about why that film has always held particular importance for the gays.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and more.

My guest this week has been giving a lot of thought lately to what he was born to do. Wellington Love is one of the producers of the new documentary I Was Born This Way, which tells the story of Archbishop Carl Bean. That might not be a household name, but you’re certainly familiar with his work and the people he’s influenced — from his pioneering activism around HIV/AIDS, and also his musical career and the disco anthem that inspired Lady Gaga’s Born this Way. 

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a heads up that I have a new YouTube video out about Frankenstein and the gay director who brought the monster to life, James Whale. That’s at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And to celebrate the occasion, we’ll be watching the 1970s parody, Young Frankenstein, on Twitch — and following along with the screenplay, comparing the very funny script to what made it to the screen. Join me for that this Saturday and Sunday at noon pacific at Twitch.tv/mattbaume.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, head over to Patreon.com/mattbaume to become a member, support the show, and get access to bonus videos and more.

My guest this week is Jim Farmer, festival director of Atlanta’s Out on Film fest. Jim’s a longtime arts reporter in Atlanta, though he got his start in journalism doing just-the-facts newsgathering — a beat that bored him to tears, until he decided to take the reins and create his own career doing what he loved.

We’ll have that conversation in just a minute. First, a reminder that for the entire month of October I’m hosting livestreams of films by and about James Whale, the iconic director behind many classic Universal horror films. This weekend we’re watching Whale’s Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. That’s at Twitch.tv/mattbaume this Saturday and Sunday.

And also a reminder that I have a new YouTube video out about the movie Kiss of the Spider Woman. And I have a new video coming later this month about James Whale and Frankenstein. That’s at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And as always, if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/mattbaume.