Theater Reviews: “Ms. Blakk For President?” Sure, and Texas Will Turn Blue; Lauren Ambrose Is Excellent as a Mother of a Missing Son in “The Unbelievers”; Subtext Becomes Text in a Suspenseful “Rope”; More (BOO!) British Paranormal Activities in “2:22 – A Ghost Story”

Ms. Blakk For President (c) Carol Rosegg

Theater: Ms. Blakk For President 
At the Vineyard Theatre 

It must have been a different experience watching Tarell Alvin McCraney and Tina Landau’s play Ms. Blakk For President at its world premiere in 2019 at Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago versus today in the blue new world of New York of 2026. The play, which focuses on real life black gay drag queen Terence Alan Smith (a fabulous Ato Blankson-Wood, stepping in for an ailing Wayne Brady, who had to drop out) who ran against Richard M. Daley the mayor of Chicago as his alter ego Joan Jett Blakk in 1991. Once content with just performing in small clubs, lip-synching to Janis Joplin, Smith is challenged by Queer Nation member Mark (a fiery Gideon Glick) to get involved with confronting politicians on their lack of action around the AIDS crisis. Thus, the Miss Blakk campaign is born, and she projects a Nancy Regan feel, fabulously outspoken and fun, to shake up the status quo. Spoiler Alert: Ms. Blakk doesn’t win. But as the National Democratic Convention in New York City approaches, can Ms. Blakk reprise her role in the Presidential race against Bill Clinton? After the Bluenami of Election Day 2026, why not? But back in 1992, things are more dangerous for people not of the status quo, and the play does a good job balancing the fierceness of Blakk and the dangers she faces. The rest of the ensemble (Adina Verson, Nic Ashe, Kelvin Moon Loh and Sawyer Smith) are all excellent playing various characters throughout, and so fun during the catwalk pre-show on the playful set by David Zinn, focused lighting by Bradley King, mischievous costumes by Ari Fulton and exuberant sound design by Lindsay Jones (excluding an unnecessarily loud sound cue). Be sure not to miss the exhibit of historical news items about the real Smith—the play’s version of events is somewhat fictionalized. I was glad to be introduced to this fascinating personality, especially as embodied by the outstanding Blankson-Wood. She was certainly ahead of her time, and I enjoyed spending an evening at the theater with such a strong, gay, brave figure. 

Film Review: A Look at Upcoming Oscar Hopefuls: In “Elsinore,” What a Piece of Work Is Andrew Scott? Ferocity Personified; “Coward” Is the Second Excellent and Emotional Film About Gays in Wartime This Year; and the Best Part of “I Play Rocky” Is the Actor Who Plays Rocky

Elsinore (c) Focus Features

Film: Elsinore 
In Cinemas on November 20 

Scottish actor Ian Charleson was made famous for playing a deeply religious runner in 1981’s Chariots of Fire, which surprisingly won the Best Picture Oscar over bigger films like Reds and On Golden Pond. As the new film Elsinore begins, it is eight years later, and Charleson (Andrew Scott) is still acting, auditioning for small film parts in London, with people recognizing him in Chariots, but specifically the Oscar-winning score by Vangelis. Although he wished he was a bigger film actor by now, his heart has always been on the stage, which is why he is sort of jealous of a hot young actor named Daniel Day-Lewis playing Hamlet at the Royal National Theatre. If you know theater lore, Daniel Day-Lewis famously walked off stage during a performance of Hamlet and quit. Hamlet director Richard Eyre (Johnny Flynn looking surprisingly like the real man) then approaches Charleson to replace him. The only hesitation the actor has to saying yes right away to performing his dream role at his favorite theater is that he has HIV, and doing any role, let alone one of the most grueling and energy-draining roles that is Hamlet, would put a strain on his body. He tells Eyre, who agrees to take the risk, but this doesn’t sit well with his no-nonsense doctor (the steely Olivia Colman), who just wants to keep Charleston alive. 

The Interested Bystander’s Oscar Predictions: October 2026

Wildwood (c) Laika

Things are heating up, Oscar-wise. Films that have award aspirations are slowly trickling out, with some films living up to the expectations, while others have not performed as well as they should have. I have seen many of these films and it’s still up in the air as to which films will proceed to the next level when critic groups and award shows start to anoint favorites. 

Theater Reviews: Lauren Yee's “King of the Yees” Is an Amusing Slice of San Francisco Chinatown Life; Duncan Sheik’s Last Musical, “Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen,” Is About Sex Workers and Sex Writers; and “Machine Learning” Is “Who’s Afraid of AI Woolf?”

King of the Yees (c) HanJie Chow

Theater: King of the Yees 
At Signature Theatre 

Lauren Yee’s plays have always had absurd and funny flights of fancy, like in her last play, Mother Russia, Russia was an actual character on stage. There are plenty of amusing asides going on in King of the Yees, an older play having its big Off-Broadway premiere, but what affected me most is the autobiographical part of her semi-autobiographical work. Like Lauren’s upbringing in San Francisco and her father’s proud involvement in the Yee Family Association, my family lived across the Bay in Oakland, where we were also part (tangentially) of the Wong Family Association (the butt of many of Yee’s jokes in the play). So, while I enjoyed the funny, the father-daughter relationship and the Chinese-ness of it all resonated more. The play starts in a very meta way in which we watch Lauren Yee (The Last Jedi’s Kelly Marie Tran) at a performance of King of the Yees, a two-hander about “Lauren Yee” (Maureen Sebastian) and her father “Larry” (David Shih) when the real Larry (Francis Jue) interrupts the play. From there, the play within the play stops while the play we’re watching is shot out of a cannon as Larry and his big personality take over the stage, taking questions from the audience, going through the history of the Yee family (including how and why the Association was created) and just making Lauren miserable as she tries to take back possession of her play. After another Yee, Leland (no relations), a real-life California state senator whom Larry supports, is arrested for corruption, Larry disappears and Lauren turns to her ancestors to help her find him. 

Reviews: Will “La Bola Negra,” a Gay Film Mostly Set During the Spanish Civil War, Be an Oscar Heavyweight? Also, Some New Asian Queer Films to Look Out For: “We’re Nothing at All,” “Will You Still Be My Friend” and “Border”

La Bola Negra (c) Netflix

Film: La Bola Negra 
In Cinemas, Streaming at Netflix December 2 

Ever since its triumphant premiere at the Cannes Festival, La Bola Negra (The Black Ball) has been touted as the best Oscar contender to premiere there, even though its subject matter—gay men during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s—would not seem to be in Oscar’s wheelhouse. But, La Bola Negra has incredible epic reach with a tragic love story at the center of civil unrest by the Spanish directing duo known as Los Javi (Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi), who won the Cannes Best Director prize (tied with Paweł Pawlikowski of Fatherland). The film takes place in three time frames, the majority in 1937, during the height of the war. A young trumpeter named Sebastián (played by popular Spanish singer Guitarricadelafuente), whose family home was bombed out, has joined the pro-Franco Nationalists soldiers, and one of his first tasks is to guard a captured enemy spy, Rafael (Miguel Bernardeau), who has been wounded and is convalescing in the hospital ward before being questioned. The higher-ups want Sebastián to get close to Rafael to learn any secrets, and while he takes this role seriously, Sebastián starts to fall in love with his prisoner. The second time line takes place in 1932 in Granada, and involves Carlos (Milo Quifes), whose membership to an exclusive casino/men’s club is in jeopardy because of rumors that he’s gay. The third storyline jumps to 2017 in Madrid where a young gay man, Alberto (Carlos González), is told that his grandfather, who he thought was already dead, has left him something in will, but he has to travel to the country to pick it up.