DENNIS ANYONE? with Dennis Hensley

Dennis is joined via Zoom by one of his literary heroes, author, screenwriter and playwright Paul Rudnick, to discuss Paul's new novel What is Wrong With You?, which is about an offbeat assortment of gay and straight characters whose lives and lovelives collide at the destination wedding of a tech billionaire on the billionaire's private island. Paul talks about the stranger whose despondent blog post provided the spark of the book. He also talks about the straight personal trainer-gay client friendship that is at the heart of the book, why he chose to make the billionaire character way more redeemable than our world's current crop of tech billionaires and how he doesn't outline his novels, preferring to let "the characters do the driving." He also discusses his career as a screenwriter, penning scripts for hit films like Adams Family Values, In and Out, Jeffrey and Sister Act, which had such a fraught development process that he chose not to have his name taken off the movie. Other topics include: his decades-long friendship with Tony award-winning costume designer William Ivey Long, his fetishistic obsession with design elements like fabrics, luxury brands and high-end materials, how he deals with large-scale personalities like Alan Carr and Scott Rudin when they're working together, whether or not he cries when he writes and the desperation of the super rich. (www.paulrudnick.com)

Dennis connects via Zoom with Roshan Sethi, director of the new film A Nice Indian Boy, which is about and Indian-American doctor named Naveen (Roshan's real-life boyfriend Karan Soni) who falls who falls for a photographer named Jay (Jonathan Groff), who is white but who was adopted and raised by Indian-American parents. Complications ensue when Naveen brings Jay home to meet his family. Roshan talks about the film's origins as a stage play, directing his real life boyfriend Karan Soni in love scenes with Jonathan Groff and the movie's theme of negotiating life after coming out and how big or small do you want to play in terms of being your true self. Roshan also talks about his second career as a doctor and how he works several months a year at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Other topics include: what gay life is like in India, being mentored by indie mainstay Mark Duplass, how Jonathan Groff leads from love all the time, not being allowed to watch Hollywood movies growing up and the moment from making A Nice Indian Boy that he knows he'll never forget.

Dennis is joined via Zoom and telephone by writer to talk about his new book It Seemed Like A Bad Idea At The Time: The Worst TV Shows In History And Other Things I Wrote. The book attempts to answer the question, "How did this project happen?" about such so-bad-it's-delicious shows like The Star Wars Holiday Special, The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, The Paul Lynde Halloween Special as well as the feature films Can't Stop The Music and Ice Pirates. Bruce shares stories about working with Florence Henderson and Robert Reed on The Brady Bunch Variety Hour and reveals the famous socialite who was the Number 2 choice for "Fake Jan" on the show. Bruce, who was adopted as a baby, also shares the story of how, just in the last four years, DNA testing led him to discover a whole new birth family who have become a big part of his life. Other topics include: dealing with the Mormon elders while writing for Donny and Marie, what is was like to work with such 70's TV icons like Bob Hope, Robert Urich, Paul Lynde, Rip Taylor and Sid and Marty Krofft, why he he's happy to host benefits, the secret to his career longevity and the pact that he made to himself early in his career that "no one day should be like the other day."

Dennis is joined via Zoom my playwright Audrey Cefaly & Actor Carolyn Messina from the play Alabaster, which is showing at the Fountain Theater in Los Angeles through March 30th. The play is a darkly Southern tale about a woman named June and her two goats who all survived an Alabama tornado and lived to tell the tale. June's sheltered world is rocked when a New York photographer named Alice comes to photograph her on her farm for an art project and a romance blooms. Oh, and one of the goats, Weezy (played by Carolyn) talks. In the interview, Audrey talks about how the play was inspired by a random image that popped into her head, of a scar-covered woman in a bed and how it then evolved into a love story between two very different women. Carolyn talks about researching goats to prepare for the role of Weezy and how she learned, among other things, that goats have four stomachs. Other topics include: how the two have been friends and collaborators since their high school drama days, the thrill of getting your play published by Samuel French, getting 11 productions of the play produced across the country as a recipient of the NNPN Rolling World Premier program, why their partnership works and meeting audience members after the show and having them share their own stories then ask for a hug.

Dennis is joined via Zoom by author and sex worker David Wichman to talk about his new book The Four Rooms: An Inqueery On Sexual Freedom and Well-Being. David talks about why he wanted to write the book, the struggles he faced along the way to publishing it and how, once it was finished, he delighted in having AI read it to him in the plummy British voice of actor-director Richard Attenborough. David also talks about why he calls his book "a non-self help book," and how he tries in his writing and his sex work to create a place where gay men can take down their armor. Other topics include: being intentionally smiley in bathhouses and sex clubs, the sacredness of gay divas like Madonna and Kylie Minogue, hearing from fans of his sexual videos from places where being gay is illegal like Syria, being a superfan of Florence + The Machine, why he doesn't have an arrogant guru vibe, what his many exotic travel adventures have taught him about America, digging deep to write his previous book, the memoir Every Grain of Sand and how Stevie Nicks saved his life.

www.davidsworld.me