My Very Favorite Witches Reunite In Time For Halloween - "A Very Wicked Halloween"

Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel reunite for "A Very Wicked Halloween"

OMG - it's still Halloween, so I can still post my favorite witches!

NBC aired the fab "A Very Wicked Halloween" TV special this week and I loved it!

I saw the original cast twice and here we are 15 years later as the fab Broadway musical, Wicked, continues to kill it at the Gershwin Theater in New York City.

I love Wicked - it's about women discovering their true power.

It's about marginalized people coming to grips with their true power, and majesty.

It's about owning who we are with pride.

Original stars Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth reunited for the special, and it was terrific.

Kristin performed "Popular," Idina gave us "Defying Gravity," pop star Ariana Grande delivered a terrific "The Wizard & I," Ledisi and Adam Lambert (a former Wicked cast member) sang "As Long As You're Mine," and Grammy Award winners Pentatonix performed "What Is This Feeling?"

The finale of the special was Idina and Kristin joined by past 'Elphabas' and 'Glindas' for my husband's favorite song from Wicked, "For Good."

Check out the performances below.

Meme Of The Day: How The Gays Do Halloween

(image via Twitter)

Neil Patrick Harris & Family Win Halloween With Awesome Family Photo

(image via Instagram)

Neil Patrick Harris and husband David Burtka really love Halloween.

I mean, they really, really love Halloween.

And like a lot of gays, they go full-on dress-up for the annual fright-fest.

Over the years, the spooky holiday has become a family affair as the couple’s young twins have joined in on the fun taking awesome family portraits.

“We’re very excited,” said Harris in an Instagram live video prior to the reveal. “We have taken our Halloween family photo this year - I’m excited by it.”

Mr. Burtka was given the privilege of posting the family’s spook-tacular family photo, and it’s the most adorable yet.

Set in a foggy cemetery, young Harper is in the foreground dressed as a turn of the century bride holding a small, bloodied axe. And behind her, brother Gideon joins Harris and Burtka as a trio of ghosts looking for a ride.

Summoning the spirit of the famous “Hitchhiking Ghosts” from Disney’s Haunted Mansion, Burtka shared the pic with the caption, “Welcome, foolish mortals. We hope your Halloween is happily haunted, but heed this warning: beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts!”

View this post on Instagram

Welcome, foolish mortals. We hope your Halloween is happily haunted, but heed this warning: beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts! @nph

A post shared by David Burtka (@dbelicious) on Oct 30, 2018 at 9:04pm PDT

Harris posted a link to the portrait on his Instagram writing simply, “Our Family Halloween Picture is live - well, relatively speaking…”

And in case you missed it, here’s a few “family fright-fest photos” from recent years.

Last year’s theme was inspired by American Horror Story: Freak Show, and the year prior was a homage to Hollywood legends.

Here’s wishing everyone a happy and safe Halloween!

View this post on Instagram

Hurry, hurry! Step right up and behold the Burtka-Harris Halloween Carnival of Curiosities! #happyhalloween @dbelicious

A post shared by Neil Patrick Harris (@nph) on Oct 30, 2017 at 9:08pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Love the outtakes! FYI: @dbelicious chose the theme and convinced the children. He’s awesome like that. #Repost @dbelicious (@get_repost) ・・・ Trick or Freaks! Halloween photo outtakes. So much fun.

A post shared by Neil Patrick Harris (@nph) on Oct 31, 2017 at 1:38pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Hooray for Halloween!#Marilyn #Groucho #Chaplin #JamesDean @dbelicious

A post shared by Neil Patrick Harris (@nph) on Oct 31, 2016 at 9:45am PDT

News Round-Up: October 30, 2018

This guy definitely gets my Halloween treats ;)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunk Thiago Oliveira offers a sneak peek at his Halloween costume. I think it's a dragon, but who really cares - I'd give him all my Halloween candy if he showed up at my door looking like that.

• A new survey by Bespoke shows millennials are coming out an average of 4-5 years earlier than Gen Xers or Baby Boomers.

• Speaking of Halloween, this dad was surprised people had a negative reaction to his and his son's Halloween costumes. Imagine that. Hmmm...

• The lower House of Czech Republic's Parliament is considering legislation that would make the country the first former Eastern Bloc nation to embrace marriage equality. A recent poll shows 67% support for same-sex marriage in the Czech Republic.

• The daughter of a Missouri Republican running for Congress is begging voters to reject her own racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic father.

• Thanks to Larry at TheOUTfront for pointing up "Enough" - a new music video featuring Australian pop star Sia's song "I'm Still Here" along with 130 students of the National Dance Institute.

From the video description: It's unacceptable that firearms are the second leading cause of death for American children and teens.

If you're a student, get involved in the movement to end gun violence by texting STUDENTS to 644-33. Watch "Enough" below.

This Teacher Won The Internet With His "Spiderman" Halloween Costume Picked By His Students

Incredibly photogenic Indiana teacher Tell Williams dresses up for Halloween every year. In past years, he's donned Peter Pan and Robin costumes to amuse his students.

The cool thing is he lets his students pick the costume each year.

This year, Spiderman was the choice of the kids - and the internet.

As you can see above, Williams carried off the Peter Parker persona like a champ. He certainly gets my "Spidey-senses" tingling.

Not only is he a superhero on Halloween, he is every day living his life authentically as an openly gay man at school.

Williams told Gay Star News, "They’re young so they don’t really understand different marriage dynamics. I just say “In my family, there are two Dads.” It’s about normalizing it. I want my students to know all families are built differently. It helps build tolerance and understanding."

One more thing: just to cover bases, Williams added that he wore sweats at school so as not to make any parents uncomfortable. See below.

what i actually looked like tho. 🙄 pic.twitter.com/nPIkysQu30

— Tell Williams IV (@TellWilliamsIV) November 2, 2017

Scary Halloween Moment: Talk Show Host Wendy Williams Faints On-Air

Wendy Williams

Longtime talk show host Wendy Williams had a truly scary moment for Halloween today when she overheated due to her Statue of Liberty costume and full-on fainted.

As you can see in the clip below, Williams' speech begins to slow before she stops completely, staggering a few steps before hitting the floor.

Crew members immediately stepped in.

After a commercial break, Williams was awake and cognizant telling her audience, “That was not a stunt. I overheated in my costume. I passed out. I’m a champ and I’m back.”

Scary Moment — Wendy Williams Faints on Live Television pic.twitter.com/MTiJiVjlpN

— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) October 31, 2017

Halloween PSA: "My Heroes"

We all know when Halloween rolls around, boys and girls all over the country get excited about dressing up as their favorite super-hero, comic book character or cartoon persona for Halloween.

And in this day and age, some of those choices might surprise parents.

This new public service announcement serves as a touching blueprint for moms and dads who might feel concern as their kids go house to house on Halloween as, say, "Batman" and "Wonder Woman."

For those who get concerned about so-called "gender norms," just remember - the kids are pretending no matter who they choose to dress as.

Watch below.

(tipped by TRR reader David)

Podcast: Egypt Lawmakers Propose Criminalizing LGBTs; Ryan Murphy's New Series Casts Record Number Of Trans Actors; Colton Haynes Gets Married

In this week's podcast:

• Lawmakers in Egypt have drafted legislation which would criminalize homosexuality, making being gay punishable with prison time

• The Trump administration now wants to argue against LGBTQ protections at the U.S. Supreme Court

• Ryan Murphy’s new series Pose has cast a record number of transgender actors

• Arrow/Teen Wolf/American Horror Story star Colton Haynes got married in Palm Springs with lots of famous friends in attendance

• plus, my suggestions for some Halloween movies with a queer slant

All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

(btw - how do you like the new logo for the podcast?)

"Donald Trump" Covers THE NEW YORKER For Halloween

Hunky Olympian Gus Kenworthy On Halloween

Halloween costume party at @theeveryhostess & @wowjeremym's house tonight! *Insert applicable Mean Girls quote here: "Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it. The hardcore girls just wear lingerie and some form of animal ears... I'm a mouse. Duh!" 🐭🎃🍻

A photo posted by gus kenworthy (@guskenworthy) on Oct 23, 2015 at 8:35pm PDT

Winner For Best Gay Halloween Costume 2015

(via Boy Culture)

President & First Lady Michelle Obama Welcome Trick-Or-Treaters To The White House

Happy Halloween! Watch President Obama and the First Lady welcome trick-or-treaters to the White House: http://go.wh.gov/Kc4oyf

Posted by The White House on Friday, October 30, 2015

Happy Halloween!

(h/t BoyCulture)

Tweet Of The Day: Newly Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy

My costume for last night's party... Since I haven't already been getting ENOUGH attention this past week! Lol. pic.twitter.com/txsVPi4zy4

— Gus Kenworthy (@guskenworthy) October 31, 2015

Post-Halloween - Keep This In Mind

"Bones" Redfield Gives You Best Weatherman Halloween Costume

Kentucky's Jude Redfield, weatherman for Louisville’s WDRB,  made smart use of the weather map "green screen" and a skeleton to deliver a great costume this year.

Post by Jude Redfield.

Into The Woods' Meryl Streep For Halloween

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's celebrated fairy tale-themed musical INTO THE WOODS opens in movie theaters nationwide on Christmas Day,  but the film's official Facebook page decided to share a special Halloween greeting for fans today.

Meryl Streep as the Witch comes crawling out of a dark, foreboding tree with the caption:

"Into the woods, where nothing's clear, where witches, ghosts and wolves appear," from the Act One finale, "Ever After".

Follow INTO THE WOODS on Facebook here.

(via BroadwayWorld)

Brad Paisley Wishes You All A Safe (And Mature) Halloween

Have a safe, responsible, and mature fright night. pic.twitter.com/c3J6BTRPDm
— Brad Paisley (@BradPaisley) October 31, 2014

Ellen DeGeneres' Halloween Costume

"I like Halloween because it’s the one time of year you can dress up however you want, and pretend you’re someone you’d never be in real life. For me, that’s married to a man." (Huge laughs and applause).

First of all - funny.

Second, it has to be noted that in coming out in the 1990s, Ellen practically lost her career. Slowly, over several years hard work and due to great talent, she has come roaring back in supreme style. 

Now when she jokes on the idea of being married to a man, she's the most popular woman in daytime TV.

Bravo!

Halloween Music: Beach Boys Cover "Monster Mash"

According to pop culture king (or queen?) Matt Rettenmund at Boy Culture, this is the only time the Beach Boys covered the Halloween favorite.

Interestingly, the date of this performance was December 21, 1963. Who sings a Halloween song four days before Christmas?

Answer: The Beach Boys