Palm Springs: Victor/Victoria Nominated For 11 "Desert Stars Awards"

Wow. How cool is this?

As regular readers may remember, this past spring I directed and choreographed (theatre is the other half of my career) a production of the musical Victor/Victoria in Palm Springs at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Springs for the College of the Desert. Great experience, wonderful cast and creative team.

Today I got word that the production was nominated for 11 "Desert Stars Awards" by the Desert Theatre League, including two for me for my direction and choreography.

I have to say the best part of the news is seeing so many of my collaborators having their work acknowledged.

Congrats to everyone!

Here's a list of:

• Outstanding Production Musical/Opera/Pageant - Victor/Victoria - College of the Desert

• Outstanding Director of a Musical/Opera/Pageant - Professional - Randy Slovacek - Victor/Victoria - College of the Desert

• Outstanding Musical Director of a Musical/Opera/Pageant - Professional - Darlene Romano - Victor/Victoria - College of the Desert

• The Michele Gaines Award for Outstanding Choreographer of a Musical/Opera/Pageant - Professional - Randy Slovacek - Victor/Victoria - College of the Desert

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical/Opera/Pageant - Chris Sands - Victor/Victoria - College of the Desert

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical/Opera/Pageant - Professional - Eliott Goretsky - Victor/Victoria - College of the Desert

• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical/Opera/Pageant - 2 - Chelsey Clime, Kara Masek - Victor/Victoria - College of the Desert

• The Ron Hamm Award for Outstanding Hair and Makeup Design - Professional - Lynda Shaeps - Victor/Victoria - College of the Desert

• Outstanding Lighting Design - Professional - Keith I. Smith - Victor/Victoria - College of the Desert

• Outstanding Props and Special Effects - Professional - J.W. Layne - Victor/Victoria - College of the Desert

“Enter Miss Thang” wins two USA Best Book Awards

Big congrats are in order for Brian Edwards and his autobiography - Enter Miss Thang - which ends 2014 as one of the most honored LGBT non-fiction books of the year as the tome just won 2 USA Best Book Awards.

At the USA Best Book Awards announced this morning in Los Angeles, “Enter Miss Thang” received top honors for "Best Gay & Lesbian Non-Fiction" and (not surprisingly) "Best Humor."

I wrote about the terrific read here when it was released in late 2013.

Openly gay Brian Edwards - talent executive, multi-award winning producer, writer and occasional performer - may have a lot of hyphenates to his job descriptions, but to friends such as Cindy Crawford and Vanessa Williams, he is known quite simply as "Miss Thang."

Edwards released Enter Miss Thang late last year to great fanfare, and considering the pedigree, why not?  The late, great Joan Rivers wrote the foreword to the humorous & touching autobiography, and Crawford penned the introduction. Touching, funny, irreverent, and chock full of A-list celebs, I couldn't put the book down.  I loved it.

A total of ten national and international awards have been added to Edwards' mantle this year in various categories, in addition to dominating the field of LGBT Non-Fiction with wins at The International Book Awards, The Beverly Hills Book Awards and The National Indie Excellence Awards, where it was also named Best Autobiography of the Year.

Make sure you check it out on Amazon or any other major retailer.