‘Beauty & The Bear’ is an interview-based television show which showcases Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (GLBTIQ) artists across a wide range of artforms.

Season One of ‘Beauty & The Bear’ screened on Television Sydney, C31 Adelaide and C31 Melbourne community broadcasters before being repackaged in 2011 for community channel Aurora which screens across Australia on Channel 183 of all pay-per-view platforms including Austar, Foxtel and Optus digital networks.

Our team is Nathan Little and Charles Bracewell, and we are fundraising to film and screen Season Two of ‘Beauty & The Bear’ in 2012.

We hope to raise 50% of the production budget through Pozible, and 50% through corporate sponsorship and fundraising concerts.

SO – Why support us? Three big reasons:

1. At this point in time ‘Beauty & The Bear’ is Australasia’s only queer arts TV show, and one of the few specifically Queer shows on television at all. So rather than be a footnote on another arts show (of which there are precious few anyway), or the sidekick on a sitcom, the successful artists of the Queer community are put front and centre.

2. By showcasing the work and achievements of GLBTIQ people, rather than making their sexuality the focus of the interviews, ‘Beauty & The Bear’ has given a voice to some of this country’s brightest talents indance, cabaret, theatre, radio, choreography, drag, music, comedy, costume design, DJ, visual art and filmmaking. We’ve celebrated some of the unsung heroes of our community and unearthed some fresh new talent – and let them tell their own stories.

3. We are a team that has a proven track record in film and TV production, and have successfully produced the first season of ‘Beauty & The Bear’ using our own money, so we are 100% committed to this project, and have the skills to realise it.

To donate now and check out our fabulous sponsor rewards go to http://www.pozible.com/index.php/archive/index/4730/

View our growing list of supporters here.

Melbourne's landmark pub The Laird Hotel opened it’s doors to hundreds of bears on Saturday night, all keen to witness the centrepiece of the Southern Hibearnation bear festival – the Mr Australasia Bear contest.

Co-hosted by VicBears Vice-President Luke Mitchell and Beauty & The Bear’s very own Nathan Little, the evening was akin to Miss America for hairy men, with fashion parades, talent sections and interviews with contestants from Australia and New Zealand.

The surprise highlight of the night was the onstage marriage proposal by Mr Australasia Bear 2011 winner Matt Cutler who had his happy fiance and half of the room moved to tears.

Hailed by VicBears as the most entertaining and enjoyable contest on record, Nathan Little is thrilled with how the awards went. “It was an amazing experience co-hosting the contest with Luke again this year.” he says. “The sense of comeraderie amongst not only the contestants but everyone who attended was palpable. It was a thrill to witness those men celebrate each other, and contribute to a community that has done so much for me personally over the years.”

During the awards, Steve Edwards of electro pop group Asian Envy was announced as winner of the Men On Men Art Competition with his photographic portrait of his partner. His work will feature on the cover of local queer magazine MCV and in an exhibition later in the year. Check out his official webpage here.

Great news! For those of you who are too retro to watch videos online, you have another chance to watch season one on your big screen TV. Check out episodes of season one repeated Thursdays at 7pm on the Aurora Community Channel (Channel 183 on Foxtel, Austar & Optus Digital Networks) until July 7, 2011.

If you just can’t wait that long, you can watch full episodes and special features here.

Griffin Theatre Company last night announced that writer and performer Rick Viede (aka Glace Chase interviewed on our very first episode) is the winner of the 2011 Griffin Award for his play ‘A Hoax.’

The Griffin Award is an annual $10,000 prize offered for an outstanding new Australian play or performance text displaying an authentic, inventive and contemporary voice. Now in its 14th year, the Award celebrates the bright future of Australian drama. For the first time in the Award’s history Griffin presented a selected reading from each of the shortlisted plays before announcing the winner. The audience was blown away by the raw talent and diversity of the six works presented.

Following the readings, the Award’s sponsors PKF Chartered Accountants & Business Advisers announced Rick Viede as the winner of this year’s Award.

Viede is no stranger to the prize, having won the Griffin Award in 2008 for his debut play Whore, which went on to have seasons at Belvoir Street Theatre and the New York Summer Play Festival in 2009. Viede’s latest work, A Hoax, is a complex, funny and thought provoking comedy-drama about otherness, appropriation, greed and fame in the world of Australian literature.

Griffin Theatre’s Artistic Director Sam Strong said “We are thrilled that Rick Viede has won the Griffin Award for a second time. There was an outstanding shortlist, which it was wonderful to celebrate by presenting extracts from all six works on the night. A Hoax is a fresh and daring interrogation of identity politics and the lengths people will go to to get what they want. The judges responded to the play’s vivid characterisation, its wicked sense of humour, and its unique capacity to provoke as well as entertain.”

Continue to read this article at Australian Stage.

Watch Rick Viede transform himself into cabaret character Glace Chase and swap sordid stories with Miz Ima Starr in episode one.

Sarah Ward is a powerhouse singer who can impersonate anyone from rap to opera to cabaret. Since our interview with her in episode 5, she has joined the cast of Circus Oz, a rock-n-roll, animal free circus that features two hours of breathtaking agility, death-defying stunts, awe-inspiring acrobatic performances, irreverent comedy and a spectacular live band.

Check out her interview with Nathan Little on episode 5 or watch her wield the whip in the video below.

Watch the Circus Oz Promo Video

You can also check out his amazing interview with Miz Ima Starr on episode one.

Watch Glace launch the support group

Watch the episode online

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to the podcast right here on the site or download it to your iPod and enjoy it on the go.

Right-click here to download.

Watch the Blooper Reel

What television greatest hits package would be complete without a blooper reel? Watch co-hosts Miz Ima Starr and Nathan Little burst into laughter while delivering some of their hilarious segues.

Meet Vonni

Before her transformation Vonni started out as a male stripper in Adelaide, South Australia. Described by her boss as the “poofiest stripper he’s ever seen” he suggested she try dressing up as a woman and flashing at the end. The rest is history.

The sixth person to have transgendered surgery in Australia, Vonni was a pioneer for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. She performed with Les Girls in its hey day in the 1970s, holding court for celebrities like Shirley Bassey and every major rock group of its time. She has continued to thrill crowds across Australia and Europe in musical theatre, music videos and television. And she’s got more legs than a bucket of chicken.

Watch the documentary online

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to the podcast right here on the site or download it to your iPod and enjoy it on the go.

Right-click here to download.

Matt Doll and Byron St John from The Blow Waves (featured in episode 1) have just released the song ‘Forever Tomorrow’ under the moniker ‘Video Video’. With soaring vocals and killer production, it’s a beautiful moment in Melbourne pop.

Buy it on iTunes or watch the music video below.

Vivacious Beauty & The Bear co-host Miz Ima Starr launched her new CD ‘American Pie’ with two stunning performances at iconic Adelaide nightspots The Mars Bar and The Garage Bar ‘Snickers on a Sunday’ – hosted by Vonni, who features on the 26 May episode of B&TB.

Ima’s brand new CD features three up-tempo reinterpretations of the Don McLean folk-rock classic, and two new mixes of ‘Tripping’, her New Zealand radio hit from 1999.

“I’m particularly thrilled to release a COMPLETE version of American Pie on the CD”, giggles Starr. “This outrageously extended glow-stick-waver clocks in at ten minutes of unstoppable aural pleasure! Whew!”

Physical sales of the CD will only be available at Miz Ima Starr performances. However digital sales of ‘American Pie’ tracks are available now at all major online retailers – including iTunes, Amazon, etc. ‘American Pie’ is the lead single from Starr’s upcoming debut long-player ‘Start the Crescendo’, which as the title boldly announces, will be a non-stop thrill-ride of up-tempo pop gems.

“Our goal was to create an album which harks back to the good old days of 80’s & 90’s dance music, where every song is peppy enough to be a single” says Starr. “‘Start the Crescendo’ is a mixture of original songs and comprehensively reworked obscure pop classics – just like the music in my live shows. So my signature song ‘American Pie’ is the perfect first single!”

Starr’s 2001 debut CD EP ‘Pop Object’ celebrated her arrival on Australian shores from her adopted homeland of New Zealand, and was warmly received by critics and fans, with DNA Magazine applauding it as “Pure pop genius!”.

Ima will grace Hobart with a massive night of entertainment to celebrate ‘American Pie’s release on Friday 27 May at Flamingos Dance Bar; and look out for spot promotional appearances by the pink-tressed songstress around Melbourne and Sydney in May-June. All details at www.imastarr.com

Check out Ima belting out ‘American Pie’ on the Mars Bar stage below.

Part 1: Adam Cook

Adam Cook is the charismatic Artistic Director of the State Theatre Company of South Australia, the state’s flagship professional theatre company. Performing an annual season of classic and contemporary Australian and international theatre works at its main performance home – the Dunstan Playhouse, the company is a major community and cultural resource for all South Australians and is vital to artistic life in the state.

Throughout our 35 year history, the Company has played a pivotal role in the careers of many of Australia’s leading actors, writers and directors, attracting artists of the calibre of Neil Armfield, Ruth Cracknell, Judy Davis, Gale Edwards, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sharman, Hugo Weaving and John Wood.

State Theatre Of SA Website

Part 2: Jason Sweeney

Jason Sweeney is a musician/sound artist, performer, writer and experimental filmmaker. His experimental short film Disappointment (2006) won the Best Experimental Film and nominated for Best Sound Design, Best Composition and Best Direction for the SA Short Screen Awards. The film has since been screened internationally including MIX20 New York City, Xposed Film Festival Berlin, at queer film festivals nationally, recently at Melbourne Underground Film Festival and at the inaugural Destination Festival.

His electronic music duo, Pretty Boy Crossover – in collaboration with Cailan Burns – has been releasing and performing experimental electronic music recording since 1998, recently releasing a CD/DVD project with New York City video artist, Julio Soto.

Part 3: Julian Crotti

Julian Crotti is a multi-talented actor, dancer and filmmaker. Featured in the State Theatre Company of South Australia’s ‘Hamlet’ and ‘McLeod’s Daughters’, Julian has most recently worked on Tanya Liedke’s amazing dance piece The Twelfth Floor to rave reviews in Australia and England.

A passionate arts worker, Julian has also collaborated with No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability and remote Aboriginal communities on a number of theatre and film projects. He is currently touring Tom The Loneliest with No Strings Attached Theatre to rave reviews.

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to the podcast right here on the site or download it to your iPod and enjoy it on the go.

Right-click here to download.

Part 1: Aaron Crocker

Aaron left Adelaide for the bright lights of London in the mid-nineties, soaking up the colour, style and glamour of UK’s exhilierating fashion scene. Although he occasionally had to sleep on park benches due to the incredibly high cost of living, he concedes at least they were in a glamourous suburb.

Returning to Australia, Aaron has created looks for some of Australia’s biggest magazine icons, including Woman’s Weekly, Woman’s Day, New Idea, People Magazine, Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler and last but not least, the Darwin City Buzz. His cutting edge style continues to thrive, working consistently in the fashion industry for fashion shoots and marketing campaigns across Australia.

Part 2: Sarah Ward

Sarah Ward is best known for Sista She, a street-wise hip hop duo pumping out political satire across some of Australia’s biggest festivals, including performances at the Sydney Opera House.

Her latest creation, Yana Alana is a wise-cracking bisexual cabaret starlet who is jealous of her band The Paranas, unable to achieve orgasm with men or woman and expresses all of woes through performance poetry and song. Yana Alana & The Paranas’ sell-out show Bite Me won the Green Room Award for Best Direction and recently featured at the Adelaide Feast Festival Festival.

Yana Alana Official Site

Part 3: Brian North

Brian North escaped Australia during the homophobic early 70’s to London where he began his career in costume making and design for such films as My Beautiful Laundrette, Highlander, Fierce Creatures (the sequel to A Fish Called Wanda), Never Ending Story III and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

He designed Freddy Mercury’s famous royal crown which he proudly wore in Queen’s final concerts. He has won numerous awards for his services to HIV promotion and the GLBT community.

Myspace Profile

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to the podcast right here on the site or download it to your iPod and enjoy it on the go.

Right-click here to download.

Co-host Nathan Little’s electro pop absurdist band The Bad Father celebrate the launch of their debut EP ‘Demonstration’ with a glamourous stage spectacular at the iconic Order Of Melbourne.

Journey with the dynamic duo as they explore everything from a horny icecream van driver, to closeted married men at gay beats, to the plight of an estranged father at Christmas time – and all with a contagious electro-pop twist. It will also be the first time their debut EP has been available on limited edition CD. (How old fashioned!)

They won critical acclaim and disdain for their Correction Tour, culminating in Victoria’s highest theatre honour – a Green Room Award nomination for Best Cabaret Ensemble. The Bad Father made their national television debut on ABC TV’s hugely popular Spicks and Specks Europa Special, closing the show to over 1.4 million viewers with their hilarious version of Aha’s 80s anthem “Take On Me”

A show not to be missed! See them before they start playing stadiums, and inevitably get arrested.

DRESS CODE: We encourage all children of The Bad Father to dress appropriately: Wolves in grandmas best, Transsexual Office Workers, Icecream Delivery Men, Dingoes, Smith Street Hipsters, Carol Channing on quarterzone, Ronnette Polanksi, Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Twin Towers, The Olsen Twins.

The Bad Father ‘Demonstration’ Launch Party
May 19
Doors open 7pm. Show starts 8:30pm.
$10 at the door.
The Order of Melbourne
Level 2, 401 Swanston Street

RSVP here.

For more information about The Bad Father go to www.badfather.com

Part 1: Susie Keynes

Following 10 years on the international circuit with vocal powerhouse, Fruit, the fiery redhead of that superbly acclaimed group brings Redhead to the stage. Teaming up with UK producer Paul Gomersall (Blur, Kate Bush, George Michael) Redhead has just completed the recording of it’s debut release.  Susie’s stand alone vocal sits atop a soundscape that captures gritty brit-rock, breathy ballads and soaring anthemic choruses.  Strong songs lasooed by a tight and edgy band. 

Great songs, butt-tight instrumentation, soaring vocals and a mission:  Redhead’s debut album, Ordinary Girl, is scheduled for release in North America in July 2008 and Australia September 2008. Susie has sold over 100,000 albums over a career spanning two decades.

Redhead Official Site

Part 2: Justin J Bear

Country singer turned cabaret artist, Justin J Bear has been impressing audiences all over Sydney since his arrival there 3-4 years ago.

A chameleon of song, J Bear has been known to deliver stage musicals, retro, disco, classic rock modern pop and yodel all in one night. J Bear is regularly invited to perform at GLBTI events and happily donates his time and talents to worthy community groups and causes including the Metropolitan Community, Camp Good Time (children with HIV) and the Luncheon Club. Voted Sydney Pride’s Sexiest Male & Best Vocals Tamworth.

Part 3: Jo Kerlogue

Artist and Illustrator Jo Kerlogue mediates images through her alter ego Nonchalant Sally.

“The Nonchalant Sally Experience” is an unhinged collection of montage, illustration and futuristic cult objects. Medleys of absurd two dimensional ingredients cling together with masking tape in a metaphorical, aluminum container, micro- waved on high for thirty seconds.

Investigations into drawing and painting are spliced with photography, squeezed into the juicer that is digital multi-media, ingested by mobile phone technology and regurgitated onto the web. Still images and animated illustration music videos with soundtrack power ballads create an endless pastiche, all under the guise of alter-ego Nonchalant Sally.

Official Website

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to the podcast right here on the site or download it to your iPod and enjoy it on the go.

Right-click here to download.

Part 1: Libby O’Donovan

Hailed by the Sydney Morning Herald as “a powerful, sassy performer”, Libby OʼDonovan has performed for over ten years across Australia and around the world. Her achievements include performances in Tokyo, New York City and Canada with various jazz and Cabaret acts including The Meredith Crocksley Project, Cocoʼs Lunch and her co-creations, Flat on your Bacharach and Women with Standards, for which she won a Green room award for her work as Musical Director.

Libby has starred as a cabaret and jazz performer in several major festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe, Sydney Spring Festival, Perth International Arts Festival, the International Jazz Educators Convention, Adelaide Cabaret Festival (including working with New Yorkʼs Jason Robert-Brown and Andrew Lippa), Melbourne Fringe, Adelaide Fringe, and the Wangaratta Jazz Festival. Libby continues to perform Australia-wide as well as fulfilling her commitments as a composer, arranger and musical director.

Official Website
Coco’s Lunch website

Part 2: Adam Richard

Adam is an accomplished stand up comedian and has appeared regularly on The Glass House, Spicks and Specks and Rove Live.

After a stint as Triple J’s Mister Bitch in 2002/2003, Adam is currently a member of the Fox FM breakfast team and has a weekly segment on Channel Ten’s 9am With David and Kim. Adam and his staffy, Snoops, are currently part of the Melbourne team on Network Ten’s new series, Celebrity Dog School.

Snoops is one lucky dog. Adam rescued him from a Melbourne RSPCA animal shelter and Snoops is now an officially adopted doggy.

Official website

Part 3: Logan Bold

Logan is the producer of radio play Songs in the Blood – winner in the prestigious New York Festivals Radio Broadcasting Awards, achieving a Silver Medal in the category of Radio Feature/Human Relations. One of only five Australian radio productions to achieve finalist status at the Festival, Songs in the Blood dramatises the true stories of a group of HIV positive and affected women, including mothers, sisters, partners and daughters of HIV positive people.

Logan is also co-host of Aqueerium, which continues to be the only locally produced GLBTIQ radio program in Adelaide. You can hear it on Radio Adelaide 101.5 FM or via the net at www.radio.adelaide.edu.au every Saturday morning from 11.00 until 12.00

Songs In The Blood Website

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to the podcast right here on the site or download it to your iPod and enjoy it on the go.

Right-click here to download.

Part 1: Selina Jenkins

Selina grew up in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria. After a few rebellious years acting out. she moved to Melbourne to pursue a career in singing. A chance viewing of a drag king show saw her discard her fem locks and pursue a life of character comedy.

Her iconic Australian character Beau Heartbreaker won her Best Cabaret in the 2006 Melbourne Fringe Festival, and a Best Emerging Talent nod from the Adelaide Fringe Festival. She also heads a “ridiculous” Britney Spears rock and roll cover band.

Selina continues to share the stage with some of Australia’s most successful comedians, combining her powerful singing voice with a lovable quality that has charmed festival audiences across Australia.

Myspace Profile

Part 2: Leigh Warren

Leigh Warren trained at the Australian Ballet School and later graduated to the Australian Ballet. In his final year with the ballet company he was awarded the first Churchill Scholarship for the Performing Arts, which he completed at the Juilliard School of Music, New York. Leigh’s distinguished performing career included stints with Ballet Rambert, the Netherlands Dance Theatre and Nureyev and Friends.

In 1993 Leigh formed his own company – Leigh Warren & Dancers. The company has performed for audiences in Holland, Singapore, London, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and all states of Australia.

Leigh and his company have received numerous awards, including the inaugural Adelaide Critics Circle award, four Australian Dance Awards, the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award and four Green Room Awards. In 2005 he won another Adelaide Critics’ Circle Award, this time for Innovation for Petroglyphs – Signs of Life.

Official website

Part 3: DJ Josh

DJ Josh has become an Australian DJ icon with a national profile that crosses gay and straight audiences in a career spanning over 25 years. Hailing from Adelaide, she has managed top ranking positions in the Top 50 DJ poll since its humble beginnings and is still the reigning queen in SA above her male counterparts.

Josh is the first South Australian DJ to play four Sydney Mardi Gras and has become a household name at some of Australia’s biggest clubs and dance parties including GIRLFEST 2005 & 2006, Brisbane Sleaze, Lemon-AID, On The Other Side, Kinsela’s, The Glove, NV, Stonewall, Midnight Shift, ARQ (Sydney).

Josh has been a radio broadcaster with cutting edge community radio station Fresh FM since it’s infancy and more recently for Nova FM.

Official website

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to the podcast right here on the site or download it to your iPod and enjoy it on the go.

Right-click here to download.

Part 1: Troy-Anthony Baylis

Troy was born in Sydney in 1976 with Irish and Aboriginal heritage; a descendant of the Jawoyn people from Australia’s Northern Territory. He is a leading visual and performance artist of his generation and a cultural agitator. There have been 14 solo exhibitions of his visual art in Europe and Australia as well as many more collaborative projects and performances in Canada, Asia and Australia.

His flamboyant drag creation Kaboobie has toured dozens of countries, fueling his continued interest in drag as tool of narration; an intercourse between traditional Aboriginal art and Western art of the first half on the 20th century. Troy also has one of the biggest collections of Kylie Minogue memorabilia in the world, collecting artifacts of the pop princess for the last 20 years and exhibiting them across Australia since the early naughties.

Part 2: The Blow Waves

Brewing in the seedy underbelly of Melbourne’s live scene for over two years The Blow Waves (ex Mavis’s dom Matt Thomas and ex. Love Outside Andromeda’s Jamie Slocombe) are fast becoming known for their iconic blend of disco infused punk and danceable anthems. From Adelaide’s Feast Festival in 2006 to Sydney’s Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras party in 2008 (alongside Olivia Newton-John and Cyndi Lauper), The Blow Waves have been tearing up the live scene in Australia over the last year touring and playing to sell out crowds.

Their first single “Little Bitch” is the tighty not-so-whitey result of this steamy collaboration from ex-The Mavis’s front man Matthew Thomas (most recently heard on Grammy-nominated Dirty South’s gobal club anthem Sleazy), ex-Love Outside Andromeda’s guitarist Jamie Slocombe, ex-Something For Kate’s keysleaze Wally Gunn and Adelaide (s)punk(er) bassist John Pants.

Official website

Part 3: Glace Chase

Ex-Child star, peace activist and saviour, Glace Chase is synonymous with the term “world healing”. From his worldwide debut at the age of seven in the sitcom Boy Knows How to Do It, Glace has consistently charmed, coddled and scolded the public into making a difference.

He connects to people through song, his medium of choice, and has sung acceptance into the hearts and minds of those who have heard him. His hit songs include Paedolicious, Daddy’s Little Girl (for Bindi), and Zebra Crossings (Look Both Ways).

Glace has been seen throughout Australia with his band The Management in his live show I am Glace Chase, which has played several successful seasons at Will & Tobys (NSW), The Butterfly Club (VIC) and the Adelaide Feast Festival.

Official website

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to the podcast right here on the site or download it to your iPod and enjoy it on the go.

Right-click here to download.

The show broadcasts every Thursday night at 7pm.

Beauty & The Bear is an interview-based TV series that showcases the work of high profile Australian Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (GLBTIQ) artists across a dazzling range of art forms. Hosted by Miz Ima Star (Australia’s Got Talent) and Nathan Little (The Bad Father) the show explores the arts practice of actors, dancers, directors, choreographers, radio personalities, make up artists and more!

View a video of some of the fabulous live acts we’ve captured throughout season one including The Blow Waves, Coco’s Lunch and Glace Chase.