Shangela’s Here! DragRace Superstar Raises a Glass to TV Movie / Limited Series at the Dorians TV Toast 2020 on Revry

“We’re Here” on Netflix is breaking down barriers but that’s nothing for D.J. Pierce, aka Shangela. Shangela rose to fame as the only contestant to compete on three separate seasons of the Emmy-award winning reality series Rupaul’s Drag Race (seasons 2, 3 and All Stars 3) and has gone on to feature films, tv series and more.

As an actor, Shangela (aka D.J. Pierce) has guest starred on network television shows like “2 Broke Girls,” “Glee,” “Bones,” “The Mentalist,” “X-Files,” and more. She has appeared in films including “Hurricane Bianca” (2016), ”Kiss Me, Kill Me” (2015), “Hurricane Bianca 2” and “A Star Is Born” with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. In 2012, she co-starred with Jenifer Lewis in a four-part scripted YouTube series called “Jenifer Lewis and Shangela.”

Pierce continues to climb in notoriety. He has been named one of OUT Magazine’s “100 Most Compelling People” and in 2015 was featured on Forbes.com for his drag management company Say What Entertainment. In 2018, Shangela was honored with the Rising Star Award by the LGBT Music Festival for his global contributions in performance and music.

He has written and released music (including the smash hit “Werqin Girl”), performed alongside Miley Cyrus on the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, co-produced the successful Werq The World tour as creative director and will tour his newest self-written stand up comedy show “Shook” in 2018. As Shangela, he has performed on six of the seven continents, and has sights set on Antarctica next!

A native of Paris, Texas, Pierce graduated with honors from Southern Methodist University and currently resides in Los Angeles. He is involved in various charity work and remains a member of the SAG-Aftra Union.

Comedy Legend To Present Campiest TV Show at the “Dorians TV Toast 2020 on Revry”

Writer, comic, actor and all-around great guy Bruce Vilanch is going to class up the place as he explains the meaning of Camp in his presentation of the Campiest TV Show of the year for the Dorians TV Toast 2020 on Revry.

One of the most sought-after jokesmiths in the entertainment industry, Bruce Vilanch has become a recognizable face in his own right, thanks to the feature-length documentary “Get Bruce!” (1999) and his one-time stint as a regular on “Hollywood Squares” (1998 ), for which he also served as head writer.

Mr. Vilanch was born in New York on November 23, 1948, but was adopted by the Vilanch’s–his late father, Jonas, an optometrist and his mother, Henne, a former Broadway show girl–and then grew up in Patterson, New Jersey. He has a very special bond with Henne and according to him, gets a lot of his show biz humour from her.

“She’s as obsessed with image as famous people,” Vilanch says of his mother, his hands making the kind of hyper motions that indicate adoration of the stage veteran. “When I was little, the house had what she called the showcase room. The furniture was all wrapped in plastic and nobody except company could go into it. Of course she took the plastic off then. A few years ago, the dog discovered the room, ripped through the plastic and ruined the upholstery. She called me and said she was going to redecorate it. And when I asked her what excuse she would use, she said, ‘I’m telling people it’s because Sonny Bono died.”

Known for his eclectic eyewear and collection of unique T-shirts, he began as a child model for Lane Bryant, but when his initial efforts as an actor came to naught, he became an entertainment writer for the Chicago Tribune instead. Impressed by his review of her cabaret performance in 1970, Bette Midler hired him to punch up her act where he gave birth to Midler’s famed Sophie Tucker jokes. He later moved to Los Angeles where he wrote for variety shows like the original “Donny and Marie” and “The Brady Bunch Hour” (both ABC) and provided material for Richard Pryor, Lily Tomlin and Joan Rivers. He has maintained his connection with Midler through the years, working on such projects as the feature “Divine Madness” (1980) and the TV special “Bette Midler–Diva Las Vegas” (HBO, 1997), as well as writing for her short-lived but lively sitcom, “Bette!” (CBS, 2000 ).

He made his feature debut as a dress manufacturer in “Mahogany’ (1975), starring Diana Ross, and also contributed material to her live act. Mr. Vilanch put his Muppet-like persona to excellent use as Santa’s number one helper in the syndicated TV-movie “It Nearly Wasn’t Christmas” (1989). On the heels of “Get Bruce!”, Vilanch performed his comedy stylings Off-Broadway in “Bruce Vilanch: Almost Famous” (2000). After a first act reminiscing on his odd path to almost famousness, he opened up the floor to questions in Act II, displaying his amazing ability for off-the-cuff one-liners. As he told US WEEKLY (June 12, 2000), there is a downside to celebrity: “Now, I get knocked if someone tries something that doesn’t work. Before it was the fault of these anonymous people, ‘the writers.'”

Vilanch began contributing to Academy Awards telecasts in 1989, collaborating with the likes of Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and David Letterman, and graduated to head writer in 2000. He has roasted celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor and President Clinton. The Whoopi connection led to his providing the notorious material Ted Danson performed in blackface at a certain 1993 Friars Club roast of his then-girlfriend Goldberg, but his resume also includes “You Made Me Watch You”, the touching Emmy-winning valedictory Midler crooned as a send-off to Johnny Carson.

He scripted most of the Academy Awards telecasts over the last decade, two of which won Emmys, including the one featuring Billy Crystal’s Hannibal Lecter entrance. Mr. Vilanch has also written for The Tony’s, The Grammy’s, The Emmy’s, and just about every other award show to brighten your television screen. He also participates and volunteers at almost every charity function, especially those dealing with GLBT issues.

Mr. Vilanch just capped off his 14th writing gig for the Oscars in 2003. Currently he is writing for Bette Midler’s 2003 Fall Tour and in September he will debut in the popular Broadway hit, “Hairspray”. He will be in the touring company which opens in Baltimore, September 9, 2003 at the Mechanics Theatre.

For the part of Edna Turnblad, Mr. Vilanch will have to shave off his famous 30 year old beard. No telling what’s lurking in there…but one thing it has never been able to hide….TALENT!!!

Rafael Casal to Honor the Actors at the “Dorians TV Toast 2020 on Revry”

Sexy big and small screen actor Rafael Casal will next be seen in the Blumhouse/Showtime limited series “The Good Lord Bird,” opposite Ethan Hawke, premiering in October. He can currently be seen in Cory Finley and HBO’s Emmy Award-nominated film “Bad Education,” opposite Hugh Jackman. Rafael made his feature film debut in “Blindspotting” in which he wrote, produced and starred. It premiered to critical acclaim at the Sundance and SXSW Film Festivals. It was bought by Lionsgate after a major bidding war. He’s adapting the film into a Series for Starz.

He is also currently writing and preparing to direct the feature “First Sight” for Lionsgate and a Pilot for FX.

Rafael is also well-known to audiences for his work on HBO’s Def Poetry. His digital content and music albums have garnered millions of views and listens. His theatre-in-verse works have been presented at venues across the country and his music has been featured on MTV and Showtime series as well as at the SXSW and the Sundance Film Festivals.

Rafael is the Co-Founder and the Artistic Director of the landmark Bars Workshop at the famed New York City’s Public Theater. He served as the Creative Director for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s First Wave Undergraduate Arts Program and as the Curator for the Line Breaks Festival.