THE SCOPE

CURATED BY MICHAEL WESTMAN THESCOPE

WATCH JULIA SCOTTI: FUNNY THAT WAY

IN THE COMEDY BOOM OF THE1980’S RICK SCOTTI WAS A BUSY GUY - A HEADLINER IN CLUBS ACROSS THE COUNTRY - WHEN HE CAME TO THE DAWNING REALIZATION THAT NOTHING FELT RIGHT. At a time when the words gender dysphoria and gender reassignment surgery were rarely heard, Rick’s true awakening at age 47 led to a year of hormonal treatments, surgery, and a new identity as Julia Scotti.

And then everyone turned away - former wives, friends, family, comedy world buddies, and most painfully Julia was shut out from any contact with her children. She reinvented herself, spent a decade teaching, and then several years ago, stepped back on stage at an open mic and began her journey back to the world she loves. And just as she returned to comedy, her children reached out to her after 15 years of silence.

As Julia says, her comedy always must be “fearless and honest,” and America can feel both in her performances. Since coming back to comedy in 2011, she has been named one of the Top Five Transgender Comedians in the Country, and has performed at LGBTQ events across the US, and was one of the winners of the Laughlin Laugh Festival in Nevada. She introduced herself to a national audience on Season 11 of America’s Got Talent, where Simon Cowell said, “You genuinely made me laugh.” She was the first transgender comedian to appear on national television and was a quarter finalist on the show. Not content to sit on her laurels, Julia went on to record her first, best-selling comedy CD entitled, Hello Boys I’m Back! and is gearing up to record her second one. This year, she is being featured on the Showtime Television Network Special, More Funny Women of a Certain Age.

Shot over a period of five years, Julia Scotti: Funny That Way tracks Julia’s triumphant comeback, the rough life on the road, and the complex process of reuniting with her children, as comedy becomes the shared language of identity, healing, and joy. Available June 1st on iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Xbox, Vudu, and DirectTV.

LISTEN K.D. LANG’S MAKEOVER

IN CELEBRATION OF PRIDE MONTH, NONESUCH RECORDS RELEASED K.D. LANG’S MAKEOVER, A NEW COLLECTION OF CLASSIC DANCE REMIXES OF SOME OF HER BEST-LOVED SONGS. The album brings these remixes, made between 1992 and 2000, together for the first time, and includes “Sexuality,” “Miss Chatelaine,” “Theme from the Valley of the Dolls,” “Summerfling,” and the #1 dance chart hits “Lifted By Love” and “If I Were You.” makeover’s cover art features a previously unseen 1995 portrait of lang by David LaChapelle.

“I had the idea of putting together a dance remix compilation, as I mused about how we built community in those days before the internet, mobile devices, and dating apps. Those dance clubs were a key to a world, which was still called ‘underground’ in the ’90s. I also surprised myself by finding that there was a cryptic, sort of secret zone in my career, that hadn’t been explored, overlooked even by me. Two of these tracks had even hit #1 on the dance charts!” says lang.

Called “one of the greatest singers of all time,” by Elton John and “the greatest female singer in the whole world” by fellow Canadian Michael Bublé, k.d. lang’s distinguished career includes four Grammy and eight Juno Awards. In addition to a fruitful collaboration with Tony Bennett (who calls her “the best singer of her generation”), lang has performed alongside luminaries including Roy Orbison, Bonnie Raitt, Elton John, and Loretta Lynn. She sang at the closing ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. lang has contributed music to the soundtracks of several films, including Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and Happy Feet. She has also appeared in several films, including Salmonberries, The Black Dahlia, and Eye of the Beholder. In 1996, lang received Canada’s highest civilian honor, the Order of Canada.

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READ CHARLES MORIARTY: X

FROM PHOTOGRAPHER AND AUTHOR CHARLES MORIARTY COMES X, AN INTIMATE, STRIKING, AND EMOTIONAL BOOK FEATURING OVER 130 IMAGES TAKEN OVER THE SPAN OF A DECADE. In his second book, Moriarty, who shot the iconic cover for Amy Winehouse’s debut album Frank, unveils a unique and personal archive of material. X is a distinct collection of work embodying the artist’s journey - as much with himself as with his subjects, many of whom he revisits in search of a lasting dialogue. Representing human exploration, his subjects - intentionally uncaptioned - are queer, straight, drag queens, artists, models, friends, family, and loves who candidly depict the male form in many of its diverse presentations. Further documenting Moriarty’s journey, the volume is also peppered with haunting landscapes and still life shots.

Moriarty, who grew up gay, closeted, and Catholic in Ireland in the 1980s, displays a celebration of himself and of queer bodies and the male form in the pages of X. The collection masterfully presents a topic that was taboo, and once even illegal, lensing intimacy and queerness to remarkable effect. X brings together an intimate collection following Moriarty’s personal journey that speaks to the larger queer experience. As he notes in the afterword, “Here is memory, filled with hope, desire, and sadness; there is a kaleidoscope of emotion resting on both sides of the camera.”