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News:

In the week since President Obama announced that he had ''evolved'' on the issue of same-sex couples wishing to marry, the contrast between Obama and the presumptive Republican nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, on LGBT issues has been stark — not the least of all because of a long-in-the-preparation Washington Post report about Romney's prep-school days.

Obama — who spoke of meeting lesbian and gay servicemembers who felt ''constrained'' because they remain unable to marry — told ABC's Robin Roberts on May 9 that he ''think[s] same-sex couples should be able to get married.'' The Post report, published online the next day, was the result of a lengthy investigation by The Washington Post's Jason Horowitz. Detailing what Romney described as ''hijinks'' and ''pranks,'' the report led off with discussion of Romney's problem with one student's ''bleached-blond hair that draped over one eye.''

Barack Obama

(Photo by Ward Morrison)

''He can't look like that. That's wrong. Just look at him!'' the Post reported a close friend recalling Romney having said.

The Post detailed how Romney led a group soon thereafter who tackled the student, John Lauber, and pinned him down: ''As Lauber, his eyes filling with tears, screamed for help, Romney repeatedly clipped his hair with a pair of scissors.'' Romney also, according to the Post report, mocked a second student, saying ''atta girl'' when the male student spoke up in class.

The Post's ombudsman looked into and concluded the report possibly was sped up because of Obama's announcement, but not likely coordinated in any way with the White House — a claim unambiguously denied by the Post's executive editor.

Asked about the report, Romney denied recalling either incident, and told the Kilmeade and Friends Fox News radio show, ''I played a lot of pranks in high school, and they describe some that, well, you just say to yourself, 'Back in high school, well, I did some dumb things.' And if anybody was hurt by that or offended, obviously I apologize, but overall high school years were a long time ago.''

The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network was not satisfied with this response. In a statement, GLSEN Executive Director Eliza Byard said, ''Far from being 'hijinks' or a 'prank,' Romney's behavior toward his high school classmate amounted to harassment and assault. And GLSEN remembers all too well Romney's troubling record while he was Governor of Massachusetts on programs designed to protect LGBT youth and prevent youth suicide.

Mitt Romney

''Nearly one in five [LGBT] students will be assaulted at school this year. What would Mr. Romney propose to do as President to address this horrifying reality?''

As the Post report began spreading, Romney's response to Obama's marriage comments led to a second area of dispute. While restating his views opposing marriages by same-sex couples on Fox News, Romney referenced his views on adoption by same-sex couples, saying that he believes the ''best setting for raising a child'' is with ''a mom and a dad … in the home'' — but adding, ''I also know many gay couples are able to adopt children. That's fine.''

The next day, he backtracked from that statement, claiming that when he said it was ''fine,'' he ''[was] simply acknowledg[ing] the fact that gay adoption is legal in all states but one'' — itself a misstatement of the status of the law that the Human Rights Campaign has questioned.

In a news release, HRC noted that no state specifically restricts lesbian, gay or bisexual individuals from adopting since Florida's ban was struck down by a state court in 2011. HRC adds, however, that by law, same-sex couples cannot adopt in Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio and Utah. Second-parent adoption is explicitly legal in just 26 states and D.C., with joint adoption explicitly legal in 18 states and D.C., according to HRC.

Then, on Saturday, May 12, Romney addressed the graduates of Liberty University, the conservative evangelical-based Lynchburg, Va., school founded by Jerry Falwell, telling the students, ''The American culture promotes personal responsibility, the dignity of work, the value of education, the merit of service, devotion to a purpose greater than self, and, at the foundation, the pre-eminence of the family. As fundamental as these principles are, they may become topics of democratic debate. So it is today with the enduring institution of marriage. Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman.''

The remarks prompted strong words from gay, conservative GOProud Executive Director Jimmy LaSalvia, who said in a statement, ''We have said since our founding in 2009, that we are committed to defeating Barack Obama. We remain committed to Obama's defeat. However, if Governor Romney expects to be the candidate who can beat Obama in November then he needs to embrace a strategy that makes victory possible – falling into the culture war trap laid by Obama is a guaranteed electoral loser.''

In contrast, Obama spoke to Barnard College, the women's college in New York City, Monday, May 14, tying together activism toward equal treatment of several groups by talking about ''young folks who marched and mobilized and stood up and sat in, from Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall'' — references to significant places associated with efforts to advance women's equality, black equality and LGBT equality. He did not, however, specifically mention his support for marriage equality, although the Barnard College president had done so in introducing him.

Hours later, addressing a fundraiser hosted by out gay father Ricky Martin, Obama did reference his statements on marriage explicitly, talking about ''the announcement I made last week about my views on marriage equality.''

It was the first time the president — any sitting president, for that matter — had referred to same-sex couples' attempt to secure the right to marry as ''marriage equality.''

Although there are portions of Obama's position on marriage equality that remain to be fleshed out — for example, will he speak out on ballot measures more forcefully this fall than he has done in the past — and other issues remain unresolved with LGBT advocates — for example, the White House decision April 11 not to issue an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity — the past week provided an undeniable contrast between Romney and Obama on several key issues of concern to LGBT advocates and voters.

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News:

Judging from the results, the Ward 5 special election was a cakewalk for Kenyan McDuffie.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, not including absentee and provisional ballots, McDuffie won 44.5 percent of all votes in an 11-way contest, besting his nearest challenger, Delano Hunter, by more than 20 points, in the May 15 special election to replace former Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. (D).

McDuffie, a Democrat, is considered an ally of the LGBT community, having run against Thomas as a gay-supportive candidate in 2010. After Thomas resigned and pleaded guilty to embezzlement and tax fraud, McDuffie returned to the political fray and immediately began reaching out to members of the LGBT community in his campaign. As a result of his political positions and outreach efforts, he won the endorsement of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city's largest LGBT political group.

McDuffie won 10 of the ward's 18 precincts, primarily those concentrated north of Rhode Island Avenue NE, and placed second in the other eight precincts.

McDuffie also had his best performances in precincts that, according to data compiled by the Williams Institute – a University of California, Los Angeles, think tank examining LGBT-related policy issues – have higher numbers of self-identified same-sex couples, including Bloomingdale's precincts 19 and 135, Eckington's precinct 75, and Brookland's precincts 68, 70 and 71. In all six, McDuffie's share of the vote ranged from 55 percent to 72 percent, making him the only candidate to win outright majorities in any precinct.

Lateefah Williams, president of the Stein Democrats, told Metro Weekly that Stein followed up on their endorsement of McDuffie by recruiting volunteers to help with his campaign. Williams said the organization was ''thrilled'' at McDuffie's victory and ''excited to have elected an equality-minded candidate.'' She said club members will expect much of McDuffie and are excited about what he may be able to accomplish on the City Council.

''We're proud to be one of many coalition groups and community members who banded together to get this wonderful progressive candidate elected,'' Williams said. ''We really stepped up, everything from fundraising to canvassing, and I think we really made a difference.''

Richard J. Rosendall, vice president for political affairs for the nonpartisan Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance (GLAA), told Metro Weekly that it became clear at the debates that McDuffie had emerged as the ''Stop Hunter'' candidate, referring to second-place finisher Delano Hunter, who, as a candidate running against Thomas in 2010, received the endorsement of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage.

Hunter, who received 20.15 percent of the vote, previously said that he would not have voted in favor of the District's marriage-equality law, although now he considers the matter settled and, while on the campaign trail, promised he would not seek to overturn it.

Although GLAA does not make endorsements, it does rate candidates for political office based on their record on LBGT rights and their responses to a questionnaire. Rosendall said McDuffie received a rating of 4 – on a scale of -10 to 10 – from GLAA, while Hunter received a half-point rating.

Rosendall said McDuffie's win was especially impressive in that he won almost half the vote in a crowded field of candidates. He also said that McDuffie's solid victory, like Thomas's in 2010, was an ''affirmation'' that a candidate could stand up and support the LGBT community in Ward 5 without suffering at the polls.

''McDuffie seemed to be on the ball, and reached out early and tried to establish relationships,'' Rosendall said of McDuffie's LGBT outreach efforts. ''Overall, McDuffie will be a friendly face on the council. We expect he will be sympathetic and receptive to our concerns, and we're optimistic that we will work well with him.''

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News:

The Virginia House of Delegates today rejected the nomination of an openly gay man to Richmond General District Court, denying him the 51 votes needed to become the first out gay judge in the commonwealth.

Tracy Thorne-Begland, a prosecutor in General District Court, received 33 votes in favor of his nomination to the bench, with 31 delegates voting against, 10 delegates abstaining and 26 others not voting.

The vote split largely along party lines, with 25 Democrats and eight Republicans, mostly from districts in Fairfax County and the Richmond suburbs, voting for his nomination. All 31 votes against Thorne-Begland came from Republicans, with nine Republicans and one independent abstaining, and 19 more Republicans and seven Democrats not voting.

Thorne-Begland was one of nearly three-dozen nominees, but was the only one rejected after conservative lawmakers, particularly Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William Co.), and the conservative group The Family Foundation led the charge against Thorne-Begland's nomination.

Marshall, who is running for the U.S. Senate in a primary against George Allen – former governor and former U.S. senator – questioned whether Thorne-Begland could be impartial in upholding Virginia law, including the state's ban on same-sex marriage, considering his sexual orientation.

Other opponents raised questions about Thorne-Begland's personal life, noting his marriage to a man with whom he is raising two children, and his former position as a board member for the nonpartisan LGBT-rights group Equality Virginia.

Opponents also questioned his honesty and integrity because he had concealed his sexual orientation in the military until 1992, when he was honorably discharged after revealing his sexual orientation and speaking against the ''Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy.

In response to the House vote, Equality Virginia issued a statement condemning the legislators who refused to confirm Thorne-Begland.

''Equality Virginia is profoundly disappointed and dismayed that the Virginia General Assembly allowed fear mongering and shrill personal attacks by the Family Foundation and Delegate Bob Marshall to derail Richmond lawyer Tracy Thorne-Begland's election to the bench simply because he is an out gay man,'' James Parrish, Equality Virginia's executive director, said in a statement. ''Mr. Thorne-Begland has served his country and his city with honor and unquestioned competence, first as a Navy pilot, and then as a prosecutor.''

''The fact that the Legislature caved in to the Family Foundation's biased blathering is another unfortunate marker on the forced march to the past on which they seem determined to lead the Commonwealth,'' Parrish continued.

Del. Manoli Loupassi (R-Richmond), a lawyer and former prosecutor who had spoken in favor of Thorne-Begland, said he was disappointed that Thorne-Begland's nomination had been rejected.

''I thought he was qualified – highly qualified – for the job,'' Loupassi told Metro Weekly. ''My dealings with him have always been very respectful. He's very knowledgeable and very professional.''

With the General Assembly's failure to confirm Thorne-Begland, it now falls to the Richmond Circuit Court to fill the vacancy, Loupassi explained. While he doesn't know if the court would consider naming Thorne-Begland to the post, he said he would support such a move.

''I'm sorry it happened,'' Loupassi said of the rejected nomination.

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News:

Following a reported bomb threat, the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBT organizations in Washington evacuated their offices today. According to Fred Sainz, HRC's vice president for communications, the Los Angeles Police Department received an unspecified bomb threat against a ''national gay rights organization,'' which led the LAPD to notify the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department of the threat, which subsequently notified HRC and others.

An HRC email to staff quickly circulated among other groups, such as the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Black Justice Coalition and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.

HRC President Joe Solmonese waits as police inspect HRC headquarters

(Photo by Will O'Bryan)

''In the utmost of caution we are evacuating the building so that the police can conduct a sweep using the bomb-sniffing dogs,'' that email, sent at 11:58 a.m., read in part. ''We need everyone to leave the building until further notice. We estimate that this will take at least an hour.''

With the surrounding block cordoned off, police vehicles surrounded the building and prevented pedestrians from approaching as teams led dogs in search of any threat. By 12:50 p.m., MPD called the all-clear and people began re-entering the building.

HRC President Joe Solmonese, returning to the building, said this was the second time that the headquarters, at 17th Street and Rhode Island Avenue NW, had been evacuated since he began as president in March 2005. The other evacuation occurred during the August 2011 earthquake, ''When we thought it really was a bomb,'' said Solmonese, due to leave HRC in June.

A few blocks away, at the building that houses the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the National Center for Transgender Equality, at 1325 Massachusetts Ave. NW, as well as several other non-LGBT entities, staff waited outside as police began searching that address at about 1 p.m.

Darlene Nipper, the Task Force's deputy executive director, standing among the crowd seemed to take the threat in stride. ''It's an indeterminate threat,'' she said, adding the organization would rather err on the side of caution.

At The DC Center, the city's LGBT community center, Executive Director David Mariner said he was in touch with MPD's Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU). Although a local organization, Mariner said the GLLU advised him that officers would be inspecting the center, at 1318 U St. NW, later today.

As of 1:50 p.m., MPD had nothing further to add to this report.

[UPDATE, 2:40 p.m.: MPD added that two other organizations, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce at 729 15th St. NW and the GLLU office at 1369-A Connecticut Ave. NW were also evacuated. No hazardous materials have been found at any of the sites.]

[UPDATE 5:10 p.m.: Karen Ocamb of the L.A.-based LGBT/POV blog, after speaking with LAPD media relations, reports that the threat was made via payphone "through the 911 system from a caller who stated that he was going to blow up the LGBT building in Washington, D.C." The LAPD spokesperson, Detective Gus Villanueva, told Ocamb the call was made at 8 a.m. Pacific Time, but could not release the location of the payphone.]

Will O'Bryan and John Riley contributed to this report.

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Books:

''I think there's no doubt that whatever the stereotype of two lesbians raising kids is, a clean-cut, engineering, Eagle Scout entrepreneur from Iowa probably isn't that image,'' Zach Wahls tells Metro Weekly.

Although that may have been the case before Wahls hit the scene, he has been working nonstop for the past 15 months to make that image exactly what people picture.

''My Two Moms'' by Zach Walls

When Wahls initially spoke out about his moms, Jackie and Terry, it was during a public forum on an Iowa resolution that would have moved the state toward a vote ending marriage equality there. As Wahls defended his family in the testimony, which was videotaped and uploaded to YouTube, he said, ''If I was your son, Mr. Chairman, I believe I would make you proud.''

Fifteen months and more than 2.5 million views later, Wahls has been all over the nation, recognized for his testimony and subsequent work by groups like the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

Now he's written a book — My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family — that led Jon Stewart to gush over the Iowan during an appearance earlier this month on The Daily Show.

Among the aims of the book, he says, is ''reaching out to people who are still kind of on the fence and who think, 'It's a free country, and people should be able to do what they want, but how's it gonna affect the kids?'''

Wahls answers the question by example, coming to D.C. Thursday, May 17, to help the Family Equality Council lobby Congress on LGBT family issues.

Family Equality Council spokesman Steve Majors tells Metro Weekly, ''We can think of no better spokesperson than children like Zach to go to Capitol Hill to talk with our members of Congress. He is the living embodiment of what three decades of social research has told us, that these kids are successful, thriving personally and professionally, and have the same outcomes and opportunities as the children of straight couples.''

Wahls says, ''We can't forget how important policy is, if for no reason other than that the government does have a certain level of moral authority in the eyes of many, many Americans. That's why I'm going to talk with these lawmakers who represent Iowa and have this conversation with them about what it means to be an American in this country who has LGBT parents and just try to move past some of the myths and the misconceptions and, quite frankly, the rhetoric that surrounds the issue.''

And Wahls isn't done. Among his plans for the coming year are continued visits to speak across the country, ''crisscrossing Iowa talking to people, … going up to Minnesota doing the same thing ahead of the constitutional amendment fight that we have in the fall, and, beyond that, hopefully finding some time to relax. It's been a crazy 15 months.''

He also hints at politics, saying that he would ''love to work in renewable energy'' although there are ''a lot of people who would love to see me work in politics'' — to which he says, ''The future is awfully hard to predict. I'm definitely keeping my options open.''

The highlight of his activism during the past 15 months, though, was not difficult for Wahls to pinpoint.

''Meeting Jon Stewart. Definitely.''

Watch Zach's famous testimony:

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News:

Capital Pride this morning announced the five locals who have been selected to serve as the 2012 Capital Pride Heroes. They are Andrew Barnett, Eboné Bell, Michelle Benecke, Kevin Platte and Justin B. Terry-Smith.

''Each year, members of the community nominate individuals who have helped to further the causes of the LGBTA community,'' Capital Pride explained in a May 14 release announcing the heroes. ''A committee then selected this year's top LGBTA heroes from those nominations. In addition to the gala, Heroes are honored throughout the two-week celebration of Pride.''

Barnett

That gala, the ''Heroes Gala & Silent Auction,'' is Wednesday, May 30, marking the start of Capital Pride, which ends Sunday, June 10, with the Capital Pride Festival. But the celebration of these heroes has already begun.

Barnett, executive director of metro D.C.'s Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), says he learned of the honor about two weeks ago, adding that while the award may be in his name, he ''absolutely'' hopes that it will help with his organization's work.

''It's a huge honor,'' says Barnett. ''My hope it is it will raise awareness of SMYAL's mission.''

Being a hero means, however, that Barnett may have to forgo marching with the SMYAL contingent in the June 9 Capital Pride Parade. Traditionally, a hero rides alone – in a convertible, of course. He has no doubt the SMYAL parade showing, already on track for something big, will be just fine.

''I'll definitely miss being a part of the SMYAL contingent this year, but it's going to be a memorable contingent even if I'm not part of it,'' Barnett promises.

Bell

Bell, whose BOI Marketing & Promotions gives D.C. its annual Capital Queer Prom, says she'll miss hitting the parade with her prom peers, but she certainly won't have time to dwell on it. She'll be too busy helping with an array of women's events during Capital Pride, performing at the festival, and on and on. It's that sort of community involvement, though, that's raised her to hero status.

''I'm completely honored to have this award in that, one, I was nominated, and, two, the board selected me,'' Bell says. ''Every year, I'm completely in shock that people continue to notice the work that I do. It's motivation for me to continue what I'm doing. That other people recognize it is absolutely amazing, truly an honor.''

Platte, founder of the DC Cowboys, plans on running back to the cowboys' rolling parade stage after making it through the route on hero duty, saying the parade is enough fun to warrant two or three rides along the route.

Platte

With the DC Cowboys dance troupe having entertained in the District and well beyond for nearly two decades, Platte knows what he's talking about. He's enjoyed more than his fair share of Capital Pride festivities. That makes it all the more appropriate that the cowboys have scheduled their last appearance for the Capital Pride Festival, adding even more weight to this special honor.

''I'm truly honored to be recognized for all the good work this organization's done,'' Platte says of his cowboys, stressing that the title of Capital Pride Hero isn't really his alone. ''This honor has to be shared with all the dancers, past and present, and the fans.''

Between being named Capital Pride Hero and the DC Cowboys curtain call, Capital Pride will obviously be an emotional time for Platte. ''It's exciting. It's nerve-wracking. It's sad. It's all the emotions tied together,'' he shares. There's also good reason for Benecke, co-founder of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), to experience an extra jolt of emotion as she rides the parade route, remembering back nearly 20 years when participated with less jubilation, more determination.

Benecke

''I will always remember marching in the Capital Pride Parade in 1993 when DADT was being debated, just before C. Dixon Osburn and I founded SLDN, seeing straight colleagues from law school in the crowd applauding the military veterans group I was marching with,'' says Benecke, an Army veteran, of walking with Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Veterans of America, emphasizing an appreciation of Capital Pride being not just for the LGBT community but for allies as well.

Of course, the award itself is not too shabby.

''The national capital area has been my home for 20 years. D.C. has been a beacon for me,'' she says. ''To have one's community recognize your life's work is deeply gratifying.''

Terry-Smith

Simply being in Benecke's company as a fellow Capital Pride Hero is also gratifying, says Terry-Smith, just starting service with the volunteer Maryland Defense Force, thrilled to be named with a co-founder of SLDN.

The recognition as hero, however, comes not for defending his state, but largely for helping individuals defend themselves from HIV, or better cope with the virus if already infected. While his service to the community has been recognized by The DC Center, DC Leather Pride and others, Terry-Smith says this particular honor tells him his activism has greater impact than he realized.

''When you receive an award, you think, 'Who's giving it to me? How did my work impact that community?''' says Terry-Smith. ''When you get an award like Capital Pride Hero, you realize you're affecting every LGBTQ person in the D.C. area – transgender, leather, bi, lesbian, twink – everybody. I'm really honored to even be considered. I'm so excited about this.''

[Editor's note: Eboné Bell has worked with Metro Weekly on a freelance basis.]

For biographies of all Capital Pride Heroes, visit capitalpride.org. The Capital Pride Heroes Gala & Silent Auction is Wednesday, May 30, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., at Living Social, 918 F St. NW. For tickets, $50, call 202-719-5304, ext. 0. Space is limited.

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Books:

When Everett Maroon puts his mind to writing, there's no telling what might come out. Take the novel Super Queers he's shopping around. It's your typical ''D.C. LGBT yuppies go to Whole Foods, ingest sesame noodles with odd properties, develop odd super powers, save the world'' routine.

''One guy's power is that if anyone touches him, they get an instant orgasm,'' explains Maroon from his home in Walla Walla, Wash. ''There's a germaphobe who can create 'balls of santorum.'''

Everett Maroon

(Photo by Courtesy Everett Maroon)

Super Queers, however, is not the book bringing Maroon back to D.C., where a decade ago he helped found the D.C. Trans Coalition. No, the book that's bringing Maroon back is Bumbling into Body Hair: A Transsexual's Memoir. Friday, May 18, he'll offer a reading at D.C.'s Martin Luther King Jr. Library. The next day, he'll be the keynote speaker at Capital TransPride.

TransPride co-chairs invited Maroon not just for his ties to the founding of the D.C. Trans Coalition, but to inject some levity into the sixth annual event.

''From their corner of the bedroom, the place where I've made this foray into futility, my two cats watch me in what is either indifference or amusement, refusing to give anything away in their expressions,'' Maroon writes in the prologue to Bumbling, explain a long-lost attempt to strap down his bosom with cling wrap. ''I notice the stench of fresh plastic and take stock of my situation. Now that I've wrapped myself in a roll of cellophane, my fingers are bleeding from the razor strip on the box, while sweat oozes out of my temples and armpits.''

It's not pretty, but it is funny. And it's completely in line with Maroon's planned Saturday speech.

''I'm going to talk about humor and civil rights,'' says Maroon. He adds with a chuckle, ''I could bring the 'angry Everett' with me, but everyone's over that.''

Everett Maroon reads from Bumbling into Body Hair, available at Amazon for $14.95 or as an e-book for $2.95, Friday, May 18, at 4 p.m., at Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 901 G St. NW. Capital TransPride is Saturday, May 19, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 400 I St. SW.

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Poll: //

Read Chris Heller's review of Dark Shadows here.

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Stage:

Maybe you don't love Judy Garland. Maybe you don't understand or – gasp! – respect her ties to the gay community, or why she still has a hold on so many gay men of a certain age. There's even a name for their idol worship: Judyism.

Myopia aside, if that's your deal, you're still not off the hook to see End of The Rainbow while it's on Broadway. To be sure, there are flaws in the story this British import by Peter Quilter tells about Garland in her twilight, in the months before she accidentally overdosed on barbiturates, as she worked to make yet another comeback. In the vivid play with music, we see Garland both on stage and in her London hotel suite, where she's settled in for a five-week run at a theater performing cabaret.

End of the Rainbow

But there's nary a flaw in the actress in the spotlight: Tracie Bennett, who doesn't so much impersonate as embody Garland. The actress was only eight years old when Garland died, and now at 50, she's also three years older than Garland lived. And Bennett is living as Garland eight shows a week at Broadway's ornate Belasco Theatre, giving her all.

Bennett even has the kind of humble backstory to make one swoon. Raised in an industrial British town, Bennett made her way to London's West End to become an actress. Over the years she's won two Olivier Awards – London's equivalent to the Tonys – but only for supporting roles. Before End of the Rainbow, in fact, Bennett told the New York Times the longtime chorus girl had effectively given up on becoming a leading lady. Kudos to director Terry Johnson for first tapping her in London and sticking by her for the New York transfer, which has now deservedly earned her a Tony nomination.

Bennett's is a brutally honest portrayal of a diva overwhelmed by her talents, too easily distracted from realizing her full potential. Her portrayal is not a note-for-note impersonation, though she does have the voice, the look, the mannerisms and above all Garland's cutting wit and sensibility down pat. Especially in the scenes in Garland's London suite, Bennett portrays a side to Garland that you know she had but one she hardly ever showed publicly: Her vulnerability, her insecurity and especially the toll that being all alone up on stage was taking on her. In this portrayal at least, she's incredibly lonely: She doesn't have any close friends, and she's not really connecting with the few people around her, chiefly her latest fiancé and her gay accompanist.

And that's where the flaws lie in End of the Rainbow, those two characters. Her fiancé Mickey Deans is first presented as her younger protector, a man she chose with the express purpose of helping her abstain from drugs and revive her career. It's not unreasonable to believe Deans would fail at that under her constant badgering for booze and pills, and given his history in the nightclub business. But to then pull a 180 and become an enabler, almost forcing her to do drugs? At least in the earnest way Tom Pelphrey has portrayed Deans up until that point, it just doesn't make sense. It's also a bit of a cheap shot: Giving the audience someone to blame for Garland's downfall. Someone, that is, other than the woman herself.

END OF THE RAINBOW Belasco Theatre 111 West 44th St. New York Tickets are $31.50 to $199.50 212-239-6200 telecharge.com

Michael Cumpsty offers a sincere portrayal of Garland's gay accompanist Anthony, a devout Judyist. At the play's climax Anthony throws himself at Garland, asking her to marry him instead of Deans, in a manner that seems a strained attempt to express the idea that all men, gay as well as straight, failed this diva. There may be truth to the notion, but it's also critical to remember this was before the gay rights movement, before the 1969 Stonewall riots – which, of course, many argue were triggered by gay grief over Garland's death. (The riots started the very day after her New York funeral.) Gay men were still failing themselves at that point, so it's a bit much to equate them with Garland's failed straight suitors.

But through it all, there's Bennett, putting the spotlight on a tragic story and a tragic diva too easily forgotten in today's hyper-celebrity culture, when there's a new trumped-up tragedy and tragic heroine nearly every day.

Judy Garland was the genuine article.

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