Photo 1: Mindy Cohn as “Violet”
Photo 2: Jesse Archer (“Luke”) and Darian (“Adrian Armas”)
Photo 3: Jesse Archer (“Luke”), Samuel Whitten (“Riley”), & Casper Andreas (“Markus”)
Photo 4: Casper Andreas (“Markus”), Samuel Whitten (“Riley”),Shari Albert (“Ashley”), Jesse Archer (“Luke”), Mindy Cohn (“Violet”), Adrian Armas (“Darian”), Randy Jones (“Buck Winston”), & Marcus Patrick (“Zeus”) on top.


VIOLET TENDENCIES
A “Fag Hag” Goes on a Manhunt!
Meet Violet (Mindy Cohn), the titular character of Casper Andreas’ new film “Violet Tendencies”.  Our saucy heroine is constantly surrounded by handsome, horny, and fun guys.  Lucky her, right?  The catch is, they’re all gay!  The beginning of the movie finds Audrey (Margaret R.R. Echeverria), one of New York City’s most popular “fag hags”, getting married at a rooftop party in Manhattan.  The gay hookup site Manhunt is sponsoring the reception, and many stars of NYC nightlife (Hedda Lettuce, Petey the Pig, Mike Diamond) are in attendance.  Violet soon finds herself inheriting the crown as the new “queen mother” for a group of close-knit queens.  She loves her gays, and they love her back for her feistiness and her dirty sense of humor.  Unfortunately, when the party’s over, Violet finds herself home alone, nursing her loneliness with a pink dildo and a jar of peanut butter.  “I deserve someone to love me AND my pussy!” declares Violet, paraphrasing her predecessor Audrey.   She attempts a series of blind dates through a website called Frisky Friends, which only lead to some humiliating encounters and more disappointment.  In contrast, Violet’s highly sexual roommate Luke (Jesse Archer) is getting a lot of action.  Maybe a little too much.  His lover Darian (Adrian Armas), a successful hairdresser, is ready to give monogamy a try and is fed up with Luke’s bed-hopping ways.   Meanwhile, another couple, Markus (Casper Andreas) and Riley (Samuel Whitten), are having some relationship issues of their own.  Markus has bitten by the parenting bug and wants to be a daddy, even secretly opening up a makeshift nursery in their apartment for extra cash.  Riley, however, is not quite ready to nest, and even has some issues with traditionally hetero terminology like “husband”.  While the men in “Violet Tendencies” deal with the challenges of their life in the gay world, Violet finally meets a nice but bland guy named Vern (Armand Anthony) who seems to be Mr. Right.  She soon finds out, however, that he may be just as narrow as he is straight– and not very compatible with Violet’s wild ways.  Plus, our fruit fly misses her gays.  What’s a fag hag to do?

As you may have deferred by now, “Violet Tendencies” is actually three intertwined stories, all set in the pink bubble of Manhattan’s gay community (The references to “Next” Magazine is a very New York City thing!).  The movie was written by actor Jesse Archer and based on the real life experiences of actress Margaret R.R. Eccheveria, a self-proclaimed fag hag herself.  As Violet, Cohn plays a wise-cracking chubby gal who’s not afraid to poke some fun at herself (“I have an ample bosom.  My whole body’s kind of ample!”).  In other words, she plays a 40-year old version of her character Natalie from “The Facts of Life”.  The audience can’t help but root for her: We want to see our beloved TV icon get laid.  Of course, the filmmaker has much more liberty than he would in an ’80’s sitcom, and movie-goers will either be shocked or delighted (or both) to hear Cohn talk about her “fupa” (“fat upper pussy area”) and to engage in a daring sex scene (Really!).  Cohn is as funny as we remember her: One hilarious scene has Violet coming home to find that Luke has thrown a sex party at their apartment… with some, shall we say, “post-party residual” all over her sheets (Be prepared to find out what “biss” is…).  Archer has some equally funny bits, like when his character Luke calls up who he thinks is Darian and makes a drunken sex confessional.  (FYI: It’s NOT Darian!) Director Casper Andreas appears in front of the camera in a sweetly sympathetic role as the baby-minded  Markus.  Marcus Patrick (“All My Children, “Days of Our Lives”) is well-cast as a buffed, well-endowed  HIV+ go-go boy named Zeus who’s harboring a unique secret.  Cameo appearances include Village Voice columnist Michael Musto, Village People cowboy Randy Jones, comedian/actress Robbyne Kaamil, drag star Lady Clover Honey, and others.

“Violet Tendencies” is a romantic comedy which touches upon some serious subjects (gay parenting, HIV, relationship issues), but doesn’t get too deep about them.  Some reviewers may subsequently criticize the movie as being just a fairy tale, right down to the somewhat fantastical happy ending.  But with Mindy Cohn playing Cinderella, who’s complaining?

“Violet Tendencies” is coming to a theater near you.  Check out http://www.VioletTendenciestheMovie.com for more info!