Madonna’s back to the dance floor, a Heated Rivalry musical laces up & all the best LGBTQ+ releases this week
Stay in-the-know with Queerty's midweek pop culture catch-up.
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Need a boost to get over Hump Day? The Hot Sheet is Queerty’s midweek pop culture catch-up, highlighting the entertainment stories everyone’s talking about, the ones you might’ve missed, and the notable LGBTQ+ film & TV releases in the days ahead. Here’s everything you need to stay in-the-know:
What To Watch This Week
- Screams From The Tower — Now Available (VOD): Set in the ’90s, this coming-of-age comedy follows two closeted gay friends whose lives change when they host their school’s radio show.
- Margo’s Got Money Troubles — Now Streaming (Apple TV): Elle Fanning plays a mommy-to-be OF star in this quirky comedy with Nicole Kidman, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Nick Offerman.
- Beef, Season 2 — Apr. 16 (Netflix): The anthology returns with new beef between two couples at a country club—& hopefully some homoerotic tension between stars Charles Melton & Oscar Isaac!
- Dust Bunny — Apr. 17 (HBO Max): Queer TV creator Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies, Hannibal) makes his feature debut with this colorful, quirky action romp that’s all about found family.
- Erupcja — Apr. 17 (Select Theaters): On a romantic vacation with her boyfriend in Poland, a woman (Charli XCX) reconnects with her first love (Lena Góra) in this indie romantic drama.
- Michael — Apr. 17 (Theaters): Will this splashy Michael Jackson biopic pop or flop? Either way, we’re intrigued because it’s got the great Colman Domingo playing his troubled father Joe.
- Mother Mary — Apr. 17 (Select Theaters): A psychological thriller about the thorny relationship between a major pop star (Anne Hathaway) and her former costume designer (Michaela Coel).
Culture Catch-Up
POP EMERGENCY: It’s official, Madonna‘s Confessions On A Dance Floor: Part II—the long-rumored sequel to her iconic ’05 album—is coming July 3. “The dance floor is a ritualistic space,” she writes. “It’s a place where you connect—with your wounds, with your fragility.” In that case, take us to church, Madge! [Pitchfork]
@madonna Confessions On A Dance Floor: Part II — July 3 2026 ♬ I Feel So Free – Madonna
OUTSIDE THE BOX: In a gorgeous new essay, The Pitt‘s Supriya Ganesh opens up about experiencing “gender dysphoria” after moving from India to the U.S. at 18. The queer actress, who uses she/they pronouns, says she felt increasingly disconnected from her body within the American entertainment industry. [Vulture]
FULL DISCLOSURE: Recently, a clip has resurfaced of Jacob Tierney guesting on Zach Noe Towers’ podcast Good Morning, Sodomites! in 2022—well before he began work on Heated Rivalry—which features the actor-filmmaker candidly discussing his HIV status, and fans are applauding his honesty & resilience. [Queerty]
SLAP SHOTS: Meanwhile, Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody is about to drop the puck Off-Broadway, and ahead of its run in NYC this May, here’s your official first look at the production’s “Ilya” Jay Armstrong Johnson & “Shane” Jimin Moon with their jerseys on—and off! [EW]
NEXT BIG THING: Emerging filmmaker Natalie Jasmin Harris will make her feature debut with Pure, a queer coming-of-age story about two young women (First Kill‘s Imani Lewis & The Equalizer‘s Laya DeLeon) who meet within the world of Black cotillion culture in suburban Maryland. [Deadline]
GOING PUBLIC: Queer actress Ruby Rose shocked the internet this week when she she took to Threads to accuse Katy Perry of sexually assaulting her 20 years ago at an Australian nightclub, sharing the harrowing details, and adding the “I Kissed A Girl” singer is “more than welcome” to try and sue her. [LGBTQNation]
SIMPLY THE BEST: Amidst his whirlwind world tour, Conan Gray has unveiled a concert performance of his new track “The Best,” filmed live at the Kia Forum in LA. The previously unreleased song’s been a fan-favorite at the shows, and soon it’ll appear on Wishbone Deluxe, out April 24 via Republic Records.
BOOKMARK’D: In the new nonfiction book Trans Cinema, author Laura Horak explores how the trans community has told their own stories on screen, which in this exclusive excerpt includes docs like NatGeo’s Gender Revolution and TLC’s I Am Jazz that have helped reframed narratives around trans youth. [Queerty]
CHAMBER PIECE: For his follow up to Tick, Tick… Boom!, Lin-Manuel Miranda is bringing the musical Octet—about a mysterious support group for internet addicts—to the screen, with out actors Jonathan Groff & Tramell Tillman starring alongside Amanda Seyfried, Rachel Zegler, Sheryl Lee Ralph & more. [THR]
ELECTRO-THRASH: Queer pop-rock trio Muna just unleashed “Wannabeher,” the electrifying new single from their upcoming fourth album Dancing On The Wall. Co-written by Leland, it’s an addicting sapphic jock jam that plays like a spiritual sequel to Peaches’ two-decade-old classic “Boys Wanna Be Her.”
THE VELVET VOICE: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has unveiled the eight acts to be inducted into the 2026 class, including artists the cover a wide range of genres from Sade to Billy Idol to Wu-Tang Clan, as well as soul singer Luther Vandross, who is posthumously understood to have lived his life in the closet. [CNN]
LIVE LONG & PROSPER: Comedian & Star Trek: Starfleet Academy star Gina Yashere boldly went where quite a few have gone before: Costa Rica—only this time, she was there to marry her partner of 13 years, Nina Rose Fisher, in a casual destination wedding surrounded by loved ones. [GayCities]
ALL ABOARD: With each new look at Stop! That! Train!—the first-ever theatrical film from the Drag Race universe—we’re more convinced was have a future Best Picture (or at least camp classic) on our hands. This preview clip features a hilarious musical number with Brooke Lynn Hytes, Symone & Marcia Marcia Marcia!
The Final Hump
As we’ve previously covered, Fellow Travelers—the opera, not the TV miniseries with Matt Bomer & Jonathan Bailey—is in the middle of national tour this year to mark the show’s 10th anniversary. Based on the Thomas Mallon novel of the same name, it’s the story of government employees Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller & Timothy Laughlin, who meet in the 1950s in D.C. and secretly fall in love in the era known as the Lavender Scare, when Sen. Joseph McCarthy led fear-mongering anti-communism crusade.
Though the characters are fictitious, it’s inspired by our many queer ancestors who’ve had to live their lives in the shadows out of fear of repercussions, and the opera has partnered with the the American LGBTQ+ Museum on the Lavender Names Project to honor the real people & their stories. During its Seattle stop, the opera welcomed two such icons to the stage, Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer & Steve Marose, who were both forced out of military service for being gay. You can learn more about their stories and the project below:
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