The Purple Circuit promotes GLQBT
and feminist theater and performance.

John Hillard, Trip Hope, Andrea Helene image: Carolyn Hauck

New York choreographer, Anna, grieves for her gay roommate Robbie, a brilliant dancer, who recently died with his lover in a boating accident. Anna now finds herself desired by two men, however, she is not ready for romance. The play explores grief, passion, emotional honesty, and the nature of art.

January 10, 2004
Playhouse West Repertory Theatre, N. Hollywood, California

Hutchins Foster, Rey Howard Matty Ferraro image: Maximillian Noah

An hilariously campy Oscar Wilde day dreams about William Shakespeare’s “gay” phase. The play explores the theory that Shakespeare’s sonnets were inspired by his love of his male muse.

Cast includes: Hutchins Foster (Oscar Wilde), Rey Howard (William Shakespeare), Matty Ferraro (Willie Hughes)

January 23, 2004
Celebration Theatre, West Hollywood, California

image: ?

January 23, 2004
Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex, New York, NY

Excerpts from Ramos’ recent dance work “Me, Me, Me.” Experiments with hair as willpower and explores visions of his childhood in Puerto Rico, religion and spirituality, his life as a gay man in NYC, and his dancing life. Part of a “Shared Evening Performance & Discussion,” featuring Division 13 Productions, Hoffbauer/Sanchez Works, and Antonio Ramos.

January 23, 2004
Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Brooklyn, New York

image: ?

An epic fairytale with a twist: in this version, Cinderella captures the heart of the beautiful Princess. A mix of contemporary themes and fairytale storytelling that creates a visually stunning feast, as well as a touching story of true love.

Cast includes: Lauren Thomas (The Princess), Trina Palmer (Cinderella), Matthew Abergel (King Phillip), Areyah Krause-Nadler (The Duke), Matthew Burlingame (Lady Ariadne), Brian Judd (Lady Meave), JJ Charlesworth (The Stepfather), Maureen Gaynor (Grand Inestimable Eagle), Susan Soesbe (Grandmother Clock), Michelle Ailusio (The Gorgon), Cynthia Hawes and Sarah Rowland (Evil Stepbrothers), Jason Oler (Sir Henry), and Shelly Crouse-Monarez, Steve Buri, Liz Todd (Revelers).

January 24, 2004
24th Street Theatre, Sacramento California

A reading directed by Steven McElroy
Produced by TOSOS II
In association with Out Professionals

TV journalist Nadine Dwyer has only one passion: her career. When Father Allen presents a very different way of looking at things, Nadine sets out destroy him. Her attempts to ruin him turn her into the kind of TV journalist she never wanted to become; one who uses sensationalism to sell a story.

Screaming is a finalist for the Playwright’s Center Jerome Foundation Grant. It was given a workshop production by Emerging Artists Theatre in June 2003.

Cast includes Tom Dusenbury, Jamie Heinlein, Kira Onodera, Jim Parsons, Ellen Reilly, Barbara Spence. Presents as part of LISTEN UP, the Robert Chesley / Jane Chambers Playwright Project.

January 25, 2004
City Center, New York, New York

image: ?

Monica Palacios - writer and performer, recently awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship. Tentaciones Magazine named her one of the 16 most influential LGBT Latinas/os for 2002 for her activism, achievements, visibility and leadership.

Alison M. De La Cruz - poet, performer, producer, and cultural activist. She will be performing an except from her new solo show “Naturally Graceful.”

D-Lo - Sri Lankan spoken-word artist and performer. She uses humor and hip-hop for part of her work.

Maiana Minahal - queer, Filipina-American poet and teacher. She received an Artist Award Grant from the Serpent Source Foundation, and is a founding member of the “Kreatibo” artist collective. Maiana’s book of poetry, “Sitting Inside Wonder,” was published by Monkey Press in November 2003.

Claudia Rodríguez - writer and activist. She is a co-founder and board member of “Tongues,” lesbians of color collaborating for social change.

Jennifer Joy Pawlitschek - writer, actor and college professor. She is currently developing “The Physics of Love,” which utilizes quantum physics to explore a love story.

Sponsored in part by the Liberty Hill Lesbian and Gay Fund, Astrea and Roots and Wings.

January 25, 2004
Highways Performance Space, Santa Monica, California

Presented by Performing Arts Productions Australia and Midsumma
Directed by Robert Chuter

A startling dirty dialogue, savage voyage into the U.S. porn industry. This play charts the progress, and regress, of porn star Joey Stefano. Born Nick Iacona Jr. in Chester, Pennsylvania, he was entered a life of prostitution and substance abuse. But he had one of the most perfect bubble butts in America, which he used to become one of the hottest “bottoms” in gay porn. As his career blossomed, so did his demons: the memory of sexual abuse by his father, his drug dependency, his erratic and outrageous behavior on set, his desperate search for approval and self-esteem through sex.

Cast includes: Christopher Pender as Stefano. Contains nudity, high-level sexual content and explicit language.

January 27, 2004
Theatreworks, St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia

Presented by Performing Arts Productions Australia and Midsumma
Directed by Robert Chuter

From his first porn film in 1988, he was idolized and emulated as a paradigm of male sexual iconography. By 1990, he earned more than a hundred thousand dollars a year, and eventually made nearly 40 films. However, he was constantly intoxicated and difficult to work with. This play chronicles a life derailed, one that started with bright promise. The one-timer love of Joey Stefano, Vincent ended his life with heroin addiction and despair.

Cast includes Aaron Smith as Jon Vincent. Contains nudity, high-level sexual content and explicit language. Adapted from the book “A Thousand and One Night Stands” by Hope A. Carson.

January 28, 2004
Theatreworks, St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia 3182

Micah Sunshower Klatt, Leif Norby, Matt Higgins, Laura Faye Smith photo source: Cayley Bell

A dark comedy that sparkles with anarchic wit as it savagely smashes social conventions. Idealism masked with biting cynicism. Life, death, motherhood, religion, authority — all explored through irreverent humor. Deadpan outrageousness.

Cast includes: Kevin-Michael Moore (McLeavy), Laura Faye Smith (Fay), Micah Sunshower Klatt (Hal), Matt Higgins (Dennis), Leif Norby (Truscott), and Spencer Conway (Meadows).

January 30, 2004
CoHo Theater, Portland, Oregon

Directed by Derek Jamison
Presented by Emerging Artists Theatre

It is 1969 and soldiers are going to Vietnam, astronauts are landing on the moon, and Neil Greenglass is hopelessly in love with the rebellious neighbor boy who is temporarily crashing at his house. The radicalism rubs off and inspires Neil to create an art project for high school that shakes up this small town in Delaware. In this staunchly traditional neighborhood, Neil’s true feelings must remain repressed, and for the younger generation, the American Dream seems far away and hard to reach.

Cast of this world premiere includes Wynne Anders, Jacqueline Barsh, Glory Gallo, Jason Hare, Aimee Howard, Jason O’Connell, and Stephen Sherman.

January 31, 2004
Intar Theater, New York, New York

Directed by John Jenkins
Produced by the Theatre School, DePaul University, and the Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences
In partnership with the YWCA Loop Women’s Services, rape crisis center

It is Matt’s year to excel on his high school wrestling team, but innuendo about his friendship with Luke causes Matt to question himself and his priorities. The play focuses on everyday teen issues; peer pressure, the search for identity, and the destructive power of rumors.

Cast includes: Chameka Cole (Melanie), Wilam Fleming (Willy), Maris Hudson (Kori), John Lewis (Jolt), Calvin Marty (Luke), Danielle Syslo (Heather), John Walter (Matt), Lakeisha Woodard (Nicole) and Lauren Pretnar (Referee). Post-show discussions. Following the theatrical run, “Wrestling” will be performed at selected schools and other locations.

Mature themes, recommended for 13 and older
YWCA Loop Women’s Services: Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline 888-293-2080

February 2, 2004
Athenaeum Studio Three, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago

Directed by Jill Soloway
Produced by Sue Hamilton
Presented by the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Program
at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center

It’s the murky waters of feminine self-discovery! Former TV journalist — turned New Age darling — Sandra Ragsdale (Lynch) expertly guides a bevy of damaged women to their own deeply feminine resources. Cast includes Jane Lynch, Victoria Delaney, Laura Coyle and Ann Lippert. With original music by Jane Lynch and Faith Soloway.

“Stylish sendup … refreshingly screwball … inspired nonsense … sidesplitting” - Los Angeles Times

February 2, 2004
The Renberg Theatre, Hollywood, California

image: Howard Cruse

Can orphan boys survive “the deeps of space?” A 1962 novel for boys is the basis and actual script of this loving homage to the sci-fi drive-in movie genre.

Cast includes: Helen Bessette, Shay Gines, Michael Hartney, Jimmy Maize, Joshua Polenberg, Brian Charles Rooney, Tony Tallon, Justin Tyler, Casey Weaver

Theater space provided by Emerging Artists Theatre

February 5, 2004
Intar Theater, New York, New York

image: ?

On a routine visit to her therapist, Helen Ransome reveals childhood betrayals, sexual awakening, and a chilling connection to a recent murder. Did she kill her husband that very morning, or didn’t she? Helen has a bad habit of fabricating lies to suit her mood. Her therapist, Dr. Steve (Frank Blocker), has a difficult day ahead of him.

Cast includes: Rochelle Burdine (Helen Ransome) and Frank Blocker (Dr. Steve).

February 12, 2004
Whole World Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia

Erica Blue Steven Patterson, Alison Sacha Ross image: John Sowle

The surrealist painter’s incredible life provides background for exploring the dilemma of whether art (or an artist) can thrive once showered with fame and fortune. Dali’s biography is explored, seeking the influences which shaped his vision.

In celebration of the centenary of Dali’s birth, this premiere portrays a surreal, tragi-comic world in which Dali is bombarded by scenes from his past, present and future as he steams his way toward Manhattan for the first time. “An Impersonation of Angels” is an extensive re-working of Carbone’s play “Salvador Dali Talks to the Animals,” which won three SF Bay Guardian Upstage/Downstage Awards, and a Garland Award Honorable Mention from BackStage West. Brad Rosenstein of the Guardian called it “a ‘paranoic-critical hallucination’ to rival Dali’s own.”

Cast includes Dan Carbone (Old Dali), Kathryn Trask (Lidia Noguer), Paul Gerrior (Dead Baby Salvador), Christian Cagigal (Federico Garcia Lorca, King Juan Carlos of Spain), Erica Blue (Gala Dali), Alison Sacha Ross (Cecile Eluard), Pavlos Psoinos (Senor Trayter), John Baumann (Cowman, Queen Sofia of Spain), Bill Parker (Pope John Paul I), and Steven Patterson [Actors Equity] (Young Dali, Jeff Fenholt).

February 19, 2004
EXIT on Taylor, San Francisco, California

Directed by Frank A. Barnhart
Produced by Act Out Productions

Based on a true story, focuses on the lives of New York firefighters after the tragedy of 9/11. Cast includes John Kuhn and Cate Blair-Wilhelm.

“It gives credible and powerful voice to a very specific kind of pain that we crave these days to understand … perhaps the keenest message to emerge is the assertion that writers and actors have a serious role to play in a grieving society.” - The New York Times

The play is presented as a fundraiser for The Central Ohio Fire Museum. A complimentary block of tickets are set aside each night for firefighters and their spouses.

February 27, 2004
Shedd Theatre at the Davis Discovery Center, Columbus, Ohio

David Sandercott (model), Will Willoughby (Michelangelo) image: Tom Nelson

A romantic comedy set in 1506 Rome. Michelangelo at 33 is the most noted artist in Europe, and must decide what to do with his talent, power, and life. Three older artists (Leonardo DaVinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Agnolo Bramante who designed St. Peter’s), and three beautiful young men (a hustler, prince, and peasant) offer possible “models” for Michelangelo’s future life and loves. Pope Julius II, the painter Raphael, and beautiful Simonetta Vespucci who was the model for “The Birth of Venus,” become involved in the resulting romances and ruses of this Renaissance romp.

Cast includes: Howard Ferguson-Woitzman, Cameron Fife, Tim Karasawa, Flip Laffoon, Justin Martindale, Jonathon Mundale, David Sandercott, Maria Santucci, Jason Squire, John Strickland, Will Willoughby, plus understudy Cameron Fife.

For comments on this show, please see this report from Bill Kaiser and Doric Wilson: Bi-coastal Robert Patrick

March 4, 2004
Rose Alley Theatre, Venice, California

Graham Fulmer (Aron), Kevin Held (Penn) image: Mike Doyle

Ambitious, closeted Hollywood screenwriter Penn repeatedly corrals his frustrated lover Aron into staying in the closet with him, in a non-stop battle of insults, endearments, and epigrams.

For comments on this show, please see this report from Bill Kaiser and Doric Wilson: Bi-coastal Robert Patrick

March 4, 2004
NativeAlien’s Flatiron Playhouse, New York, New York

Danny Casillas, Judi Evans, Cheryl Tsai image: Jodean Bifoss

A long time ago, in a place far, far away, a man named Jesus Skywalker embarked on a journey of self-awareness, all the while trying to figure out just who in the hell his father is. Pretty, naive Anna arrives in Siam ready to bring book learnin’ to the King’s kiddies. But terror strikes her heart when she realizes she hasn’t got the goods for the job. In desperation, she reaches out to gal pals (how do you solve a problem like) Maria, (the sun will come out) Annie, and (the very catty) Grizabella for help. Driving to town, they accidentally run over the King. They secretly bury the body, but when the letters start to arrive, there’s no doubt that “The King and I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

Judi Evans (Days of Our Lives) plays Anna. This musical spoof blends two familiar tales, and also includes three “preview trailers” for future shows, and a Los Angeles Times mockumentary.

March 5, 2004
The Egyptian Arena Theatre, Hollywood, California

image: ome Design

The incredible, true-life story of a French diplomat convicted for espionage because of a twenty-year affair with a Beijing Opera diva. Not only had the French diplomat failed to recognized that this lover was a spy, he’d also failed to recognize that “she” was a he.

Cast includes: Jesse MacKinnon (Rene Gallimard), Diep Huynh (Song Lilang), Melissa Fernandes, Manuel J. Fernandes, Jonathan Dunn-Rankin, Kimberly Miller, Emily Ann Smith, Kathy Song, and Puay Kua.

At its debut in 1988 on Broadway, Frank Rich in the New York Times described M. Butterfly as “A visionary work that bridges the history and culture of two worlds.” In 1988, M. Butterfly won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Desk Award, and the Outer Critic’s Circle Award.

March 18, 2004
Diversionary Theatre, San Diego, California

Brooks Braselman (Christina), Jamie Morris (Joan) image: Mitch Soileau; image: Dustin Woehrmann

A story of the Oscar-winning movie star Joan (clean-freak) Crawford, and her tumultuous relationship with adopted daughter Christina. But what if all those years Joan was really a man? And not just any man in drag, but the true Queen of Hollywood. For years she fooled the studio, her fans, her kids, and the world. That is, until Christina finds out, plots her revenge, and publishes a scathing tell-all entitled “Daddy Dearest.” Even then, it’s Joan who has the last laugh.

The play features an all-male cast: Jamie Morris (Joan), Brooks Braselman (Christina), Jeffrey Drew (Carol Ann/plus others), Bradley Griffith (Greg/plus others).

In March 2005, “Mommie Queerest,” as performed at the Cabaret Ultra Suede, was nominated for four L.A. Weekly Awards — Brooks Braselman and Jamie Morris for Comedy Performance; Jamie Morris for Adaptation; and Christopher Kenney for Comedy Direction.

See video promo: youtu.be/-bUHIwz029w

April 1, 2004
Cabaret Ultra Suede, West Hollywood, California

image: ?

A British man and an Egyptian man struggle to make sense of their respective worlds when the latter is severely beaten in what looks like a needless political act. But is there a deeper reason for the attack? Is it justice to retaliate an eye-for-an-eye? Cry Havoc considers the scope of differences between cultures, nations and lovers, and to what lengths we are prepared to go in the name of our God and our country.

Cast includes: Suzanne Nyhan Anthoney, Raymond Kurut and Buck Zachary. Playwright Coash has won the Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Hammerstein Emerging Playwright Award, The Kennedy Center’s Lorraine Hansberry Award, and a Jerome Playwrighting Fellowship at the Minneapolis Playwrights’ Center.

Cry Havoc was named the Winner of the West Coast Ensemble’s New Play Competition, Humboldt State’s National New Play Award, and was runner-up in the Kennedy Center’s David Mark Cohen Awards.

April 3, 2004
Loft Theater, Bailiwick Repertory, Chicago, Illinois

image: Craig Bailey    Poster Design: Elizabeth Hickok

Patrice packs her bags, leaves her girlfriend Asha, and crashes on Dutch’s couch. But what’s this ex-basketball phenom got up her sleeve? Patrice and Dutch have spent years eyeing other girls’ breasts, while binding their own. But this Sunday, their game is up: Patrice’s clock is ticking against breast cancer, Asha’s playing hard defense against love-gone-bad, Dutch is struggling to hold the “team” together, and each one guards a stash of double-edged secrets.

Cast includes: Renita Martin, Naeemah A. White-Peppers, Abria Smith

April 3, 2004
BCA Black Box Theater, Boston, Massachusetts

Rae — the poet of this lesbian, romantic comedy — attends an annual lesbian writers’ retreat. She has fallen in love, as she does every year. Rae is certain that the (anonymously addressed and written) poems she leaves about will bring the woman of her dreams into her arms.

Theatre OUTlanta is Atlanta’s only theater dedicated to presenting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered theater, and was created to truthfully reflect the experiences of everyone in the lgbt community.

April 8, 2004
Dad Garage’s Top Shelf Theatre, Georgia

A performance piece of personal stories. Dramatized stories of real life from the gay and lesbian elders who lived them.

Director Baker fashioned Stories to Tell from a year’s worth of material from his ongoing Oral History Workshop. Graphics and sound designed by Larry Rubinstein.

April 15, 2004
Renberg Theater, Village at Ed Gould Plaza, Los Angeles, California

image: illuminage art & design    Nicola Barber (Mary Read, passing as Mark), confesses to Andi Hogan (Anne Bonney) image: Joe Bly

This 1720 tale of love, lust and revenge among non-traditional people is told in the traditional American musical art form. Pyrates! captures the diversity of the Jamaican population, including an escaped slave (Maroon), a Sephardic Jew, a multi-racial tavern owner, a colonial bureaucrat and a gay male shopkeeper. Pyrates! is based on the exploits of real-life pirates Anne Bonny, Mary Read and Calico Jack Rackham in 1720 Jamaica.

Cast includes: Andi Hogan, Nicola Barber, Sean Seibert, Uzo Aduba, Andrew Fitzgerald Graham, Jesse Liebman, Tony Javed, Jonathan Ross, Iris Blasi, Janet Huege, Keith Batza, Nate Rubin and Shay Ansari.

April 15, 2004
Theater for the New City, New York, New York

A show about freaking out (“oh my god I’m old and ugly”), sex (“nice to know I still need it”), death, money, gender confusion, aging, and “by the way how is your millennium going so far?” An eclectic collection of original monologues filled with comedy, song, laughter, tears, politics, and love.

Guest performer Jared Alexrod is also featured. Laurie Wolf wrote the award-winning play “In the OUTfield,” a semi-autobiographical account of her coming out.

April 21, 2004
Manbites Dog Theater, Durham, North Carolina

A play with music about people who lie on the internet. One of the characters is a gay man who likes straight men, so he attracts them by passing himself off as a woman. Unbeknownst to him, the straight hottie he is in deep cyberspace conversation with is really a lesbian.

World premiere. Mr. Hoffman has won a Drama Desk Award, a Tony Award nomination, a Guggenheim Fellowship and several National Endowment Awards. He is a Lehman College faculty member.

April 28, 2004
Studio Theatre, Lehman College, Bronx, New York

Jeffery Roberson (Varla Jean Merman) image: Michael Wakefield and Matt Callaway

A dizzying blend of circus, carnival, magic, and freak shows. This good-time jamboree employs Varla Jean’s legendary vocal range, dazzling costumes by Philip Heckman, a touch of processed cheese, and the threat of death-defying aerial feats. The show boasts four new Varla videos and seven new songs.

Varla Jean Merman is the creation of actor/writer/singer Jeffery Roberson, who recently shared the 2003 Outfest Film Festival Best Actor Award, and the Aspen HBO Film Festival Best Actress Award, for his performance in Richard Day’s feature film, “Girls Will Be Girls.” Jeffery made his network television debut last year on ABC’s “All My Children” in the recurring role of lady-of-the-evening Rosemary Chicken.

April 29, 2004
Renberg Theatre, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s Village at Ed Gould Plaza, Los Angeles, California

Only a cherished childhood father-daughter memory and the spirituality of the desert can save Paz from her nightmare. A sensual poetic love story about memory, survival and home. Both moving and funny, Sweet Peace gives a fresh new voice to the Latino and lesbian communities.

Cast includes: Diana Burbano, Jennifer Pagan, Joe Gonzalez, Mario Martinez, Jerry Oshinsky.

Writer and performer Monica Palacios is known for her one-woman shows, and has won dozens of awards from regional and national organizations, honoring her efforts to empower the Latino/a and LGBT communities. Ms. Palacios is an adjunct professor at UC Santa Barbara, UCLA and UC Riverside, and is the recipient of a 2003-2004 Postdoctoral Rockefeller Fellowship from the Center for Chicano Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

May 7, 2004
Center Stage Theater, Santa Barbara, California

During the Sarasota Pride Festival:
● Red Ribbon Diaries
● Love Don’t Need A Reason: Songs in Response to AIDS
● The Reading of the Names

May 8, 2004
Clarke Building, Robards Arena, Sarasota, Florida

● Bad Habits - Ravenswood by Terrence Mcnally Ravenswood is a posh sanatorium and retreat where Dr. Pepper doles out “do-as-you-please prescriptions to troubled couples” while drinking martinis. Among the couples are two men who seem to be firmly in tune with each other. A one-act play that explores themes of the human condition, though not very seriously.
The cast includes: Ian Sullivan, Ben Turoff, Roberta Macdonald, Bob Turoff, Ann Marie Nester, Dylan Chalfy, Brad Wages, and Daniel Laporta.

● Red Ribbon Diaries A ten-minute performance, after which a new quilt panel will be introduced to the community AIDS quilt.

The Sarasota AIDS theatre project is a group of people infected or affected by hiv/aids who perform and produce staged play readings to raise awareness and funds for P.W.A. service organizations. Proceeds from this event will assist the Healthy P.W.A. program at Trinity Charities, Inc.

May 10, 2004
Golden Apple Dinner Theatre, Sarasota, Florida

Jim Sherman image: Johnny Knight

An investigation of Cardinal Bernard F. Law, the Catholic leader whose governance of the Boston Archdiocese was questioned and scrutinized when years of sexual abuse by diocesan priests finally came to light. This searing and emotional work is comprised entirely of testimony taken from the Cardinal’s deposition in these cases involving hundreds of priests and victims; cases that still touch and continue to shape the lives of so many people.

The cast includes: Jim Sherman, Patrick Rybarczyk, Mark A. Steel, Steve Best, Naomi Landman, and Patrick Gannon.

May 15, 2004
Bailiwick Arts Center, Chicago, Illinois

image: ?

The focus is on GLBT culture from an intergenerational perspective, and includes reflections by PFLAG parents on moments of recognition, bravery, shame, pride and the arc of their parental journeys. It also features work by GLBT youth from 14-19 years old on gay icons, violence in the schools, family dynamics, self-mutilation, and love.

A groundbreaking collaboration between That Uppity Theatre Company, Growing American Youth (GAY), and Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Metro St. Louis chapter (PFLAG).

May 22, 2004
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Missouri

Joan Lipkin, That Uppity Theatre Company
4466 West Pine Blvd. #13C, St. Louis, MO 63108
Office: 314-534-1454; fax 314-534-6591; jlipkin@aol.com

A lively collection of Chicago’s best comics, actors, musicians, and dancers. Featured comedians include: Dephina, Carolyn Law (Sunday only), Julie Paradise, Jen Slusser, and Sapna Kumar.

Monologues and scenes from the leading lesbian writers of the world, including Chicago’s Claudia Allen, Linda Eisenstein, Paula Vogel, and Clare Chaffee. Spoken word performers include Kim Crutcher and Amy Olson.

Music by Pam Peterson. Choreographic works by Rachel Thorne Germond Dance and Jamie Horban.

May 23, 2004
Bailiwick Arts Center, Chicago, Illinois

Elly Lichenstein, Laura Jorgensen image:Jeff Thomas

A Brontë Conference is gearing up in Haworth, drawing to it Rebecca, a high-powered star of postmodern academia and Anne, a hard working farm woman with a terrible secret. Each, however, has a wildly different motive for her attendance at the conference: Rebecca is a guest lecturer in search of a few days of rest, while Anne has made the pilgrimage as a passionate devotee of all things Brontë. Hilarious, moving and thought-provoking, this play is for everyone who loves books, Brontës, whiskey, or women.

Cast includes Elly Lichenstein, Laura Jorgensen. Post-show discussion with the playwright and cast on May 28 and 29.

May 28, 2004
Cinnabar Theater, Petaluma, Calif.
Strong sexual language, not for under 16

Directed by Jeffrey Ingman
Produced by Diversionary Theatre

A funny, sexy look at Anglo-Hispanic politics following a rising Latino politician as he chooses how much of himself to reveal to his voters; how much to reveal to his lover; and just whose side to take in the tangle of Latino, Anglo and gay cultures. Served up with Reyes fast-paced wit and sure-fire dialogue.

May 29, 2004
Diversionary Theatre, San Diego, California

Gregory Marcel image:Jack Slomovits

A young married couple and their small midtown Manhattan theater company, “The Integrity Players” have sworn to produce only principled and sincere Art. Unfortunately, apathetic audiences and poor ticket sales are bankrupting the troupe. The desperate artists warily turn their fate over to a trendy trio of gay self-promoters with a recipe for a sure-fire hit: glitzy gay comedy and naked performers. A cautionary farce about the love/hate relationship between theater and money. A play you won’t regret in the morning.

Cast includes: Christopher Borg*, Jessica Calvello, Brett Douglas, Desmond Dutcher*, Wayne Henry, Gregory Marcel, Ellen Reilly, Michael Silva, Christopher Yustin, Daniel Nardicio [* AEA members]

“Playwright David Bell is one of New York’s greatest, funniest satirists.” - Jonathan Warman, HX Magazine

June 3, 2004
Emerging Artists Theatre, New York, New York

top: Brian Townes, Elizabeth Gee, Ernesto Altimirano, Daryl Crittenden; bottom: Marie Lazzaro, Justin D. Quackenbush, Daniel Stessen, Gus Ibranyi, Wind Klaison photos: Frank J. Avella

Six shockingly scandalous stories of the stunning, scary, surreal!

● A bigoted woman is judged by Satan!

● The last two men left on earth encounter a new form of mutant female.

● A conversation among four randy, gay guys.

● Two Italian-American sibs propositioned by the same guy at the beach.

● Two demented souls share their macabre tales.

● ???

Cast includes: Ernesto Altamirano, Daryl Crittenden, Elizabeth Gee, Gus Ibranyi, Wind Klaison, Marie Lazzaro, Justin D. Quackenbush, Daniel Stessen, Brian Townes.

June 10, 2004
Where Eagles Dare Theatre, New York, New York

Nominees

OUTSTANDING NEW RECORDING - FEMALE
    Namoli Brennet (Welcome to the Afterglow)
    Catie Curtis (Acoustic Valentine)
    KJ Denhert (Girl Like Me)
    Janis Ian (Working Without a Net)
    Pamela Means (Single Bullet Theory)

OUTSTANDING NEW RECORDING - MALE
    Johnny Dangerous - Dangerous Liasons
    Brady Earnhart - Manalapan
    Adam Joseph - How I Seem to Be
    Nhojj - Someday Peace Love & Freedom
    Rufus Wainwright - Want One

OUTSTANDING NEW RECORDING - DEBUT FEMALE
    Andrea Bunch - Numinous
    Julie Clark - Feel Free
    Jen Foster - Everybody’s Girl
    Kaz Mitchell - The Dinner Party
    Janell Rock - Quiet Thrill

OUTSTANDING NEW RECORDING - DEBUT MALE
    Johnny Dangerous - Dangerous Liasons
    Steven Franz - The One You Choosev     Adam Joseph - How I Seem to Be
    Andrew Spice - Pretty Demons
    Jim Verraros - Unsaid and Understood

OUTSTANDING NEW RECORDING - DUO OR GROUP
    Girlyman - Remember Who I Am
    Junior Senior - d-d don’t don’t stop the beat
    Justus Boyz - Uh-Oh
    Testosterone Kills - War All the Time
    Wishing Chair and Kara Barnard - Dispan Brigade

OUTSTANDING NEW RECORDING - BAND
    the bootLICKERS - Automatic Ball Cleanerv
    Danielle Lo Presti and The Masses - 22 Mountains
    D1 - The Music is so Beautifulv
    Skin Jobs - Burn Your Rainbow
    Super 8 Cum Shot - Super 8 Cum Shot Vol II

OUTSTANDING NEW RECORDING - CHORUS OR CHOIR
    Boston Gay Men’s Chorus - Razzle Dazzle: The Broadway Hits of Kander & Ebb
    The Women’s Chorus of Dallas - Season of Dreams
    Heartland Men’s Chorus of Kansas City - Let Heaven & Nature Swing
    Portland Gay Men’s Chorus - Holiday Serenade
    Transcendence Gospel Choir - Whosoever Believes

OUTSTANDING NEW RECORDING - INSTRUMENTAL
    Terry Duggins and The Zither Band - The Coleman’s March: A Jean Ritchie Tribute
    Metropolitan Klezmer - Surprising Finds
    Drew Paralic - Blue Passion
    Thomas Raniszewski - A Midnight at a Time
    Rothko . BLK w/Bear - Wish for a World Without Hurt

OUTSTANDING PRODUCER
    Ashley Moore - Transcendence Gospel Choir: Whosoever Believes
    Cathy Richardson - Cathy Richardson Band: The Road to Bliss
    Rachael Sage and Andy Zulla - Rachael Sage Public Record
    Eve Sicular - Isle of Klezbos: Greetings from the Isle of Klezbos
    Jinx Titanic - Super 8 Cum Shot: Super 8 Cum Shot Vol II

OUTSTANDING SONGWRITER
    Michael Holland - songs from Beach Toys Won’t Save You (Micahel Holland)
    Deidre McCalla - songs from Playing for Keeps (Deidre McCalla)
    Rachael Sage - songs from Public Record (Rachael Sage)
    Rufus Wainwright - songs from Want One (Rufus Wainwright)
    Leah Zicari - songs from Pretty on Thursday (Leah Zicari)

OUTSONG OF THE YEAR
    Crucify - Written by Kristina Jean; Performed by Sister Funk
    Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell - Written and Performed by Robert Urban
    Double My Wardrobe - Written and Performed by Steven Franz
    Flow with My Soul - Written and Performed by Adam Joseph
    Give It Up - Written by Tony Moran, Keith Fluitt, Guiseppe DiCaccamo Jr.;
        Performed by Kevin Aviancee
    He’s on My Team - Written and Performed by Ari Gold and Kendra Ross
    Honest World - Written and Performed by Catie Curtis
    Proud and Free - Written by Jon Gilbert Leavitt; Performed by Deian McBryde
    Waiting For My Man - Written and Performed by Kris Landherr
    We Belong - Written and Performed by Namoli Brennet

OUTMUSICIAN OF THE YEAR
    Freddy Freeman
    Skott Freedman
    Kris Landherr
    Alix Olson
    Robert Urban

Honorees
OUTMUSIC HERITAGE AWARD
    Jayne County

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD 2004
    Maxine Feldman

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD 2004
    Marsha Stevens

OUTSTANDING SUPPORT 2004
    Larry Flick

OUTMUSIC AWARDS HOST
      Tom Robinson

Nominee Showcase
June 12, 2004
Fez Under Time Cafe, NYC

Marsha Stevens
June 12, 2004
Metropolitan Community Church of New York, NYC

Outmusic Awards
Production Direction by Jade Esteban Estrada
Hosted by Tom Robinson Jade Esteban Estrada Estrada directs for the second consecutive year. His debut, CD Angel, led to his involvement in Being Out Rocks, an historical CD compilation which included Cyndi Lauper, Sarah McLachlan, kd lang and the B-52s. He has appeared on “In the Life” and “American Family” on PBS. He acts in Linda Breida’s “Dead,” and in Jordan Schachter’s “The Legacy of Walter Frumm” — both feature films are due for 2005 releases. Estrada tours with his one-man show Icons: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, vol. 1.

June 13, 2004
Knitting Factory, NYC

Glad to Be Gay Benefit Performance Featuring:

• The Jayne County Five!!!
  
• Tom Robinson
  
• Robin Renee (full band)
  
• Keyth Lawrence and The Purple Circle
  
• Justin Tranter and the Justin Tranter Band

Outmusic is a network of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered performers, composers, lyricists, producers, recording artists, activists, promoters, press/media and even non-musicians who believe in LGBT music.
212-330-9197
Outmusic, PO Box 376, Old Chelsea Station, New York, NY, USA, 10113-0376

John Rengstorff (Philip), Adam Mervis (Buck) image: Jim Crosby

A middle-aged insurance salesman, Philip, brings home a gorgeous young man, Buck, for an afternoon tryst. The (perhaps supernatural) Buck takes Philip on a breathtaking, life-altering journey into long-suppressed and hidden desires. Intelligent, erotic, powerful, provocative, and terrifying.

Cast includes Adam Mervis and John Rengstorff. This critically acclaimed play was originally produced by The Glines in 1997.

“Wells successfully charges his story with an intriguing mixture of the erotic and dangerous, nicely pairing seduction sequences with harsh, uncomfortable dialogue” - HX Magazine

June 18, 2004
Wings Theatre, New York, New York

Gean Harwood and Bruhs Mero, together 66 years On the boat to Fire Island in 1937 image: ?

A lively one-hour musical that traces the remarkable relationship of Bruhs Mero and Gean Harwood, two gay icons of the Twentieth Century. The couple met in 1929 when Bruhs was 18, and Gean was 20, and remained together until Bruhs’s death in 1995. With courage, determination and humor they weathered the often-repressive social climate of the 1930-50s.

Can people change and come out after decades of hiding? Their devotion to each other is an inspiration to straight and gay people alike.

Cast includes Scott Evan Davis, Robert Gonzales, Jr., and Jason Summers.

An earlier version, commissioned by the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, was performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and was featured on “In The Life” (PBS). The lives of Bruhs and Gean are chronicled in Harwood’s book, “The Oldest Gay Couple in America” (Birch Lane, 1997).

June 18, 2004
The Duplex, NYC
Info: bruhsandgean@yahoo.com

The Arts Project of Cherry Grove

June 26, 2004
The Community House, Cherry Grove, Fire Island, NY

Pure Imagination brings together local singers as they provide new takes on classic songs from the American stage, screen and song book. Confirmed participants include: Adam Blankman and Dana Lewenthal, Jessica Fisher, Gina Green, Kim Larsen, Lisa Peers, and Eric Starker.

“It is an honor to give singers the freedom to perform whatever songs they want, without attention to gender or pronouns. It is obviously a liberating experience for the singers, and we hope for the audience.” - theatre Q managing director, Dale Albright

The mission of theatre Q — formerly of Chicago, founded in 1997 — is to bring “realistic portrayals of gays and lesbians in theatre to the greater Bay Area.” The benefit and silent auction will help launch the company.

June 19, 2004
Glenview Center for the Performing Arts, Oakland, California

Directed by Bob Cruz
Produced by TOSOS II in association with Out Professionals
Under the The Robert Chesley / Jane Chambers Playwright Project

Brad and Linus are friends. Linus has a new boyfriend - James. James has eyes for Brad. Will Brad survive Linus’s love life? Is friendship thicker than water?

The play will be read by Jarrod Cafaro, Scott Phillips and Andrew Thaman.

Play and screenwriter Brofsky has written nearly 50 one-act plays, which have been performed in New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, and Overland Park, Kansas. His “Dancing Straight” was presented in TOSOS II’ production of “Movie Lover” last April. His “Claymont” was performed recently by Emerging Artists, will have a full, off-Broadway production later this year.

June 19, 2004
Emerging Artists Theatre, New York, New York

Tom Daddario, Brad Letson, Forba Shepherd Marlene Wallace, Kurt Bauccio image: Ron Peaslee

After their disastrous first date, Prudence and bisexual Bruce retreat to their respective analysts. Prudence’s therapist is a lecherous bully who insists she learn to accept imperfection. Bruce’s scatterbrained analyst gleefully suggests another, though much-revised ad. Again, Prudence answers the call. Chaos ensues as the Bruce’s live-in boyfriend becomes jealous of the budding lovebirds, taking matters into his own hands.

Cast includes: Kurt Bauccio, Damian Buzzerio, Tom Daddario, Matt Fraley, Brad Letson, Forba Shepard and Marlene Wallace.

“Durang seems to take particular pleasure in toppling traditional comfort zones, and if the events of ‘Beyond Therapy’ — which chronicle little more than just the very beginning of one relationship — seem to be a trial for the characters, it’s certainly not the case for the audience, which is rewarded time and time again with great humor of both the broad and subtle varieties.” - Matthew Murray (Talkin’ Broadway)

The play premiered off-Broadway in 1981, with Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Collins. It then moved to Broadway in 1982 featuring Dianne Wiest and John Lithgow.

June 20, 2004
Cabaret Theatre at Dillons, New York, New York

image: ?

Vox Femina Los Angeles is a women’s choral ensemble dedicated to the performance of quality choral literature with an emphasis on music by women composers. Through music, VFLA celebrates women and builds bridges within and beyond the lesbian and gay communities.
Vox Femina Los Angeles, 3341 Caroline Ave., Culver City, California 90232

June 25, 2004
Zipper Theatre, Colburn School of Performing Arts, Los Angeles, California

image: ?

A witty take on events on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village on June 27, 1969 — the day that would later become known as the “Stonewall Rebellion” — the symbolic start of the modern gay liberation movement.

Performers include: Grafton Banks, Koa Boyd, Branden Boyer-White, Robert Burgess, Craig Campbell, Peter Donath, Steve Fisher, Bob Harrison, Andrew MacLaine, David Meyers, Michael Olton, Rebecca Renish, Kurt Schauppner, Vinny Stoppia.

This performance commemorates the 35th Anniversary of Stonewall. Celebrate with us and be proud. A reception and “meet the cast” follows the show.

June 25, 2004
OffCenter Theatre Group, Palm Springs, California

image: Kimmee Heatley

Suzie Longstaff guides her unsuspecting fellow citizens out of the 50s suburbs of repression and into the bedrooms of self-satisfaction. Taking a cue from B-movies, this is a comedy of extra-terrestrial proportions, in which even the simplest of kitchen tools will elicit a dramatic response from whoever wields it. Is it an invasion or liberation?

Cast includes: Irene Daly, John Dupuis, Lauren Hall, Kim Hoff, Becca Lewis, Lorna McKenzie, Karen “Mal” Malme, Guy Noyes.

Queer Soup will also have gender-blending workshops on drag performance, writing and improvisational acting.

July 9, 2004
July 29 benefit for youth at IMPACT
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Boston, Massachusetts

Brock G. McClung, Marlon Anthony Russ, David Richardson, Monte J. Wolfe, Eric Nicholson image: Ron Price

A violent, anti-gay attack polarizes a respected, “historically black,” university in Washington, D.C. The aftermath jeopardizes the academic and personal lives of a young, gay professor, and the endangered freshman student he attempts to protect. That’s when we learn that “Sometimes, seems like it’s nothing but secrets around here … secrets and lies.”

The dramatic reading of the full-length script will be performed by Brock G. McClung, Eric Nicholson, David Richardson, Marlon Anthony Russ, and Monte J. Wolfe.

Excerpts of the work-in-progress were presented at the Warehouse Theatre during Black Lesbian and Gay Pride on May 25 and 30, 2003.

The reading is the season finale of “Second Saturdays,” a monthly showcase series presented by “Playground,” the playwrights’ workshop sponsored by Woolly Mammoth Theater.

July 10, 2004
Touchstone Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Jerry Rabushka and jeff schoenfeld image from previous production

Josh has spent three years trapped on a deserted resort island. Matt washes up on shore after escaping from an oversexed gay cruise. While the basics of survival are taken care of by following the directions in “Martha Stewart Living,” Josh has managed to cope with the loneliness by changing his persona — repeatedly. Matt questions Josh’s stability, and wonders if Josh’s growing affections are based on really liking him, or is it just a love of last resort.

Cast: Jerry Rabushka and Cameron Cummings. The show premiered in West Hollywood, Calif. on May 2003. It also played in St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri in January 2004.

“Love of Last Resort is a beautiful and riveting play. Rabushka and schoenfeld have created a moving masterpiece.” - Jade Esteban Estrada, actor

“A most unusual drama-comedy which plays with form in a most entrancing way.” - Robert Patrick, playwright, screenwriter

“I was immediately fascinated by its complex discussions that include mind-game playing, role playing, conditions of denial, loss and grief, relief, misunderstood charity, imagination and hope. I commend this piece.” - Will Conyers, director, musical director, Melbourne, Australia

“Painfully funny and a delight to watch.” - Eric Janssen, Intermission, St. Louis, Missouri

= Shows had to be canceled due to unavoidable circumstance.

July 15, 2004
Nightingale Theatre, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Part of the proceeds were to benefit the Regional AIDS Interfatih Network

July 23, 2004
Labels Night Club, St. Joseph, Missouri

David Ojalvo, Tony Forkush, Jacqueline Wright image: Joe Foster

Two lost souls, Bob and Tommy, search for release from their own individual “monsters.” Riddled by pain, pity, and despair, they embark on a twisted and brutal journey together to connect, and perhaps forgive each other and themselves. The play examines, in a brutal and strangely beautiful way, the concept that monsters are made, not born.

Cast includes: David Ojalvo, Jacqueline Wright, Tony Forkush.

A world premiere, Eat Me was originally developed through EST, The LA Project, and was eventually performed in New York as a workshop production. Eat Me is an absurd and violent exploration of redemption and, ultimately, peace.

Contains nudity, sex, graphic violence. No one under 17 admitted without an adult.

July 23, 2004
Theatre of NOTE, Hollywood, California

Carol Channing image: ?

This multi-media show has Carol Channing playing herself, as she regales the audience with stories from a long and amazing career, and performs a mixture of both her trademark musical numbers as well as a few additional surprises.

Toni Morrell image: ?

The program is a benefit for the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center’s comprehensive array of programs and services.

July 23, 2004
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, Renberg Theatre, Los Angeles, Calif.

Broken-hearted Lyse is about to commit suicide, when Isis the Goddess of Love sends her a Pancho Villa Cupid who promises to take her all the way to the altar, except he doesn’t have an arrow.

July 24, 2004
Inside the Ford Theatre, Hollywood, California

Take a spin and sample the many flavors of lesbian romantics.

Cast includes: Kipleigh Brown, Susan Wilde, Lisa Costanza, Allison Allain, Lily Sauvage, Amy London, Lisi DeHaas, Monica Todd, Ellen Williams, Carolyn Ozimok. The play was developed from a Macha workshop facilitated by Chicana Playwright Cherríe Moraga.

July 31, 2004
Inside the Ford Theatre, Hollywood, California

Bruce Vilanch image: ?

An amazing evening of quality performers who come together for this AIDS benefit concert. This is the tenth annual concert. It is the largest such event in northern California.

Cast includes (as of May 18, 2004):     Lucie Arnaz - stage, TV, film
    Brian Boitano - Olympic Gold Medal ice skater
    Mary Jo Catlett - stage, TV
    Franc D’Ambrosio - stage, film
    Carole Cook - stage, TV
    Tyne Daly - stage, TV
    Nancy Dussaut - stage, TV
    Jill Eikenberry & Michael Tucker - TV, film
    David Friedman - composer, recordings, conductor
    Florence Henderson - stage, TV
    Lucy Lawless - TV, stage
    Jane Lanier - stage
    Meg Mackay - cabaret
    Sean McDermott - stage
    Bruce Vilanch - stage, comedian, writer, TV
    Paula West - cabaret
    Mary Wilson - recordings, stage
    Music by Billy Joel
    Dance by Twyla Tharp
    The Leading Ladies - three sopranos

Lucy Lawless image: ?

Concert beneficiaries include: BAY (Bay Area Young) Positives, Center for AIDS Services, Oakland, Meals of Marin, New Leaf: Services for Our Community, UCSF AIDS Health Project, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

August 2, 2004
Palace of Fine Arts Theater, San Francisco, California

Eric Schneider image: ?

This musical revue celebrates the world of composer and lyricist Bill Solly, from his youth in Ontario, Canada, to a young man in London’s West End, and through his later years in New York City. His fresh, biting words, and beautifully crafted melodies take us through love, laughter, heartache, and loss — all with an unlimited optimism. Mr. Solly’s own lyrics sums it up best: “fancy free panache!” The play guides us into an urbanity, at once exuberantly innocent, and fiendishly clever.

Cast includes Anthony Apicella, Allison Beck, Katy Frame, Eric Schneider.

“The World of Bill Solly” is the first in an ongoing series of revues celebrating the contributions of gay composers and lyricists that TOSOS II plans to present under the collective title “Musically Speaking.” That we begin with Bill Solly is only appropriate, as it was Igor Goldin’s highly successful concert performance of the ground braking “Boy Meets Boy” that first initiated the TOSOS II Billy Blackwell Musical Theater Project. That we are presenting The World of Bill Solly at the Duplex is also fitting as the late Billy Blackwell was a star of this club in its previous location as half of the cabaret act “Billy & Tiffany” in the 1970s.

August 2, 2004
The Duplex, New York City

Marc Willis, Paul Rosenberg, Brandon Whitehead image: Chris Bennion Photography

A trio of lady, church organists tours the country crooning the songs of their mentor, the church organist and songwriter Dale Meadows. When they learn he faces expulsion as music minister, due to being outed as a “practicing” homosexual, they decide to take their show, and their cause on the road. The lovely ladies are united in their love of song, but deeply divided in their views of homosexuality. Therefore, each lady has a vastly different idea as to how Dale can be “saved.”

The Stops features Barnes’ irreverent and delectable contemporary Christian music send-ups. The show takes the debate, between Christian fundamentalists and homosexuals, and turns it on its head-all, all the while serving up heaping church potluck portions of wicked fun and honest-to-God joy.

Cast includes: Paul Rosenberg, Brandon Whitehead, and Marc Willis.

“A fiendishly clever cabaret event-a gleeful send up of all things holy and good.” - Seattle Weekly

“The Stops packs more laughs and talent into two minutes than most shows pack into two hours. Who knew spending a Saturday night with a bunch of church ladies could be so much fun?” - Houston Voice

August 5, 2004
Empty Space Theatre, Seattle, Washington

Lady Bunny, Lady Chablis image: ?

An unprecedented, gender-bending on-stage extravaganza and film event. Live performances by America’s most renowned drag queen divas, Lady Bunny (star of Wigstock : The Movie and official drag queen for “Sex and the City”) and The Lady Chablis (the empress who upstaged Clint Eastwood’s feature film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil).

The two-hour show includes screening the documentary film, “Dixie Queen,” a behind-the-scenes look into the life of North Carolina drag legend, Tara Nicole, and into everyday lives of small-town America drag queens. Gay or straight, liberal or conservative, viewers will find timeless themes in Tara’s amazing story: the flight of a free spirit, the bonds of family, and - most of all - courage amid adversity.

Whether your taste is edgy, sophisticated, family oriented, or wild and reckless, “The Dixie Queen Road Show” has something for you!

In Seattle, these drag stars appear at The Dixie Queen Road Show:

• The untouchable Mark “Mom” Finley

• Seattle’s legendary LaTrina Bidet

• Avonna Starr - Whose “Queen of Soul” impersonation would make Aretha do a double-take

• Shaka Kwan - Her resume reads like a who’s who of drag queens: Current Imperial Princess, past Miss Gay Seattle, Miss Gay Washington, and La Femme Magnifique Pacific Northwest

• Sylvia O’Stayformore - named the Drag Queen to look out for in 2002 by OUT Magazine

• Terra Hymen - A new, young fresh underground talent who wows her audiences with intense dance moves and make-up skills

• Poison Waters - Portland, Oregon’s #1 performer/MC

• Joan E. - Vancouver, BC’s lady of drag, seen most recently in “Connie & Carla” listed as Robert Kaiser

August 6, 2004
Paramount Theatre, Seattle, Washington

Rob Nash image: ?

Mildred is haunted by Harvey, the ghost of her late ex-husband. Fred juggles anxiety and depression medications while teaching theatre camp. Windsong becomes a Muslim (Sufi) and changes her name again, this time to Leila. Margot becomes addicted to the euphoric effects of Ambien. Matt busts rhymes and gets into fights. Puberty has turned Ashley into a stunningly gorgeous bitch. And everyone performs a nifty little ditty!

Rob Nash has been featured on “VH-1 Stand-up Spotlight with Rosie O’Donnell,” Comedy Central’s “Out There in Hollywood,” and he has emceed HBO half hour comedy specials for Bob Smith and Suzanne Westenhoeffer.

Also, see our article: Touring Performers

August 13, 2004
The Vortex, Austin, Texas

Javier Galita, Scott Cox, Sam Garber Photo source: Lois Tema

A gay couple inherit a child and blanch when he turns out to be a budding queen. Scot is an 11-year-old Truman Capote or Quentin Crisp, limp wrists and all. Scot shows up with a musical hairbrush, a pair of lacy white socks and two makeup kits. His interest in school sports is limited to baton twirling and cheerleading.

Breakfast is a premiere. Downing was commissioned by New Conservatory to write the play based on his novel of the same title.

August 14, 2004
New Conservatory, San Francisco, California

A highly physical, comedic-dramatic performance piece detailing one man’s search for balance of mind, soul and body, within a culture in desperate need of integration. Using his own body as a filter, Michael puzzles his way through personal revelations, body language, the fitness craze, yoga, art, death, and sex in a fascinating, funny search for wholeness.

Playwright and actor Michael Z. Keamy has appeared in dozens of productions in Boston and Provincetown. A graduate of Emerson College, he most recently wrote and directed “Unlaunch’d Voices: an Evening With Walt Whitman” which has been performed throughout the U.S.

Premiere
August 16, 2004
Provincetown Repertory Theater, Provincetown, Massachusetts

cast ? image: ?

This all-male version is set in modern-day Chelsea and the Hamptons, where butlers become muscular “houseboys,” Lady Bracknell becomes over-protective gay father who frequents The Townhouse, and packs of rich, gay men assume false identities to marry the men they love.

Cast includes: Adam Beckworth, Lee Blair, Gary Hilborn, John Kudan, Joe LaRue*, Gerry Marsini, Ricky Oliver, Kila Packett, and William Reinking. The all-male Earnest originally debuted with a sold-out, critically-acclaimed run in the 1998 NYC Fringe Festival, followed by a successful run at the Duplex from 1998-1999. Hugh Hysell is an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

“Oscar would be delighted!” - Merlin Holland, Oscar Wilde’s grandson

August 16, 2004
Sanford Meisner Theatre, New York, New York

A relationship between two men, one older, one younger, gradually sours. The story is told entirely in song, and emotionally covers passions, such as jealousy, envy, lust, love, romance, and leads to murder.

Cast includes Damien Brett, Gary Cox, with Christopher Jackson at the piano.

Composer and lyricist Christopher Jackson authored many musicals and musically directed several national Broadway tours for Dodger Productions. He toured his cabaret show coast to coast, and has contributed music to films including “The Big Brass Ring” with William Hurt, and “The Road to Broadway,” a documentary featuring Scott Wise and Kitty Carlisle Hart.

August 20, 2004
Bailiwick Repertory, Chicago, Illinois

In 1948, Gil and Ray must choose between life in a small town, or a freer life in the city. Ray marries and remains closeted in the town where they grew up. Gil moves to the city to seek his freedom. We follow them as events draw them back together over the decades, and see the cumulative effect people’s choices have on their lives.

August 28, 2004
Diversionary Theatre, San Diego, California

Michael Ciriaco, Douglas Gregory, Ryan Berit image: Christopher O. Banks

A young, married couple and their small, midtown Manhattan theatre company, “The Integrity Players,” have sworn to produce only principled and sincere Art. Unfortunately, due to apathetic audiences and poor ticket sales, they are bankrupt, and will close for good without some quick cash. They turn their fate over to a trendy trio of gay self-promoters who have a recipe for a sure-fire hit: a glitzy, gay comedy with naked performers.

Cast includes: Ryan Berit, Jessica Calvello, Michael Ciriaco, Douglas Gregory, Wayne Henry, Ellen Reilly, Aaron Wimmer, and Dan Zalevsky.

The Gay Naked Play is a cautionary farce about the love/hate relationship between theater and money. Playwright David Bell first collaborated with Borg on his “Starfuckers,” which was further developed and coupled with another Bell play, “Fuck Off!,” to make the evening “What The Fuck!” They again joined on the critically acclaimed “Bernadette and the Butcher of Broadway,” which parodied Broadway hype and the New York media, earned a GLADD Award nomination for Best Off-Off-Broadway Production.

September 1, 2004
Emerging Artists Theatre, New York, New York

A witty take on events on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village on June 27, 1969 — the day that would later become known as the “Stonewall Rebellion” — the symbolic start of the modern gay liberation movement.

Cast includes: Vincent Astor, Deshon Gales, Gina Garrone, Charlie Green, Larry Griffin, Michael Hoots, Christopher Hulett, Mark Mattingly, Steve Napier, David Shipley, Den-Nickolas Smith, Melinda Swofford, Ruben Tapp, and Cary Vaughn.

September 10, 2004
Theatreworks, Memphis, Tennessee

image: David Ford

“A theatrical tour-de-force reminiscent of ‘Greater Tuna’ crossed with ‘A Prairie Home Companion.’ Blocker’s writing is sly, sharp, erudite and unerringly funny, and his talent for voices and characterization is simply wonderful.” - David Hurst, Next Magazine

“Both archly satirical and sweetly ingenuous … wry sophistication and gleeful, childlike abandon that’s certain to satisfy the cranky inner toddler of even the most jaded New York theatergoer.” - Terri Galvin, nytheatre.com

September 11, 2004
The Sky Bar, Mount Washington Tavern, Baltimore, Maryland

A witty take on events on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village on June 27, 1969 — the day that would later become known as the “Stonewall Rebellion” — the symbolic start of the modern gay liberation movement.

Cast includes: Joel Kolker, Paul Lasa, E.L. Losada, Lisa Manuli, Joanne Marsic, Ricky J. Martinez, Rich Simone, and Doug Williford.

September 11, 2004
Newton Building, Miami, Florida

Readings of plays celebrating LGBT marriage and family, followed by information about Georgia’s proposed marriage amendment. Benefits Marriage Equality Georgia and Theatre OUTlanta. Each evening features different plays. Marriage Equality Georgia will be on hand to answer questions about the marriage amendment on the November ballot.

September 13, 2004

● Raincheck by Claudia Allen
Two women who were best friends in high school, get a second chance at love with the help of grandmother.

● Defense of Marriage by Jeffrey M. Cordell
A gay male couple talk about whether they should get married.

October 4, 2004

● Blowing Out the Candles by Tony Lewis
An African-American gay man comes out to his parents.

● A Bushel of Crabs by Kathleen Warnock
A woman asks ex-boyfriend to father child for her to raise with her female lover.

● Child Support by Joe Godfrey
A gay male couple tells their best friends they’re going to adopt a baby.

● Father’s Day by Matt Heftler
A gay man goes to see his state senator, who is also his ex-girlfriend’s father, to ask him to vote for a bill allowing gay people to adopt.

● Dig a Little Deeper by Shirlene Holmes
A lesbian discovers her daughter may also be a lesbian

October 25, 2004

● Cinderella: The Real True Story by Cheryl Moch
Cinderella and the Princess fall in love, marry, and live happily ever after.

Theatre OUTlanta, Onstage Atlanta, Decatur, Georgia

Simon Money, Phil Price image: realbrighton.com

Directed by Dan Skili
Produced by Peter Bull
Presented by Eureka Theatre Company

Marcus’s boyfriend has been caught cheating with Jason, a young gym trainer. Angered, Marcus prompts his friend Alexander Valmont to have sex with Jason, thus humiliating his boyfriend and claiming revenge. Alexander agrees, noting that he himself is trying to win the affections of Trevor, a not yet ordained priest. “Dangerous” presents a game of love, lust, seduction, and betrayal. A raunchy, modern day, all-male, gay version of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.”

Cast includes: Adam Blake, Dominic Coddington, Emil Freysson, Andrew N. Hill, Simon Money, Phil Price, Graham Townsend, Oliver Wallace.

Dangerous had a sell-out world premiere season at Barons Court Theatre in London, early in 2004, before it was transferred to the Marlborough Theatre, Brighton, part of the Pride in Brighton & Hove Festival where it was again hugely successful.

September 14, 2004
Camden People’s Theatre, London, U.K.
Nudity
Information: Eureka 020-7381-4187; info@eurekatheatre.co.uk

Set in Hollywood, California, three hustlers, two producers, two agents, a banker, photographer, and actor seek fame, fortune, and happiness.

Cast includes Ronnie Larsen, Preston Britton, Mark Cirillo, Thomas Colby, Marcus DeAnda, John Fava, JP Hubbell, John LaDue, Aaron Misakian and Brian Sheridan.

10 had a six-month run Off-Broadway, a three-month sell-out run in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, and also played for a limited run in Boston and Philadelphia. Larsen also wrote Making Porn, which had a successful 16-month run Off-Broadway, and continues to play in its seventh year across the country.

Contains nudity and strong language.

September 23, 2004
Cast Theatre, Los Angeles, California

Libby O’Connell and John Fisher image: Kent Taylor

• An Englishman Abroad
  In a 1958 squalid flat in Moscow, double-agent Guy Burgess , once thought to be the most dangerous homosexual in the world, interrogates actress Coral Browne about English society gossip.
• A Question of Attribution
  Knighted in 1956, Professor Anthony Blunt was a pillar of the establishment, surveyor of the Queen’s pictures, an international art historian and director of the Courtauld Institute of Art. In the corridors of Buckingham Palace, The Queen happens upon him replacing one of her favorite Titians with a fake. Is Her Majesty aware that her enigmatic servant is more than what he seems: a Communist spy, the infamously traitorous “fourth man?”

Both Bennett one-act plays are based upon real people and historic circumstances in the early years of the cold war, and relate the real-life experiences of the infamous “Cambridge Spies.” It is the first time, a reigning British monarch had ever been portrayed as a character in a play on stage. Single Spies opened to rave reviews at London’s National Theatre in 1988. Subsequently a huge West End hit, these two witty, intelligent plays delighted a public intrigued by espionage and forgery.

September 23, 2004
Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco, California

John unexpectedly inherits a small farm in his central Wisconsin hometown. Leaving New York City, John finds ghosts from his past, including a relationship he had with the farm’s original owner when John was a teenager. A shadow is cast over his current relationship with his partner Kim, a native New Yorker and choreographer. Judged by a community fearful of homosexuality, and pressured to sell the property to a corporation that slowly extinguishes small farmers, John must ultimately question where he and Kim can create a home.

Cast includes: David Drake, Joan Grant, Craig Jorczak, Jim Madden, Thomas James O’Leary

An adaptation of Will Fellows’s seminal book “Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from the Rural Midwest.”

September 24, 2004
Blue Heron Theatre, New York, New York

After three years together, Hunter and Tyler seem to have things figured out. However, their relationship thrives on a delicate mixture of pleasure and pain, and after Tyler’s mother dies, and his father comes to stay with the couple in their loft, Hunter must confront the doubts that have been plaguing him. “What to Say” is about the power and strange allure of pain, exploring the burden of living with it, and the sometimes helpless longing for it, and the difficulty of communicating in a world where “stop” might mean “give me more.”

Cast includes Steven Hauck, Michael Lynch, Jimmy Maize and Justin Tyler.

A reading presented as part of The Robert Chesley / Jane Chambers Playwright Project

Tim Mullaney was awarded the T. Stephen May Award for Excellence in Scriptwriting in 2001. His play Close Your Eyes has been workshopped at the StageLeft Theatre in Chicago. He is also an actor and has appeared the Mary Zimmerman-directed Philip Glass opera Galileo Galilei.

The Chesley/Chambers Playwrights Project is the TOSOS II forum for playwrights to have their work read to an invited audience. It is named in honor of Jane Chambers (1937-83) and Robert Chesley (1943-90), two of the most original and impassioned voices to contribute to gay theater.

September 24, 2004
CAP21, Studio #6, New York, New York

Au cours de cette soirée au style cabaret, haute en couleur et pleine d’énergie, des extraits des spectacles du festival seront présentés, des séances d’échanges auront lieu avec les auteurs et metteurs en scène et plusieurs présentations auront lieu. Une vente aux enchères aura lieu, des prix de présence et des lots seront offerts lors de cette soirée de levée de fonds.

Festival participants will perform extracts from their productions, talk back sessions with the playwrights and directors, and variety acts will round out this cabaret styled soirée. There will also be an auction, raffle and door prizes at this fundraising event.

September 25, 2004
Bar Le Tube, Complexe Bourbon, Montreal, Canada

cast image: ?

Anna, mistress to a wealthy man, and Claire, her lover, exchange barbs and take turns taunting Anna’s hapless Scottish parlor maid. Claire’s other lover suddenly appears, setting off a crisis that puts all at risk. A wickedly funny comedy of tart dialogue, impeccable plot, and spiced with “Wildean” wit.

Cast includes Diane E.H. Shortes, Melissa Hall and Wendi Berman.

“Devastatingly funny.” - NY Times

“Wickedly, wittily entertaining” - The Boston Phoenix

September 23, 2004
Cowpokes Theatre Space, New Orleans, Louisiana

image: ?

Openly gay comic Jason Stuart headlines his new stand-up comedy show.

Jason tours throughout the U.S.

September 27, 2004
Laugh Factory, New York, NY

Also, see our article: Touring Performers

Directed by Robert Chuter
Produced by Russell Sims
Presented by Performing Arts Productions Australia

image: ?    By the Short & the Curlies is a celebration of the sexual and theatrical rule-breaking British playwright Joe Orton, and his 16-year life partnership to Kenneth Halliwell. Orton was one of the 60s golden boys: a working class Leicester lad, sexual innocent, and penniless student, who became a national celebrity, grinning satyr, and icon of swinging London. The play also chronicles his sexual escapades: at his mother’s funeral, a pissoir on the Holloway Road, in sun-smitten Tangiers, and with a dwarf in Brighton. While his black comedies, such as “Loot,” “What the Butler Saw,” “Funeral Games” and “Entertaining Mr. Sloane” were hugely successful, his private life was sometimes sordid, often farcical, and ended tragically. In July 1967, Orton wrote in his diary, “I have high hopes of dying in my prime!” Cast: Paul Canlan as Joe.

image: ?    Drycleaning the Shroud of Turin begins with Axel, a young street hustler, confiding he has kidnapped his asthmatic son from his heroin-addicted, former girlfriend. We learn of his street friends and enemies, people such as Magoo, Baby Love and his various male and female tricks. He and his son are dodging the authorities. Every night, Axel drugs his son with diluted Valium and Serapax in warm milk so he can prowl the streets for rough sex and survival money. However, the authorities have caught up with them, and have his son. Alex has taken the only course left open to a loving and devoted father. As he reveals the hideous truth, his large shopping bag of all his worldly possessions begins to leak blood. Cast: Christopher Pender as Axel.

The story of two young, post-World War I British sisters who fall in love with Rupert and Gerald. They experience the fluctuations of romantic love, including a mutual attraction between Rupert and Gerald. An intriguing character and period study, this stage adaptation includes a male, nude wrestling scene, and combines comedy, romance, and tragedy.

Cast includes: Peter Damian, Natasha Kelly, Jonah Cohen, Janine White, Leah Walton, Ben Lovell, Christine Emmert. World premiere of the new stage adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s controversial Edwardian novel.

September 29, 2004
The 2nd Stage, Adrienne Theatre, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Amanda Christensen, David Scott image: Jim Hornor

60-year-old Alice finds herself lost backstage at Wonderland, a bawdy burlesque show. On her way home, she encounters The Queen, Wonderland’s resident diva, an interlude between a leading man and a chorus boy that gets a very steamy, and cross dresses — which results in a big kiss from Wonderland’s sexiest stripper.

This rowdy comedy, with live, original music, burlesque performances, and brief nudity, is an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

Cast includes: Amanda Christensen, Stephanie Jacobs, Kate McDermott, Elaine Robinson, Julie Mitre, Chrissy Benner, Ashley Bush, Cynthia Castiglione, Lauren Creel, Eric Evanskaas, Jason Fleitz, Brad Gallagher, Laura Hooper, Nick Lewis, Steve Lund, Meghan O’Malley, Brian Rickel, David Scott, Matt Shallenberger, Adam Silver, Candace Thompson, Cassie Wooley, and Rani Waterman.

October 1, 2004
Chopin Theatre, Chicago, Illinois

Dale Albright image: David Allen

Social worker Michael is forced to move from his home after a break-up with his boyfriend. His best friends, Jonathan and Jennifer, visit him from New York. They harbor a secret that will have life-changing results, should it be revealed. They are stuck, and their old game plans don’t work anymore. All their assumptions and conceits come to a crossroads in a moment of courage. Or not.

Cast includes: Dale Albright, Laura Jane Bailey, Jeffrey Hoffman, and Robert Anthony Peters.

October 1, 2004
Dean Lesher, Walnut Creek, California

Lauren Jill Ahrold, Virginia Baeta, Zainab Jah image: Bob Pileggi

A king defies his queen and country to pursue his passion for a common man. This riveting tale of the struggle for the heart of a king is filled with twists and turns that will surprise and tantalize. Will love survive the jealous fury of an intolerant nation? Are we free to follow our hearts? Can conventional power and unconventional passion share a throne, or must the ensuing tension tear a leader and his country apart?

The Queen’s Company is a premier, all-female classical theater company.

October 9, 2004
Connelly Theatre, New York, New York

● Faking Oscar - lecture by C. Robert Holloway
October 10, 2004

● The Importance of Being Dolly by Lily Sauvage
October 13, 2004

● Wilde Birthday Party
October 16, 2004

● Albee Damned by Kevin Brofsky
Directed by Derek Jamison
Produced by Spotlight on Prods

College music professor Bill and his wife Hilary, invite a sweet, innocent male couple home for drinks after a cocktail party. The ensuing cat-and-mouse, song-and-dance evening of mind games includes making the gay couple kiss in front of them, and bringing up Bill’s affair with someone (or something) called Tiny Alice.

A 20-minute parady of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” But this time, the visitors are gay, and the games Bill and Hilary play may, or may not, include a kid (as in, a goat). The ending reveals something about Bill and Hilary which even Edward Albee never dreamed of .

Cast includes: Carol Monda, Scott D. Phillips, Tom Dusenbury and Jeffrey J. Bateman. Albee Damned played at the 2004 Fresh Fruit Festival, NY, and at the Halloween Spotlight on Festival.

October 10, 2004
Greenwich Theater, New York, New York

A nightmarish fantasia on the trial of Oscar Wilde, blending characters from Wilde’s Salome and The Importance of Being Earnest, with a Post-Modernist America. The denizens of Herod’s decayed and corrupt court discover themselves constrained in the lace and frippery of a polite Victorian comedy of manners where they sit in deadly judgment on a contemporary stand-in for Wilde.

Cast includes Jamie Heinlein, Casey Weaver, and Chris Weikel.

Now She Dances! was originally presented at the Caffe Cino in 1961. It has gone through many revisions since. Wilson spent more than another 20 years rewriting. In 1976, it played for six months at the original TOSOS, and was invited to a Fordham University Arts Festival. In November 2000, Steve Bottoms presented the world premiere of the (absolutely) final version in Glasgow, Scotland.

October 16, 2004
theater to be announced

A labrynthine trip through the deeply felt and intensely lived emotion, that makes us doubt our own certainties and destroys our logic. The play is a cry, the same cry that hyenas howl in the desert.

Hyenas is based on an historical event, the death sentence of 22-year-old Theodore-Frederic Benoit for the murder of his male lover and his own mother. But was he innocent?

Cast: Eric Szmanda

October 16, 2004
Stages Theatre Center, Hollywood, California

Beth McKenzie Craig T. Brown, Sara Montblanc image: Ellis Gaskel

Rome’s most powerful woman was emperor Nero’s mother Agrippina. As he ascends to power, can he, keep all the power and not share with his lovers, his “boy slaves,” and especially keep power from the woman with whom he also had a sexual relationship — his mother.

The play blends elements of classical tragedy, contemporary satire, music, and dance.

Cast includes: Beth McKenzie, Lindsay Kitt Wiebe, Michael Catangay, Ridley Parson,Tim Shestak, Jason Shoulders, Craig A. Brown, Brad Caswell, Sara Montblanc, David Holt, Jedediah McProud, Miral Kobt, Natalie C. Bridges and Jina Curtis.

October 16, 2004
Shetler Theatre, New York, New York

A monstrously poignant, hauntingly hilarious collection of six short plays and monologues by Linda Eisenstein, each dealing with one monster in particular: desire.

Eisenstein’s plays:

• Zombie Grrlz from the Crypt - A passionate Goth girl slam-dunks a poetry slam.
• F2F - A seemingly routine F2F stirs the soul of a passionate on-line dater.
• A Rustle of Wings introduces a mysterious film noir angel with a very personal message.
• Acme Temporary Services advertises its unique employment opportunities.
• Gentrification - A lesbian couple are urban pioneers.
• That Was No Lady from the Sea - Thwarted desires and repressed emotions erupt with style in this Ibsen spoof.

Linda Eisenstein’s plays and musicals have been performed throughout the U.S., England, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the Philippines. She received the Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowships for “Three the Hard Way” and her musicals “Star Wares: The Next Generation” and “Discordia.” Her works have appeared in anthologies published by Dramatic, Vintage, Penguin, Smith & Kraus, Heinemann, and Meriwether, as well as in journals such as Blithe House Quarterly, Anything That Moves, and the Harrington Lesbian Fiction Quarterly.

October 19, 2004
Duplex Cabaret Theater, New York, New York

Frank Blocker image: Debbie

The Usher twins, Roderick and Madeline, carry the tormented history of their cursed family name inside the macabre walls of the House of Usher. As their incestuous relationship sinks them deeper into madness, they employ the help of Roderick’s estranged friend Edgar to alleviate their pain. However, Edgar is only drawn into their nightmare. When Madeline dies, the two men must bury her in the family crypt below the manse. There’s only one problem. Madeline is still alive.

A woman playing a male character has stylized sex with a man and a woman. An experimental adaptation of the terrifying psychological horror writing of Edgar Allan Poe.

Cast includes: Frank Blocker, Shannon Maddox, Janice Herndon

October 21
Independent Theatre, New York, New York

Libby West, Nicole Marcks image: Sue Hamilton

Eight women, at an out-of-the-way Long Island vacation spot in 1980, encounter awakening, love and personal tragedy. Eva, newly separated from her husband, stumbles onto the enclave without knowing its special nature. She is befriended by Lil, who harbors a secret. The summer unfolds as the women laugh, love, and say good-bye. The women are flawed, funny, and, ultimately, a family.

Cast includes: Peggy Goss, Libby West, C.B. Spencer, Nicole Marcks, Leslie Upson, Cerris Morgan-Moyer, Cathy Ladman, Chantel Rosade. An extened run replaced Chantel Rosade with Laura Philbin Coyle.

The 25th anniversary production at the Center.

October 22, 2004
The Davidson/Valentini Theatre, Hollywood, California

Three New York couples find their lives changed in one evening. Karla and Brian bring home lesbian Megan for what should be just “a sex thing” — whoever invented the term “casual sex,” never tried it. After Danny has sex with an acquaintance, he and Jonathan take a stab a monogamy — rhymes with monotony. Emily wants a kid, however, Rachel wants lots of hot sex in a mythical commune — what’s the world coming to when even the lesbians can’t keep it in their pants?

Cast includes: Jennifer DeMartino, Mike Gallagher, Marissa Hall, Jay Huguley, Ian Jensen, Heather Long, and Casey Siegenfeld.

A world premiere. “Apartment A” is a theater collective dedicated to the fearless exploration of the writer.

October 22, 2004
Electric Lodge Theatre, Venice, California

image: ?

Jeff Key stops lying about his sexuality and uses the military’s anti-gay ban to exit the Marine Corps, thereby avoiding the taking of innocent life for corporate gains. He struggles to reconcile participating in an illegal, immoral war, and his profound commitment to being a marine. A psychological and emotional journey that culminates in spiritual epiphany.

To propel the story, Key uses excerpts from his Iraq journals; from his 2001 Iraq tour, to his return to a life of political activism and philanthropy. More than a documentation of the war, this piece is a profoundly personal look inside the conscience of a man faced with nearly impossible decisions.

October 25, 2004
Tamarind, Hollywood, California

Adam McKinstry as Frank N. Furter image: Janey Miller    Renee Gawlik as Riff Raff image: Janey Miller

A sweet transvestite and his rock-and-roll disciples do the “time-warp.”

Cast includes: Adam McKinstry, Renee Gawlik.

October 29, 2004

Dorothy Menker Theater, Moraine Valley Community College, Palos Hills, Illinois

graphic source: Eric Dyck

A lonely gay Calgary man, and a handsome rural Albertan cowboy, write to Premier Ralph Klein with differing views on civil rights for gay people. Sparks fly in this dark comedy where the two men are caught in bigotry and misunderstandings. The play is set in the wake of the ruling in Vriend v. Alberta (1998), where the Canadian Supreme Court said that gay men and lesbians were covered by Alberta’s Human Right Code.

Cast includes: Chad Nobert and Steve Gin. Course language and implied sexual situations.

World premiere
Nov 3, 2004
Pumphouse Theatre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Parker Baltimore, Eric Rice, Leo Lawhorn image: Lois Tema

These five one-act plays explore love between men with lots of good humor, as well as raw emotional honesty. A kaleidoscope of gay male relationships: from young love blooming on the night of the prom in the school janitor’s closet — to infidelity in a long-term relationship — to the bitter-sweet reunion of two former lovers tracing the history of their relationship. A powerful collection of inspirational tales on monogamy, ageing, community, friends, and finding a soul mate, as well as an investigation of the complex dynamics of love, and how we construct the “rules” of our relationships.

Previews: November 5, 2004
New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, California

Dawn Greenidge Inger Tudor, Sofie Calderon image: Katherine Donahue

A story of two maids and their mistress that examines class structure from the perspective of the contemporary woman of color, observing social, emotional, and sexual tensions born from the unique, intimate relationship between master and servant, employer and employee, privileged and impoverished.

Cast includes: Sofie Calderon, Dawn Greenidge and Inger Tudor.

Based on the crime that shocked France in 1933, “The Maids” is Genet’s rendering of the incestuous Papin sisters who savagely murdered their employer and her daughter. Their brutal act became a symbolic revolt by the oppressed against the tyranny of class structure, and they were catapulted to heroic status in the struggle against the bourgeoisie.

Playwright Jean Genet (1910-1986) was an orphan, thief, homosexual, and outcast. The details of his personal life, and the scandalous subject matter of his writings, have often overshadowed the enduring artistic achievements of his most challenging works, which include: “Our Lady of the Flowers,” “The Thief’s Journal,” “The Blacks,” “The Balcony,” “Querelle de Brest,” and “Prisoner of Love.”

November 5, 2004
Stage 52, Los Angeles, California

Stephen Rader, John Sanders image: John Beckman

In a small, conservative Wisconsin town in 1938, Dr. Peter Chase discovers love for the first time. He meets, and has a passionate affair with, Henry Meegan, a nationally-known Milwaukee specialist. The two men are avid amateur violists. When their secret love is accidentally revealed, the consequences exact an immense emotional price.

“Arrangement” contains topical same-sex marriage issues, from a 1938 perspective.

Cast includes: Gene Cordon, Marssie Mencotti, Stephen Rader, John Sanders.

November 5, 2004
Chicago Dramatists, Chicago, Illinois

More righteous rants of nationality, sexuality, and flab. Experience silly and profound empanadas of life from the creator of “Greetings From A Queer Señorita.” Plus, special guest Andrew Carrillo.

“One of the great funny women of our queer culture.” - Bay Area Reporter

“Palacios rises above the run-of-the-mill.” - LA Weekly

“Terrifically funny.” - LA Times

Ms. Palacios received a Rockefeller Fellowship and an Indie Award for her play “Sweet Peace,” has written several one-person shows, and has been included in many anthologies. She is an adjunct professor at UCLA, U.C. Santa Barbara and U.C. Riverside.

November 5, 2004
Casa 0101, Los Angeles, California

Richard Gee, Lewis Morton, Phil Price, Peter Sundby, Gareth Watkins image: Juhani Naukkarinen

A rent boy, sailor, handyman, student, businessman, teenager, professor, writer, actor, producer who are all skilled in the art of seduction. A sexy, raunchy all-male, gay interpretation of “La Ronde” by Arthur Schnitzler.

Cast includes: Richard Gee, Phil Price, Peter Sundby, Lewis Morton, and Gareth Watkins.

First European production. Premiered in San Francisco in 2004. Mr. Heifner’s previous plays include “Vanities,” which ran for more than five years Off Broadway, and the Broadway musical “Leader of the Pack,” for which he received a Tony Award nomination.

Nudity.

November 9, 2004
Barons Court Theatre, The Curtains Up, London W14, UK

Jason Alan Griffin, Robert Maisonett, Brian Patacca image: ?

One man looks for love online and fears he might accidentally invite his boss over for a quickie. Another joins a couple for a ménage à trois, only to discover he has interrupted a screaming match. And then there is the submissive man who wants to clean the apartment wearing only a jockstrap and demands payment in the form of humiliation.

Six interrelated vignettes explore the follies of men searching the Internet for love, while settling for something far less. Candid, comical, send ups of the pursuit of sex in the age of chatrooms and Internet hook-ups, while examining the human heart that beats beneath our sexual desires. A comedy of manners for the 21st Century.

Cast includes: Jason Alan Griffin*, Robert Maisonett, Brian Patacca*, Dan Salyer, Andrew Shoffner, Brad Thomason*, Karen Stanion, Phoenix Walker. (*Actor’s Equity members)

Jonathan Kronenberger was presented with an award in the 2004 Everyday Uncomfortable Play Festival for his one-act, “Family Night.” His other plays include “Call Me Mom,” “Gentlemen Prefer Rope,” “Happily Ever After,” and an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “Sweet Thursday.”

Nudity, strong sexual content.

November 12, 2004
Wings Theatre, New York, New York

Ebenezer Scrooge is a stuffy, interior designer, hell bent on being an old troll. Ebbie’s childhood memories allow a glimpse into how he ended up this way. He is visited by Marley, who bears the sadomasochistic chains of their former relationship. Bob Cratchitt and his lover, (not so) Tiny Tim, show the way to Ebbie’s redemption.

The action takes place in Memphis, with many references to local gay and lesbian establishments, some of the cities better (and not so better) locales, as well as a few local celebrities. A modern retelling of the Dickens classic.

Cast includes: Vincent Astor, Charlie Green, Steve Napier, Gina Garrone, Derek Stanley, Madison Swofford, Michael P. Hoots, James Swindle, Genevieve Imhoff, Hal Harmon and Mat Henderson.

November 12, 2004
Theatreworks, Memphis, Tennessee

Robert Throckmorton, Jackie Jones image: John K. MacLellan

An out of work slacker decides to become a Macy’s elf for the holidays. Humiliated, battle weary, and bitter, our elf-for-hire grins and bears it. When yet another Santa joins the crew — different from the lecherous or drunken ones before — he finds this Santa cares about and loves the children who come to see him. A moment of goodwill, just before his employment ends.

Hearing the family “annual holiday newsletter” will make you thankful for your own normal, happy relationships. Two holiday comedic, staged sendoffs, starring two of Richmond’s most accomplished and delightful actors.

Cast includes: Jackie Jones, Robert Throckmorton.

November 17, 2004
Fieldens Cabaret Theater, Richmond, Virginia

Harry Hart-Browne photo source: Jack Magee

A 20-character, one-man play about remembering the spirit while doing the earth gig.

“The most exciting piece I’ve seen all year! Once again, this performance art pioneer reinvents theatre with a unique mixture of heart and art”
     - Robert Patrick, playwright, author

“Hart-Browne has an ingenuous warmth. The show has a genuine charm. He has enough energy and enough gift with character voices to fill any sized stage all by himself. ‘Special Delivery’ is heartfelt … it contains a sincere spiritual understanding.”
     - Frances Baum Nicholson, Pasadena Star-News

“Theatrically savvy … charming … enlightening … magic.” - Dale Reynolds, Frontiers Magazine

Hart-Browne has received two LA Weekly Awards, two AGLA Awards, and seven other theater awards for excellence in acting. This hilarious and thought-provoking, powerful adventure of one gay man’s spiritual journey tours nationwide.

Also, see our article: Touring Performers

November 21, 2004
Foothill Center of Religious Science, Sierra Madre, California

L.K. Avelar, Robert R. Manning, Jr., Mona Eadington, Kimberly Crowe image: Larry Dean Harris

Directed by Laura Black, Jonathan Levit, Sarah Nina Phillips, Sharon Rosen, David Watkins.

Produced by Playwrights 6

More naughty than nice. Festive nudity and a queer eye on the holidays.

Cast includes: L.K. Avelar, Kimberly Crowe, Mona Eadington, Michael Gabiano, Joshua Grant, Daniel Hepner, Eric Jorgenson, John Huntington LaDue, Jr., Robert R. Manning, Jr., Morris Nash, Jon S. Robbins, and Lily Sauvage.

Plays include:

● “My Date on Christmas Eve” by Amy Heidish
Drew and Curtis must convince their roommate Brandon that Brandon’s Christmas Eve date is really the devil.

● “The Doctor is Out” by Laura Black
A woman with a “condition” visits a lady doctor on Christmas Eve and gets a very thorough examination.

● “Naked Truth” by Amy Tofte
The lover and the fiancee meet: bad … very bad!

● “The Pleasure Pod” by G. Bruce Smith
Adam and Steve, living in a future dystopia, get a surprise visitor Christmas Eve, and a chance to regain their identity.

● “Little Drummer Boyz” by Larry Dean Harris
Ever wonder how porn stars spend the holiday?

Playwrights 6, founded in 1999, is a playwright-managed theater company in Los Angeles. Its productions have earned several L.A. Weekly Theatre Award nominations, Backstage West Garland Award honorary mentions, made several “Critics’ Top 10” lists, and garnered several “Critic’s Picks.”

November 26, 2004
Celebration Theatre, Hollywood, California

Cathy Fithian, John Michael Beck source image: Topher Busenberg

Santaland is an evocation of Christmas as seen through the eyes of a Macy’s elf.

Season’s Greetings follows a housewife whose Christmas traditions are slowly being altered against her will. Just how far will she go to return things to the proper order?

Cast includes John Michael Beck and Cathy Fithian.

December 2, 2004
Shelton Theater, San Francisco, California

Tootie is menaced by a teen prostitution ring, Natalie becomes insufferable while taking a college course at Langley, and Eastland’s hunky French teacher develops a “thing” for Cousin Geri!

Actual, word-for-word episodes of the notorious 80s chick-comedy. Barely repressed lesbian subtext, mind-boggling wigs, and jaw-dropping story lines. Three complete episodes at each show, including a special Christmas episode that taps into everything awful about 80s holiday TV.

Cast includes: Sam Pancake, Steve Sobel, Madeline Long, Julie Brown, Daniele Gaither, Terrence Michael, Mink Stole, Kate Flannery, and Mike Hitchcock.

December 4, 2004
L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, Renberg Theatre, Los Angeles, California

Christmas Eve, 1944. Joan freshly fired from MGM, looks forward to a live radio broadcast from her Brentwood mansion, as a way of keeping herself in the public eye. The broadcast, hosted by her friend Hedda Hopper, does not go well. Never-ending arrivals of uninvited celebrity guests hog the spotlight with their carol singing, and the broadcast ends in disaster. A surprise present from the children puts mommie over the edge. “Christmas” is a musical “Mommie Dearest” drag romp.

December 9, 2004
Shelterbelt/SNAP! Productions Theatre, Omaha, Nebraska

• “Harley & Handel”
  A gay man goes toe-to-toe with Mom when she barges into his holiday baking bliss looking for a missing urn.
• “Top of the Tree”
  Sparky the angel ornament decides this is the year that he will ascend from his bottom branch to the top of the tree, where he belongs.
• “Homosexual Panic”
  Three horny construction workers run amok.
  Directed by Tom W. Kelly
  Cast includes: Jon Gale, Brad Saget, Leo Lawhorn, and Tom W. Kelly
• “My Life on the Cross”
  A coming-out story with a wild, new twist.
  Directed by Tom W. Kelly
  Cast includes: Adrienne Krug, Leo Lawhorn, Parker Baltimore, John Atwood, and Tom W. Kelly

Cast includes Malcolm Gets and others.

A benefit for the Manhattan GLBT Center.

December 20, 2004
Harvey Lerner, The Center, New York, New York

A cutting edge series dedicated to producing exceptional works of theatre by up-and-coming authors and playwrights connected to the LGBT community.
Directors Company Theater 3, NYC
SunnySpot Productions Inc., One River Place, Suite 917, New York, NY 10036
212-868-5570; fax 212-868-3196; info@sunnyspotproductions.com

Schedule:

● 108 Waverly book and lyrics by Dan Clancy
Music by Lynn Portas
Directed by Sammy Viverito

image: ?

Cast includes: Jamie McGonnigal, Alexander Quiroga, Patrick Porter and Chris Weikel.

● A Taste of Heaven by Michael D. Jackson

Andy Phelan, Chad Ryan image: Michael D. Jackson

Based on the 1885s diaries of F.S. Ryman.

Cast includes: Andrew Phelan and Chad Ryan.

● PS 69 by Mary Fulham and Susan Jeremy
Directed by Mary Fulham

Susan Jeremy image: ?

● Joseph & Napoleon by Russell Bouthiller
Directed by Drew Geraci

image: ?

Cast includes: Chris Arruda, Jack Garrity, Darin Riggi and Stephen Zinnato.

Produced by Marjorie Conn
Information: 508-487-2666

Schedule:

● First Annual Susan Glaspell Play Reading Marathon

Susan Glaspell image: ?

Plays to be read include: “The Verge,” “The Outside,” “Trifles,” “Inheritors,” and the 1931 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Alison’s House.”

The Marathon was inspired by Cheryl Black’s book, “Women in Provincetown” and is supported by The Susan Glaspell Society. Susan Glaspell co-founded, with her husband, the legendary Provincetown Players, where many of Eugene O’Neill’s plays had their first airing. Susan also premiered her own play Trifles, which has been published, in short story format, as “A Jury of Her Peers.”

Part of the proceeds from the Marathon will go to the Provincetown Public Library.

June 26, 2004

● Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler

cast image: ?

Using outrageous humor, this show explores how various women view their vaginas, and is complex and realistic without sensationalizing. Interviewing more than 200 women about their vaginas, Ensler says that, at first, they were reluctant and shy. Once they got going, you couldn’t stop them.

Cast includes: Abby Krenrich, Cassie Hultin, Deborah Peabody, Dian Hamilton, Linda Posage, Maebush, Marissa-Lena O’Conner, Marj Conn, Ruth Greenblatt, and special guests. All performances are followed by lively discussion with cast and audience.

Sundays - June 20-September 5, 2004

● Deviant Women 2004 by Elyse Nass, Kate Walbert, Marjorie Conn

Marjorie Conn image: ?

When you come see strong, independent women choosing to live life on their own terms, you will be likely to see Aileen Wuornos, notorious lesbian serial killer; a cross-dressing whaling woman; a woman pondering a fortune cookie message; an hilarious lesbian rap song celebrating the joys of sisterhood; Eve and her ventriloquist friend, Pinky, discussing an S/M wonderland; Jeannette Rankin, the first congresswoman in the U.S.; and a woman reuniting with her lesbian lover, 40 years later.

Cast includes: Christopher Noel Hall, Ellen Mulroney, Karen Maloney, Lee Siegel, Marj Conn. In 2002, Deviant Women performed to full and enthusiastic houses at the famous Chashama Theatre, NYC, was the runaway hit of the Provincetown Fringe Festival, and the recipient of the “Excellence in Performance-Ensemble Cast Award.”

Mondays - June 21-August 30, 2004

● Lorena Hickok & Eleanor Roosevelt: A Love Story by Pat Bond

Lorena, Eleanor image: ?

A chronicle of the amazing 30-year relationship between the First Lady and the top woman journalist.

Based on more than 2,000 letters written by Eleanor to her “beloved Hick,” who actually lived in the White House. Eleanor wrote: “I wish I could lie down beside you and take you in my arms. I can’t kiss you so I kiss your picture good night and good morning.” Hick wrote: “I love the feeling of that soft spot just northeast of the corner of your mouth against my lips.”

Tuesdays - June 22-August 31, 2004

● Honeymoon Years of Eleanor Roosevelt & Lorena Hickok

Marjorie Conn image: Marian Roth

The early years of their relationship, as Hickok talks about FDR and his reaction to her relationship with his wife. Other highlights include: Eleanor and Lorena’s travels in Canada and San Francisco; the Lindbergh kidnapping; what it was like living in the White House before and after Pearl Harbor; and letters sent between the two women that confirm the passion, caring, and love that these two phenomenal women shared.

Every word of this play is from Lorena Hickok’s books, and material that Hickok donated to the FDR library.

Wednesdays - June 23-September 1, 2004

● Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell

Marjorie Conn image: ?

Shirley Valentine talks about her life as a suburban housewife who finds herself middle-aged without the slightest idea how she got there. Russell’s writing is funny and moving as it holds up familiar aspects of life for inspection and enjoyment. He is an instinctive feminist, and expresses a radical desire for people to improve their lives. Truly a delightful and heart-warming play.

This play was a hit in London and New York. When Conn performed it in Provincetown, in 1991, it won an Evelyn Lawson Award for best actress.

Thursdays - June 24-September 2, 2004

● In Love with Her by Laura DeCesare

image: ?

This staged reading of a new full-length play follows a 17-year-old high school senior as an unexpected romance changes everything in her life.

July 31, 2004

● I am Not a 12-Year-Old Boy

Kelli Dunham image: ?

Not your typical houseboat-dwelling, gender-queer, ex-nun dyke stand-up comic, Dunham weaves complex and comical tales of being mistaken for her own son, hassled by cops for not being in school, and explaining to sexual conquests why they’ve heard her say the “Hail Mary” in her sleep.

Mixed with slightly off-center observations about the state of queer life today, Dunham invites us to celebrate the community of laughter that is a revolutionary gesture.

August 2, 2004

● Sub-City by Seraphina Richardson

image: ?

Two drug addicts struggle for escape, ruthlessly manipulate each other, and discover what they are capable of, when rejection and jealousy feed desperation to frightening extremes. Everyone is lying. The graphic language and sex serves the piece well in exposing and communicating the rawness and desperation of urban survival.

A multi-media, indy-film/theatre mind screw, with an original score, religious undertones, and plot twists that are pleasurably disturbing.

Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays - August 4-28, 2004

● Slap&Tickle by David Parr

Directed by Eric Amburg
Fridays and Saturdays - August 6-August 28
Produced by West 50th Street Productions, NYC

In a contemporary New York City bathhouse, the towel-clad characters re-examine their sexual behavior and attitudes 30 years after gay liberation, 20 years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years after political correctness. Raw and unapologetic, Slap&Tickle serves as a intergeneration portrait of those who grew up knowing about AIDS before sex; condoms before kisses; first kisses underwater; a men’s room assault; high school gyms; and public parks. Slap&Tickle veers beyond sex to explore interrelated issues of promiscuity, intimacy and homophobia for a unique and poignant exploration of contemporary sexuality.

Cast includes: Robert Driemeyer*, Brett Hemmerling, Jesse Johnson*, Paul Tena, Bradley Vieth, Marcus Woollen* (*Actors’ Equity).

“Mr. Parr writes with a gritty lyricism well-tuned to the nuances of language that run the gamut from shocking to comforting, from intensely intimate to defensively self-protective. Good theater should provoke and astonish through the forthrightness of its characters, an aim Mr. Parr accomplishes.” - Christopher Byrne, Gay City News

● SlamBoston slams Provincetown!

SlamBoston, Diverse Voices in Theater, opened as Boston’s first 10-minute play slam in October 2003. Seven slams later — with full houses every performance and rave reviews — the slam is coming to Provincetown, featuring all gay plays. Five-to-six plays compete for a cash prize, judged by five volunteer audience members (and their cheering and/or booing peers). Come experience a wildly entertaining, thought-provoking, and rowdy evening.

August 10, 2004

● Park Bench Encounters: Lesbian, Gay, Straight

● Alphabet of Flowers by Elyse Nass
Read by Marjorie Conn and Karen Maloney
Two women meet for a planned reunion, having been lovers many years before.

● The Cat Connection by Elyse Nass
Read by Karen Maloney and Ellen Mulroney
A humorous and touching play about two women meeting accidentally while awaiting the arrival of a stray cat who they have both been feeding.

● Strictly Platonic by David Mauriello
Directed by Karen Maloney
Cast: Paul Roberts and Beau Babineau
An encounter between two men, a sensitive philosopher, and a virile carpenter who play cat and mouse with romance.

August 21, 2004

Schedule:

● Body/Works by Michael Z. Keamy
Directed by Curt Miller
June 25, 2004
If man is created in God’s image, is 21st Century humankind really what the Creator had in mind? This play is one man’s sexy, sad, funny search for balance. A workshop production.

● Pandora’s Box: Curiosity, Love, Power and Hope by Kate Caffrey
Directed by Kate Caffrey
June 24, 2004
In trying to grapple with an underlying current of anger in her life and relationships, Nessa’s curiosity, like that of Pandora in the myth, releases a wave of pain, nightmares and undecipherable images from her childhood. Convinced she is losing her mind, she struggles to make sense of the senseless. In her search, she discovers a little girl named Crash who is locked in Pandora’s box. Through love and acceptance of her personal power, Nessa discovers life-sustaining hope. A staged reading.

Schedule:

● Let’s Laugh about Sex Reality Show
Written and performed by Karen Williams

Karen Williams image: ?

October 8-12, 2004

● You Must be Kidding! with Karen Williams

Karen Williams image: ?

October 8-12, 2004

● Lorena Hickok & Eleanor Roosevelt: A Love Story by Pat Bond
Performed by Marjorie Conn

Lorena, Eleanor image: ?

Celebrating it’s 11th year in Provincetown.

October 8-17, 2004

● Honeymoon Years of Eleanor Roosevelt & Lorena Hickok
Written and performed by Marjorie Conn

Marjorie Conn image: Marian Roth

Every word of this play is from Lorena Hickok’s books, and material that Hickok donated to the FDR library.

October 8-17

● Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler
Directed by Dian Hamilton

image: ?

Cast includes: Cassie Hultin, Deborah Peabody, Dian Hamilton, Diana Fabbri, Linda Posage, Maebush, Marissa-Lena O’Conner, Marj Conn, Ruth Greenblatt, and Special Guests.

October 8-17, 2004

● A Strange Present by Sara Ceibas Heron
Directed by Sara Ceibas Heron and Karen Maloney

It’s Christmas among the dunes of the Outer Cape. A former lover shows up wanting closure, or, perhaps, more. Should the passions of the mind and the passions of the body meet, at least occasionally? A thoughtful, funny play straight from the heart of our sexy, smart, secret culture. Fully staged reading.

Cast includes: Judith Partelow, Susan Grilli, Dian Hamilton, and Deborah Peabody. Discussion follows.

October 9-17, 2004

● Sex Sells? Presented by Angry Jellow Bubbles

image: ?

October 13-17, 2004

Schedule:

● The Last Sunday in June by Jonathan Tolins
Directed by Jay Paul Skelton
Previews June 19, 20, 2004
June 21-July 25 - on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sundays
This comedy follows a group of friends as they prepare for the Pride Parade. Tom and Michael, the perfect couple, navigate the social obligations and opportunities of this year’s festivities. When an old friend arrives and announces that he will be marrying a woman, Tom and Michael’s friends reevaluate their understanding of what it is to be gay, proud and in love. Cast includes: John Cardone, Stephen Rader, Page Hearn, Scott Carlson, Sarah Hayes, Jeremy Hodges, and Gerrit O’Neill. Jonathan Tolins is chiefly known for his Broadway play The Twilight of the Golds, which was made into a film with Brendan Fraser, Garry Marshall and Faye Dunaway. He is also a television writer, having written for Queer as Folk and two Academy Awards ceremonies.

● Justin Tranter Band!
Mike Herklots, Brian Nash, Neal Persiani, and headed by Justin Tranter
July 2, 3, 2004
Tranter, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, has performed in Chicago, New York, and in such venues as the Pride Lights Festival, the off-Broadway show Rockstars NYC and Sidewalk Café in the East Village. His band will play songs from his two albums, “Scratched” and “Tear Me Together.”

● Living Inside Myself written and performed by Jamie Black
Directed by Rob Chambers
Previews July 10, 11, 2004
July 12, 14-August 1 - on Wednesday Saturday, Sundays
Jamie tells it like it was, as a young girl, who always felt like there was a little something missing in her life, and how she finally found it as a man. This touching show is funny, poignant, musical, and engaging. Jamie is not female. He was just born that way. Mr. Black has performed with Imagination Theater, TinFish Theatre, Noble Fool Theatre, Murder Mystery Players, Factory Theatre, Emerald City Theater, and National Theatre for Children in Minneapolis, MN. He was most recently seen in “Homey for the Holidays” at Second City and as Puck in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with ComedySportz.

PRIDE DIRECTORS’ FESTIVAL
July 19, 20, 26, 27, August 2, 3, 2004
In the annual festival of one-act plays, GLBT issues are explored in plays that range from absurd-to-dramatic to comedic-to-abstract. They are presented by Chicago’s up-and-coming directing talents and seasoned veterans who enjoy the one-act form.

● Kilt by Jonathan Wilson
Directed by Bo List
Previews July 31, August 1, 2004
August 2, 5-September 5 - on Thursday, Saturday, Sundays
Mac fought in the “great war,” his grandson, Tom, is a stripper. In this quirky comedy, both men (played by the same actor) come to terms with themselves: Mac with his wavering sexuality, and Tom with his family heritage and pride in himself. Uniting them both is the same plaid tartan worn by Mac as a soldier and Tom as a dancer — and a secret. Kilt has been performed in San Francisco, Dublin, Ireland, and elsewhere, including a 2002 off-Broadway run at the Director’s Company. A feature film version is currently in development. Wilson wrote the Chalmers-nominated “My Own Private Oshawa,” which has been produced as a feature film, and the HBO sketch comedy pilot “In Through the Out Door.” He is also an accomplished stage performer.

● Anatomy of Revenge written and performed by Michael Rougas
Directed by David Zak
Previews August 7, 8, 2004
August 9, 13-September 19 - on Friday, Saturday, Sundays
Roger Lang is a successful artist, living slightly on the wild side of drugs and promiscuous sex. When a fling with the sexy young Voltaire turns into a vicious gay-bashing, an injured Roger takes justice into his own hands, crafting a plot that will lead Voltaire down the same seductive road that he had led Roger down, before exacting a horrifying revenge. Michael Rougas is a veteran television and film actor, having worked with directors Sidney Poitier, John Landis and Michaelangelo Antonioni. He also collaborated frequently with actor/director Michael Landon.

● Meaningless by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Previews August 14, 15, 2004
August 16
Two friends, a young gay man and his lesbian roommate, graduate college, enter the workplace, and fall in and out of love. Taking place in the 90s backdrop of ultra-safe sex, the rise and fall of the wacky dot-com industry, and a Starbucks culture of disposable relationships. Funny, witty and wise, Meaningless won Bailiwick’s 2nd Annual GLBT College/University Playwriting Contest.

● Swing Santa, Swing!
This year’s holiday production features the 200-plus voices of the chorus performing a “swing a-long” that includes “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Boogie Woogie Hanukkah,” as well as a Broadway holiday medley, and El Nino Perdito (from “Zat You, Santa Claus?”)
    December 17-19, 2004

● Have I Reached the Party to Whom I am Speaking?
Concert with guest Lily Tomlin
    April 1-3, 2005

● They Had It Coming: The Music of John Kander and Fred Ebb
With guest Susan Egan
    July 8-10, 2005

During the past three years, the Chorus has appeared on TV shows — “Mad TV,” “Will and Grace,” “Six Feet Under” — released two compact disks — “Jerry’s Boys: the Music of Jerry Herman,” “Red, White and Blues: An American Music Celebration” — and has had appearances by Jerry Herman, Nancy Dussault, Malcolm Gets, Joanna Gleason, Marilynn Lovell Matz, Vox Femina Los Angeles, Albert McNeil Jubilee Singers, the Southeast Symphony Orchestra, and the Chinese Classical Music Ensemble.

All shows at the
Alex Theatre, Glendale, California

Schedule:

● Elizabeth Whitney

Elizabeth Whitney image: ?

July 26, 2004
Also, see our article: Touring Performers

● Hysterical Women

One of the Hysterical Woman image: ?

July 27, 2004

● Pam Peterson

Pam Peterson image: ?

Sultry and sexy, Pam will serve up a number of her hottest (and funniest) songs that reveal the trials and tribulations of being a sweet and single songbird in search of a beautiful butch babe, and her life on the prowl (any takers?). Sassy and brassy!

August 2, 2004

● Sapna Kumar

Sapna Kumar image: ?

Each will create a distinct and entertaining performance.

August 3, 2004

Theater and entertainment companies and performers from across the country will converge on Columbus, Ohio in September 2004 for the 2nd Biannual Columbus National Gay & Lesbian Theatre Festival. Hosted by Act Out Productions, a gay and lesbian theatrical company in Columbus, the ten-day event will include participants from New York, Chicago, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Austin, Boston, and Columbus. During the past eight years, Act Out has maintained an artistic mission of providing Central Ohio with theatrical experiences representing the best of current Broadway and off-Broadway shows.

Frank Barnhart, Festival Director
Act Out Productions, 2517 N. Fourth St., Columbus OH 43202
614-263-9448; fabact1@aol.com

Shows and Performers:

• Clearly Marked - S. Bear Bergman (Northampton, MA)
• Gay Couplings - Cetacean Love Theatre Group (Columbus, Ohio)
• Not the Boy Next Door - CJ Productions (St. Louis, MO)
• Deviant Women - (C.A.P.E.) Inc. (Provincetown, MA)
• Anna, Leona and the Lady Luck - GBD Unlimited (Sarasota, FL)
• Icons Volume 2 - Jade Esteban Estrada (Brooklyn, NY)
• Building Houses on the Moon - Houses On The Moon (New York, NY)
• Confessions - Buffalo United Artists (Buffalo, NY)
• Cucumber Dreams - Michael Burke (Brooklyn, NY)
• Lounge-Zilla! - The Oops Guys (Orlando, Florida)
• Empty Closets - RaggedBlade (St. Louis, MO)
• Miss Gulch Returns - Richmond Triangle Players (Richmond, Virginia)
• Innuendo - The Puppet-Queers (Columbus, Ohio)
• Pop Culture Princess - Elizabeth Whitney (Milwaukee, WI)
• The Book of Boyhood Joey Schultz (Columbus, Ohio)
• Southern Gothic Novel - Emerging Writers (New York, NY)
• Quintessential Image by Jane Chambers - Red Headed GRRLS (Baltimore, MD)
• Christina: King of Sweden - Kevyn Radcliffe (Madison, WI)
• Who’s That Lady? - The TAPIT Sisters (Madison, WI)
• Labors of Love - 2Co’s Cabaret (Columbus, Ohio) - shorts:
      Class Dismissed by Rich Orloff
      People Who Need People by Roy Berkowitz
      font face="Arial">Oh, Happy Day by Rich Orloff
• Essentially - Karen Williams (Cleveland, Ohio)
• Anticipating Miles - Lost in the Cove Productions (Minneapolis, MN)
• Living Inside Myself - Jamie Black
• Do Not Pass Go - Bobaloo (Los Angeles, CA)
• Broken - Rogue Theatrics (Columbus, Ohio) - shorts:
      Lesbian Last Pizza
      Frozen Dog
• Stillwater State: A Gay Oddessey Into a Bible College - by Paul Ricciardi (New York, NY)
• From Darkness to Light - Journey Light (Fullerton, CA)
• Shakespeare on Love - Actors’ Theatre (Columbus, Ohio)

“Empty Closets” by Jerry Rabushka Anne Smith, Randy Arndt, Melissa Byers, Jerry Rabushka, Gerald C. Ortiz, Jenn Bock image: Rob Shipman

image: Demian

Celebrating The Sesquicentennial of Oscar Wilde’s Birth.
Information: purplecir@aol.com
See: WildeWeek Festival

● Faking Oscar - lecture by C. Robert Holloway

C. Robert Holloway image: Louis Sahuc

Oscar Wilde’s fascination with forgers and forgery form the basis of a talk by Author and playwright Holloway.

He will also discuss his own book, “The Unauthorized Letters of Oscar Wilde,” which won the Hemingway award.

Following the lecture, there will be an opening reception for the “Wilde Family Values” exhibit, which chronicles the Wilde family history.

October 10, 2004
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, Calif.

● The Importance of Being Dolly by Lily Sauvage

Lily Sauvage image: ?

Directed by Pamela Forrest

Down-on-her-luck L.A. actress Marguerite Davis hasn’t had a juicy part all year, so she decides to create one for herself, in the form of a fabulously tragic one-woman show based on the life of Oscar Wilde’s heartbreaking niece, Dolly. Brilliant, sexy, drug-addicted, and famously gay, Dolly promises to be the break-through role of Marguerite’s career. However, on the final rehearsal night, Marguerite has a break through of a very different kind.

Premiere; staged reading. Cast includes Lily Sauvage, Barry Saltzman, Ursula Schmidt, Ray Akin, Joey Bell, Paula Fins, Erin Treanor, Nancy Hendrickson.

October 13, 2004
Globe Playhouse, West Hollywood, Calif.

● Wilde Birthday Party

Paula Fins image: Peter Martin

Celebration includes a performance piece — written by Bill Kaiser — about Oscar’s mother, Speranza.

Cast included: Paula Fins, Bill Chrisley, Ron Edwards, with singer Steven De Muth.

The piece is followed by the Wilde Birthday Party in the ONE Archive garden. Proceeds benefit the ONE Archives.

October 16, 2004
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California

Emerging women playwrights explore the miraculous nature of the ordinary in staged readings of recent plays developed as part of the ongoing weekly meeting of the Women Playwrights Outreach Project.

Produced in collaboration with the June Mazer Lesbian Archives

Women Playwrights Outreach Project: “We are a community of women playwrights who meet weekly. We write and produce theater for fully dimensional characters whose stories are often marginalized and forgotten in our society. We aim to enlighten, inspire, and entertain our audiences. Our hope is that in making the invisible come alive on stage, we celebrate the diversity of our collective humanity.”

October 16, 2004
Celebration Theater, Hollywood, Calif.

● Seeing the Elephant by Mary Casey
Tales of death and beauty in the golden West.
Directed by Ann-Giselle Spiegler
Cast includes: Arigon Starr, Tohoru Masamune, Sharline Liu, Peter Jessop, Susan Brindley, John-Michael Herndon

● Commitment to Excellence by Angela Bolton
A humorous look at a lesbian relationship invaded by self-improvement propaganda.
Directed by Deb Loftis
Cast includes: Lisi DeHaas, Carmen Mitchell

● Celibacy is Good by Helen Slater Hughes
A celebration of the virtues of wanting less.
Cast includes: Lisi DeHaas, Carmen Mitchell

October 23, 2004
Celebration Theater, Hollywood, Calif.

● The River Keeps Rollin’ On: The Story of the Bearded Irises
Musical by Anita George and Catherine Rahm
A troupe of saucy girl singers clash in pursuit of their dream.
Directed by Joseph Bell
Musical Direction by Catherine Rahm
Cast includes: Renee Laramore, Marty McCambridge, Vicki Rovel-Kirk, Monica Todd, Dean Ricca, Steven Kirk, Janice Allen, Goreti DaSilva

● St. Rosemary by Kathleen Cecchin
We revisit our heroine Marybeth and her heavenly helpers, as they nearly complete their quest to canonize a favorite aunt.
Directed by Kathleen Cecchin
Cast includes: Terry Amy, Roberto Bacalski, Kathleen Cecchin, Lorrie Oshatz, Caitlin Shannon, Benjamin Sprunger

● The Lazy-Susan of Love by Ana Marie Castanon
A single-gal helps herself to the many flavors of lesbian romance.
Directed by Pamela Forrest
Cast includes: Allison Allain, Lisi DeHaas, Pamela Forrest, Sandy Lawson, Amy London, Carolyn Ozimok, Lily Sauvage, Monica Todd, Ellen Williams

October 30, 2004
Celebration Theater, Hollywood, Calif.

● The End of the Boesmani Rainbow by Sibyl O’Malley
In the final moments of his life, a painfully ordinary man meets with a force he can’t explain.
Directed by Lisi DeHaas
Cast includes: Steven Caldwell, Steven Keys

● Shatterproof Objects by Lisi DeHaas
A freefalling ride through the surreal universe of a circus family in transcendental transition. Directed by Lisi DeHaas
Cast includes: Pamela Forrest, Lily Sauvage, Monica Todd

October 28-November 7, 2004
Presented by Village Scene Productions
Held at Station-C, on Ste-Catherine St. East, Montréal, Canada
Davyn Ryall, Directeur Artistique
Les Productions Village Scène, B.P. 142, Succ. C., Montréal, Qc. H2L 2H0
514-526-9842; villagescene@hotmail.com

Tim Miller image: Yvonne Boyd

“Us” intertwines Miller’s life-long love affair of Broadway musicals with explorations of same-sex marriage, exile, and the injustices lesbian and gay people face in the U.S. He recalls a ten-year-old’s plan to escape the Vietnam war by fleeing to Canada (Man of La Mancha) — meditates on why a Southern California child spoke in an English accent (Oliver!) — and recounts a surreal tug-of-war at the Canada/U.S. border on Tim and his partner Alistair’s Canadian wedding day (Don’t Rain on My Parade!).

Tim takes us on a whirlwind journey that re-thinks the American musical as inspiration for radical politics and queer identity.

Tim Miller, an internationally-acclaimed solo performer, has been hailed for his humor and passion. His performance works have delighted and emboldened audiences all over the world, including shows at the Yale Repertory Theatre, London Institute of Contemporary Art, Walker Art Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival.

Tim Miller image: John Aigner

Touring:

April 9, 2004
    Bailiwick Repertory, Chicago, Illinios

July 16, 2004
    N. Miami Beach Performing Arts Theatre, N. Miami Beach, FL

July 21, 2004
    Payomet Tent Performing Arts Center, North Truro, Mass.

September 9, 2004
    Tim leads a gay men’s Performance Workshop, Sept. 11
    PS 122, New York, NY

October 21, 2004
    Out North, Anchorage, Alaska

November 12, 2004
    Center for Contemporary Art, Glasgow, Scotland
    Part of the Glasgay Festival
    Tim leads a Gay Men’s Storytelling Workshop

November 17, 2004
    Drill Hall, London, UK

Also, see our article: Touring Performers

image: John MacLellan

Vol. 1 directed by Jeff Wills
Additional musical arrangements by Tracy Stark
Vol. 2 directed by David Miguel Estrada
Additional musical arrangements by Tracy Stark
Produced by Vicarious Productions

In Volume 1, meet Sappho, Michelangelo, Oscar, Gertrude, Sylvia, and Ellen. One day, they decided to make history. From the island of Lesbos — to the Sistine Chapel — to the Stonewall Inn — to “Yep, I’m Gay” on the cover of Time Magazine. Vol. 1 debuted September 12, 2002 at the Columbus National Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival in Columbus, Ohio.

Volume 2 is a musical journey of LGBT history using the voices of Alexander the Great, Queen Christina of Sweden, Susan B. Anthony, Billie Jean King, Harvey Milk and 9/11 hero Mark Bingham. Vol. 2 won the “Audience Favorite Award” in Solo Performance at the 2004 Columbus National Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival.

Jade Esteban Estrada as Billie Jean King image: Angel Hess

“An irreverent, funny and moving solo musical. A feel-good session for gay people” - Tom Sime, Dallas Morning News

Jade Esteban Estrada is a playwright, composer, singer, actor, choreographer and director. From 1996 to 2000, he was chief choreographer to Latin TV star Charo. He founded and is artistic director for the Experiencia Dance Company, New York.

2004 Tour Dates:

June 20, 2004
    Limelight Theatre, St. Augustine, Florida

    Proceeds benefit St. Augustine Pride
July 8, 2004
    AGCMCC, Minneapolis, Minnesota

July 18, 2004
    Where Eagles Dare Theatre, New York, NY

October 28, 2004
    Greenwich Street Theatre, New York, NY

November 4, 2004
    Alley Theatre, Indianapolis, Indiana

December 1, 2004
    Pride Center, North Brunswick, N.J.

December 3, 2004
    Limelight Theatre, St. Augustine, Florida

December 10, 2004
    Cafe Ole, Trenton, N.J.

December 11, 2004
    Black Box of Asbury Park, Asbury Park, N. J.

December 19, 2004
    Angel Hess Studio, New York, N.Y.

Also, see our article: Touring Performers

August 9, 2004
Talent included: Lisa Geduldig (host), Supervisor Tom Ammiano, Carla Clayy, Sean Heatherington, Doug Holsclaw, Larry, Hall, Jack Aimee Simplee McPhearsome (Max Kincora), Julia Query, Bridget Schwartz