The Purple Circuit promotes GLQBT
and feminist theater and performance.

Michael Kearns image: Annie Tritt

Written, directed, produced and performed by Michael Kearns

Musical direction by Wayne Moore

Kearns takes you from his Midwestern roots, to Hollywood sound stages, casting offices, and bedrooms, with his usual flair for being an honest and self-effacing storyteller. Kearns performs this memoir through Broadway show tunes and Hollywood tales.

Having survived HIV/AIDS for more than two decades, Kearns has been an artistic stalwart; as a writer, director, producer and actor, the volume, and quality, of his work is unparalleled.

Preview: youtube.com/watch?v=WeAM9hf5Cb0

January 5, 2014
Spirit Studio, Los Angeles, California

Ian MacKinnon image: Leo Garcia

Written, produced and performed by Ian MacKinnon

A fun, creative, nonjudgmental workshop, combining gay liberation ideas with simple performance techniques to develop short pieces using our minds, bodies, and hearts. For creating new work, or bring in something you have been wanting to develop.

In this fun, creative, nonjudgemental workshop, we combine gay liberation ideas with simple performance techniques, to develop short pieces using our minds, bodies, and hearts. After a quick movement-based warm-up, we work together to actualize our creative visions. Come make new work, or bring in something you have been wanting to develop. Those wishing to create longer pieces, as well as those wishing to come play and explore, are welcome.

Attendance for all 8 weeks is preferred, but feel free to drop in when you can. No experience necessary. All are welcome.

January 7, 2014
Spirit Studio, Los Angeles, California
Information: imackinn1@hotmail.com

Steph Van Vlack and Anna Podolak image: ??

Written by Barbara Kahn and Noelle LuSane
Directed by Robert Gonzales Jr. and Barbara Kahn
Produced by Theater for the New City

A newly graduated social worker comes face-to-face with her own biases, grounded in her white, upper class background, when she becomes acquainted with the prisoners of the Women’s Penitentiary, and falls in love with one of them.

In 1927, women were incarcerated in New York City’s Women’s Penitentiary on Welfare Island. A short ferry ride from the hustle and bustle of mid-town Manhattan, on what is now Roosevelt Island, the prison became a revolving door for many women from varying ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds who found themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Carefully researched, “Island Girls” brings to life examples of the unknown, or forgotten, stories of thousands of women of nearly a century ago. This is the third play by Barbara Kahn which includes real-life Polish-Jewish, lesbian Eve Adams, incarcerated for writing a book of short stories called “Lesbian Love.”

Cast includes: Gregory Dann, Pamela Stewart Ehn, Alicia Foxworth, Noelle LuSane, Anna Podolak, Adrienne Powell, Emily Radosevich, Elia Rangel, Steph Van Vlack.

January 9, 2014
Theater for the New City, New York, New York
Information: presskahntnc@aol.com

Julia Jackson image: David M. Allen

Written and performed by Julia Jackson
Directed by Coke Nakamoto
Produced by Bruce Pachtman

Julia never bought a baby before. Okay, she’s adopting, but the agency sure makes her feel like she’s buying a baby. Did you know some kids are discounted? For instance, a black baby, which is what Julia and her wife Amy are seeking, costs one half the fee as a white baby. However, the waiting time for adopting a black child is six months, instead of the two years it takes for a white baby. But five days after signing the contract at the adoption agency, a birth mother chooses Julia and Amy to raise her baby. Further, she’s in labor, and Julia’s suddenly not sure what to do. This show is as hilarious as it is serious.

February 14, 2013
Stage Werx, San Francisco, California
Information: 415-767-5161; brupach@gmail.com

Luke Yankee image: ?

Written, directed and performed by Luke Yankee
Produced by Desert Rose Productions, Inc.

Did you ever wonder what it was like to be a part of showbiz history? You know, Ethel Merman teaching you how to make martinis, while Paul Newman gave you acting tips. And then, fielding all those annoying telephone calls from reporters the night your Mom won the Oscar?

In Luke Yankee’s one-man show, we get a glimpse of his life, the son of Broadway and Hollywood actress Eileen Heckart. This masterful performer and storyteller invites you into a world full of showbiz stories and behind-the-scenes tales of your favorite celebrities. This multimedia theatrical event includes never-before seen photos of stars like Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren and Bob Fosse, as well as rare video clips and scores of humorous stories.

Yankee, a Los Angeles and Palm Springs actor and director, compiled Diva Dish after his mother, Oscar, Tony, Emmy winner and Theatre Hall of Famer, Eileen Heckart passed away.

In the first half of the evening, with great good humor, Luke “dishes” about the major divas in his life and his mother’s, such as Marlene Dietrich, George Cukor, Marilyn Monroe, Ethel Merman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Bette Davis, and Ellen Degeneres. All of which is accompanied by video clips, photographs and a rare audio tape of Joan Crawford.

In the second half, Yankee offers anecdotes about Carol Channing, Paul Newman, Martha Stewart, Lucille Ball, Arthur Miller, Debbie Reynolds, and many more.

Luke Yankee has performed Diva Dish all over the world for the past ten years. His book, “Just Outside the Spotlight” (an expanded version of Diva Dish), is published by Back Stage Books, with a foreword by Mary Tyler Moore. Michael Musto in The Village Voice called it, “One of the most compassionate and illuminating showbiz books ever written.”

February 28, 2014
Desert Rose Playhouse, Rancho Mirage, California
Information: paultaylor@desertroseplayhouse.org

Dorothy Kirk image: ?

Written, directed and performed by Dorothy Kirk
Produced by Desert Rose Productions, Inc.

Dorothy Kirk’s one-woman show was inspired by a conversation with a much younger lesbian who said to her in astonishment, “My God, you came out before Stonewall, I’ve never known a pre-Stonewall dyke before. Tell me what it was like.” The title, I Came Out in a Darkroom, refers to a photographic darkroom and tells what it was like to come out as a lesbian in 1963-64 and how silence, invisibility, and ignorance created a cultural dark room.

March 7, 2014
Desert Rose Playhouse, Rancho Mirage, California

Ian MacKinnon image: Don Tinling

Written, produced and performed by Ian MacKinnon

Part 1: Horny for History
Part 2: The Search for Gay Love
Part 3: Mondo-Mythological

For the first time ever, all three parts of The Gay Hist-Orgy will play together on one night. In Gay Hist-Orgy Fest performance activist Ian MacKinnon brings the past to life by tracing the history of gay people in ways never before seen on stage.

With the aid of his magic time-traveling chaps and sexy Genie guide, Ian cruises a plethora of gay historical figures in his one-man multi-media series. Along the way, he covers thousands of years of homo-history to create an evening of laughs and lust, eros and education, humor and heroism.

The Gay Hist-Orgy revives our hidden history in living color, beginning in the ancient world, and tracing the evolution of gay consciousness up to the present day. Including, but also going beyond, the already famous icons of gay history, Ian introduces the audience to more obscure, but equally fascinating, figures who bravely pioneered gay liberation against the odds. Ian shows how these bold and affirming individuals risked persecution, and even death, to honor the calling of their hearts, and to create the artistic and philosophical works that inspire us all.

A tour de force of historical research and theatrical flair, The Gay Hist-Orgy draws on primary source material from many epochs, including love letters, philosophical treatises, spiritual poetry, 19th century novels, political tracts, and early scientific inquiries into the meaning of homosexuality. The show engages current controversies in queer theory while considering fundamental questions of gay meaning: “Who are we as a people, and why are we here?” In a radical departure from social-constructionist theory, Ian emphasizes our connections to this history through the shared bond of same-sex love.

March 8, 2014
Spirit Studio Silverlake, Los Angeles, California
Information: imackinn1@hotmail.com
Twitter: twitter.com/mackinnonian

Dorothy Kirk image: ?

Written, directed and performed by Dorothy Kirk
Produced by Desert Rose Productions, Inc.

Lesbian humorist Dorothy Kirk’s one-woman show focuses on the process by which we form our identity, decide what we’re good at, and not good at, and pursue our life path based on what others tell us about ourselves. We use other people as our mirrors and too often the mirrors they hold up to us reflect themselves more than they do us. For better or worse, we become what our mirrors show us to be.

March 8, 2014
Desert Rose Playhouse, Rancho Mirage, California

Les Trocks image: Sascha Vaughn

The all-male drag ballet company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, affectionately known as the Trocks, specializes in a loving critique of the conventions and traditions of ballet: campy and hysterical, but informed and beautifully executed. The company has become an international dance phenomenon, performing canonical works alongside more obscure ballets, dolled up in fabulous costumes, thick makeup, and sporting Ken-doll wigs; all en pointe. The fact that men dance all the parts — heavy bodies delicately balancing on toes as swans, nymphs, princesses — enhances, rather than mocks, the spirit of dance as an art form, delighting knowledgeable ballet audiences and novices alike.

This ballet company, founded in 1974, gives gay men the opportunity to express themselves in a comical, theatrical setting, while at the same time being true to the art of dance. Artistic Director, Tory Dobrin, Les Ballets Trockadero’s artistic director, has been very involved in the gay and lesbian community for many years.

Cast includes: Varvara Bratchikova, Nadia Doumiafeyva, Lariska Dumbchenko, Helen Highwaters, Nina Immobilashvili, Natalie Kleptopovska, Sonia Leftova, Ida Nevasayneva, Maria Paranova, Eugenia Repelskii, Moussia Shebarkarova, Alla Snizova, Olga Supphozova, Maya Thickenthighya, Gerd Tord, Yakatarina Verbosovich, Giuseppina Zambellini, Jacques d’Aneils, Roland Deaulin, Pepe Dufka, Nicholas Khachafallenjar, Stanislas Kokitch, Andrei Leftov, Ivan Legupski, Sergey Legupski, Vladimir Legupski, Vyacheslav Legupski, Mikhail Mypansarov, Boris Nowitsky, Velour Pilleaux, Yuri Smirnov, Innokenti Smoktumuchsky, Kravlji Snepek, Pavel Tord

"The extraordinary skill of the Trocks proves that to undo ballet, one must first be able to do ballet" - The Telegraph, London

March 18, 2014
Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek, Avon, Colorado

Kevin Held, Matt Crabtree image: Ed Krieger

Written by Guy Fredrick Glass
Directed by John Henry Davis
Produced by Racquel Lehrman, Theatre Planners

In 1972, at the dawn of modern-day gay liberation, Dr. John E. Fryer, wears a mask and uses a voice-distorting microphone. He declares himself a homosexual in front of the American Psychiatric Association convention.

“Doctor Anonymous” is loosely based on the true story of Dr. Fryer, whose actions led to removing homosexuality from the APA’s official listing as a mental illness. It wasn’t until 40 years later that California became the first U.S. state to ban so-called, gay conversion therapy, and damaging, futile efforts to change sexual orientation continue to be perpetuated to this day.

“Doctor Anonymous” is a tale of love, liberation and opera.

Cast includes: Matt Crabtree, Christopher Frontiero, Kevin Held, Barry Pearl, Richard Sabine, Jonathan Torres.

March 27, 2014
Zephyr Theater, Los Angeles, California

Jim Strait, John Ferrare image: Paul Taylor

Written by Robert Patrick
Directed by Wendy Cohen
Produced by Desert Rose Productions, Inc.

Jay Astor is a flamboyant writer who can’t get over the suicide of his roommate, Ed. Frank is a fresh-off-the-farm, would-be playwright who happens to look exactly like dead lover Ed. Frank is just looking for a place to spend the night, nothing more he says, and to have someone help him with his play.

This wild comedy was one of the first contemporary gay plays. It premiered at Greenwich Village’s famed Café Cino in 1964. Produced several years before “The Boys in the Band,” and other landmark mainstream plays about homosexuality, gave playwright Robert Patrick the opportunity to create one of the first, memorable leading characters, who was unapologetically gay.

Cast includes: Jim Strait, John Ferrare

May 2, 2014
The Desert Rose Playhouse, Rancho Mirage, California
Information: paultaylor@desertroseplayhouse.org

Nate Jones, Adam J. Yeend image: John Tsiavis

Written by Tommy Murphy
Directed by Larry Moss
Produced by Nick Hardcastle, Nate Jones and Mike Abramson

The course of teenage love rarely runs smoothly, but it’s a white-water adventure if you are gay in an all-boys, Catholic school in 1970s Melbourne, with a crush on the captain of the football team. Despite the odds, Tim and John fall in love, and, for 15 years, their relationship survives separations, discrimination, temptations, jealousies, and losses. Finally, they face the only problem love can’t solve.

Writer, actor, and activist Timothy Conigrave’s best-selling memoir is one of Australia’s great love stories. The stage version, by Tommy Murphy, presents a celebration that speaks across generations, sexual orientation, and cultures.

The Australian Theatre Company presents the Los Angeles premiere, with an all-Australian cast, directed by veteran Hollywood acting coach Larry Moss.

Cast includes: Cameron Daddo, Nate Jones, Luke O’Sullivan, Adrienne Smith, Roxane Wilson, Adam J. Yeend.

May 8, 2014
The Matrix Theatre, Los Angeles, California

Murphy’s Law image: Gaelle Voltaire

Written, directed and produced by Gaelle Voltaire
Puppets created by Gaelle Voltaire

A woman descends into madness. Her psychosis is inherited, as well as brought about by tragic events.

Murphy’s Law highlights the beauty found in the woman’s life, as well as the seeds of her eventual self-destruction.
The story is poignant, and the music is haunting, in this adult, puppet musical.

Cast includes: Karen Pangantihon, Gaelle Voltaire

Musician Crys Cardas accompanies the production on May 15 and 17.

May 15, 2014
WOW Cafe Theater, New York, New York

Dave Trudell image: Jane Cantillon

Written and performed by Dave Trudell
Directed by Michael Kearns
Produced by Leo Garcia, Artistic Director, Highways Performance Space

Professor Dave, a Hollywood “sexpert,” plucks topics from current headlines, and probes everything from marriage equality, to celebrity confessionals, to heteroflexibility.
Whether you are straight or LGBTQ, your letter is open for exploration.

“Queer and Now” delves into the rapidly changing sexual mores, and pansexual possibilities, of being gay in the 21st century.

May 16, 2014
Highways Performance Space (18th Street Arts Center), Santa Monica, California

Ian MacKinnon image: Don Tinling

Written, produced and performed by Ian MacKinnon

Part 4: Time Cruiser

A ravenous puppet monster, Prada Baby, is on a rampage.

In this all new, multimedia, one-man show, performance activist Ian MacKinnon cruises homo-history looking for a lay to save the world. With the aid of his magic time traveling neoprene pig-jock and sexy genie guide, Ian seeks to creatively connect with gay history in a sexual, informative, vital and hilarious way. It’s an erotic adventure through gay world history.

Time Cruiser picks up where Gay Hist-Orgy: Part 3 left off, but stands alone as an independent show. Building on the success of the Hist-Orgy series, this installment includes porno-storical, histo-graphic encounters with gay icons Percy Shelly, Gandhi, George Washington Carver, Mizi Xia, Edward Carpenter, Kobo Dashi, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and more.

The Gay Hist-Orgy revives our history in living color, beginning in the ancient world, and tracing the evolution of gay consciousness up to the present day. A tour de force of historical research and theatrical flair, The Gay Hist-Orgy engages current controversies in queer theory while considering fundamental questions of gay meaning: Who are we as a people, and why are we here? In a radical departure from social-constructionist theory, Ian emphasizes our connections to this history through the shared bond of same-sex love.

Ian MacKinnon is a gay-centered, performance activist who has been living and working in Los Angeles for more than a decade. For the last 3 years, his one-man Gay Hist-Orgy has toured throughout California.

May 24, 2014
Spirit Studio Silverlake, Los Angeles, California
Information: imackinn1@hotmail.com
Twitter: twitter.com/mackinnonian

Alex Garnett, Kyle James Traver Robert Falk

Written by Terrence McNally
Directed by Gerald B. Browning
Produced by Corey D. McDaniel / Theatre22

Stephen adores Maria Callas and shares this obsession with his best friend, the wildly flamboyant opera queen, Mendy. They dish gossip late into the night, to distract Steven from a crumbling relationship with his longtime boyfriend. When Steven attempts to confront personal demons, his life takes on the scale of grand opera.

This catty comedy, mixed with operatic tragedy, is part of Theatre 22’s first annual Summer Gay Pride Series.

Cast includes: Daniel Christensen, Eric Mulholland, Sean P. O’Bannon, Kyle James Traver.

June 6, 2014
Richard Hugo House, Seattle, Washington

back: Aaron Merken, Jim Pentecost, Eric Toro, Hank Henderson front: Larry Rubinstein, Henry Alberto, Brad Kahn image: DLeBarron

Written by David LeBarron
Directed by Andrew Henkes
Produced by APT 3F

A heartbroken, young, gay man breaks into a theater looking for a sacred space to perform a healing ritual. Fantastically, six older gay men appear to guide him. By sharing stories, and a lot of jests, they ease his loneliness, and connect him to a larger, more fabulous community.

This witty, humorous drama is a part of the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Cast includes: Henry Alberto, Hank Henderson, Brad Kahn, Aaron Merken, Jim Pentecost, Larry Rubinstein, Eric Toro

June 10, 2014
Theatre Asylum, Los Angeles, California

Song from The Stops: “Tulips on Your Organ” image: Jim Strait

Written by Eric Lane Barnes and Drew Emery
Directed by Jim Strait
Music Direction by Doug Wilson
Lyrics and Music Composition by Eric Lane Barnes
Produced by Desert Rose Productions, Inc.

Three members of the North American Lady Organists Guild spread their gospel as “The Stops,” an Andrews Sisters-esque trio of different faiths united in their love of song. Ginny, Euglena, and Rose perform a benefit concert for their mentor Dale Meadows, a church music director and songwriter, recently ousted from his tabernacle because of his gay sexuality. In this very unique and funny show, original songs include: “The Fundamental,” “It’s Raining Amen,” “A Bossa Nova for Jehovah,” “Tulips on Your Organ,” and “Awkward Christian Solders.”

“The Stops” takes Christian fundamentalism and turns it on its head, all the while serving up heaping portions of wicked fun and honest-to-God joy!

Cast includes: Terry Huber, Raul Valenzuela, Mark Ziemann.

June 13, 2014
The Desert Rose Playhouse, Rancho Mirage, California

Kyle Stoner, SaBah Leilee image: David Allen

Written by Ignacio Zulueta
Directed by Hugo E. Carbajal
Produced by Jeanette Harrison

Armed with J.R.R. Tolkien’ writings as a peculiar moral compass, a misfit in a rural community sets out on a quest to find a friend.

In a small town, where conformity is a must, can homophobia, a deranged fire chief, or a wild bear on crystal meth, stop one young man from discovering his true self?

This is a world premiere comedy about coming of age, and coming out.

Cast includes: SaBah Leilee, Federico Andrade, Robert Ernst, Nick Garcia, Jack Nicolaus, Carla Pauli, Kyle Stoner.

June 18, 2014
Art Works Downtown, San Rafael, California
Information: boxoffice@altertheater.org

Ian MacKinnon image: Don Tinling

Get creative, and gay, and participate in this exciting performance workshop, that uses movement, writing, and group work to organically create original solo performance pieces.

Workshops take place Tuesday nights, and feature a supportive environment where we can safely explore and develop our queer visions, and have fun with the creative process. Come get inspired, feisty and gay!

After the eight weekly meetings, we will meet for a two more meetings on the ninth week to rehears, and then perform, at one of LA’s hottest art spaces, the Human Resources in Chinatown. There, we will be part of “The Adonis Project,” an evening of queer art and performance.

Attendance to all sessions is preferred, but workshops are open to drop-ins, and those wanting to explore creatively, but not necessarily perform.
All are welcome. No experience necessary.

Ian MacKinnon is a gay-centered, performance activist who has been living and working in Los Angeles for more than a decade. For the last 3 years, his one-man Gay Hist-Orgy has toured throughout California.

July 8, 2014 - eight weekly workshops
      Spirit Studio, Los Angeles, California
      Wheelie access with obstacles
September 12, 13 - Rehearsal and Performance
      Human Resources, Los Angeles, California
      Wheelie access with obstacles
Information: imackinn1@hotmail.com
Twitter: twitter.com/mackinnonian

Robb Derringer, Sean Smith image: Ed Krieger

Written by Peter Lefcourt
Directed by Terri Hanauer
Produced Racquel Lehrman

A pair of ex-spouses, and their new mates, get together for the first time in years. The meeting blows up into a delightful mess of romantic complications.

Never underestimate the power of designer shoes on matters of the heart.

“No one is safe from the exquisite perversity of the human heart. We are pulled along in unpredictable directions. You just never know who you might fall in love with.” - author Lefcourt

A wacky new comedy by Emmy Award-winning writer Peter Lefcourt.

Cast includes: Robb Derringer, John Marzilli, Robin Riker, Blake Silver, Sean Smith.

July 10, 2014
Odyssey Theatre, Los Angeles

Ezra Berkley Nepon, Andrew Peter Crowley, Heidi Hayes, Tom Wilson Weinberg image: Kevin Broad

Music and lyrics by Tom Wilson Weinberg
Directed by the ensemble
Produced by Aboveground Theater

In 1932, Lorena Hickok is assigned to interview First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for the Associated Press, a meeting which changes their lives.

Thirty years later, a young curator at the Roosevelt Museum asks the ill and aged “Hick” (as Eleanor affectionately called her) to donate her thousands of letters, in order to catalogue the 30-year correspondence she had with Eleanor. His world is shaken by the letters, and by Hickok.

This musical is based on the intimate correspondence, and on the love affair between Lorena Hickok and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Cast includes: Andrew Peter Crowley, Heidi Hayes, Ezra Berkley Nepon.

“Sunrise at Hyde Park” is based on “Eleanor and Hick,” which had music and lyrics by Tom Wilson Weinberg, and book by Peggy Stafford.
Tom Wilson Weinberg is musical director and accompanist for these shows.

July 23-25, 2014 - 8pm
William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Information: sunriseathydepark@gmail.com

August 2, 2014
Cherry Grove, Fire Island, New York (produced by Arts Council Cherry Grove)

DRP’s Annual Fundraiser Variety Event

Piano accompanist Steven Smith
Produced by Desert Rose Productions, Inc.

The Desert Rose Playhouse, the Valley’s live stage company serving the LGBT and gay-friendly communities, presents their annual fundraiser.

An eclectic variety show, featuring performers who have worked with the Desert Rose Playhouse since the company was founded in 2010.

Steven Smith, DRP musical director, accompanies at the piano.

Celebrated cabaret performers include:

• Francesca Amari
• Doug Graham
• John Ferrare (actor/dancer)
• Andrew Knifer (actor/singer)
• Lin Gillham (singer/stage manager)
• Alan Denny (actor/singer)
• Hula Me Kala Dance Troupe from Cathedral City.
• Garrett Hoy (featured in the DRP’s production of “Falsettos,” and soon in the 2014-15 season opener “Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins.”

August 16, 2014
The Desert Rose Playhouse, Rancho Mirage, California
Information/Reservation: 760-202-3000
Information: paultaylor@desertroseplayhouse.org

Ryan Dominquez, Chris Horychata image: Jim Strait

Written by James Edwin Parker
Directed by Jim Strait
Produced by Desert Rose Productions, Inc.

In New York City, in 1987, two men explore the sexual etiquette of one-night stands. As they verbally and emotionally spar, the men reminisce about the disco era of their youth, and their first sexual experiences.

The play is peppered with poignant, humorous and sly observations. For mature audiences; contains nudity.

Cast includes: Ryan Dominquez, Chris Horychata.

August 22, 2014
The Desert Rose Playhouse, Rancho Mirage, California
Information: paultaylor@desertroseplayhouse.org

Chauntae Pink, Heidi James, Bianca Lemaire image: Ed Krieger

Written by Eisa Davis
Directed by Nataki Garrett
Produced by Skylight Theatre Company

A multiracial orphan girl, growing up in a predominantly white California town in the 1950s, discovers a new sense of self when a black girl from Alabama suddenly appears in her world. The intimacy of their new relationship unlocks a passion that was never before within reach. Lyrically brimming with passion and humor, the play is about how we move forward in our lives by learning from our past.

Cast includes: Bianca Lemaire, Chauntae Pink, Heidi James, Joshua Wolf Coleman, Patrick Cragin, Warren Davis.

August 22, 2014
Skylight Theatre Company, Los Angeles, California
Information/Reservation: 213-761-7061

Leopold Nunan image: by ?

Written by Gregory Barnett, Ben Cuevas, Andrew Disorder, David Parke Epstein, Hank Henderson, Hunter, Jason Jenn, Andrea Lambert, David LeBarron, Ricky Luna, Ian MacKinnon, Martin Matamoros, Leopold Nunan, Robert Patrick, Steven Reigns, Jack Shamblin, Vyper SynVille, Evans Vestal Ward, Trevor Wayne, Travis Wood, Rich Yap.
Directed by Ian MacKinnon
Produced by Ian MacKinnon and Travis Wood

A sexy night of curated performances, video, and interactive queer art.

The notorious Adonis Theater, legendary gay adult movie house closed under homophobic pressure from developers, now “reappears” creatively re-imagined as a modern Brigadoon for one night only.

Artists from the LA queer community descend on Human Resources, which was also a former adult theater, now turned experimental art gallery, to share their hot visions around themes of Gay Sex and Queer Liberation. The context is one of the current state of assimilation, disappearing LGBTQ space, and shrinking ghettos.

It is a creative activist effort, and sexy night of interactive queer entertainment, and community, which will transform the space into a sexual amusement park of gay art, video and performance. Join us for a night at The Adonis.

September 13, 2014
Human Resources, Los Angeles, California
Information: 213-290-4752; imackinn1@hotmail.com

Garret Hoy, J. Stegar Thompson, Alex Enriquez Lorraine Williamson image: Jim Strait / background: Maureen Appel

Written by Brian Christopher Williams
Directed by Jim Strait
Produced Desert Rose Productions, Inc.

Its 1977, and 15-year-old Horace Poore has his sexual awakening hastened by first fixating on the Olympic Champion Mark Spitz, then on his ambiguous gym teacher, and finally on the lady who was a singer, an orange juice pitchwoman, and an anti-gay “Save Our Children” crusader.

No wonder Horace has a hard time making sense of the tumultuous events surrounding him, and the tumultuous events within him, in this tickling and touching memory play,

Cast includes: Garret Hoy, J. Stegar Thompson, Lorraine Williamson, Alex Enriquez, Domingo Winstead, Toni Milano, Daniel Villancourt, Katie Pavao.

September 26, 2014
The Desert Rose Playhouse, Rancho Mirage, California
Information: paultaylor@desertroseplayhouse.org

Robert Patrick image: Jason Wittman

Written directed and performed by Robert Patrick
Produced by Jason Jenn, ReBegin Productions

Come celebrate Robert Patrick’s 77th birthday, and the 50th anniversary of modern gay theater.
Robert wrote and presented his ground-breaking “The Haunted Host” at the Caffe Cino, in New York City, in 1964! This play is credited as one of the first two modern gay plays that put gay theater on the map.

This will be a special evening with the wit, humor, and devious charm of the award-winning author of “Kennedy’s Children” and “T-Shirts,” as he takes us step-by-step through the soul-shredder of his international “celebrity.”

In this tour-de-force treatment, there will be a candid peek behind-the-scenes of Robert Patrick’s history, featuring his encounters with famous figures, and stories about Lily Tomlin, Marlo Thomas, Shirley MacLaine, Julie Newmar, Glenda Jackson, Shelly Winters, Harvey Fierstein, Tennessee Williams, Warren Beatty, Clive Barnes, James Mason, John Geilgud, and more.

In addition, Robert will sing some of his new songs, and best classics.

There will be cake, and a sale of Robert Patrick/Caffe Cino memorabilia.

September 27, 2014
Spirit Studio, Los Angeles, California
Information: 323-661-4737; rbrtptrck@aol.com

Rebekah Tripp, Conner Kelly-Eiding image: John Flynn

Written by Vince Melocchi
Directed by Elina de Santos
Produced by John Perrin Flynn, Elina de Santos, Laura Hill, and Marni Ayers

Amy Mellinger lost her fiancé, Danny, to the war in Afghanistan. He was recruited by Staff Sergeant Bobbie Jo Gunning. Neither of them are able to sleep well these days; Amy, because of what she’s done, and Bobbie Jo, because of her secret. Among the complications, Bobbie Jo and her girlfriend, Sandy, are lovers.

As the economy falls apart, military recruiters are offering paychecks and school tuition with the promise of a better life. But at what cost?

“Nice Things” explores the changing, and diminishing, options now available for young men and women in small town America.

Cast includes: Jonathan Lipnicki, Rebekah Tripp, Melanie Lyons, Connor Kelly-Eiding.

October 2, 2014
Rogue Machine Theatre, Los Angeles, California

Jordana Berliner, Judith Scarpone, Amanda Weier image: Ed Krieger

Written by Meryl Cohn
Directed by Susan Morgenstern
Produced by Skylight Theatre Company and Open Fist Theatre

Emily and Heather have only had one date, but, since Emily is going home for her sister’s wedding, she tells her crazy family that Heather is her “life partner,” hoping they will treat her better. She thinks finding her true love will make her family happy. “Even a 40-year relationship has to start somewhere,” she says; so, Heather agrees.

Cast includes: Jordana Berliner, Michael Cotter, Katherine Griffith, Judith Scarpone, Jennifer Schoch, Amanda Weier.

October 25, 2014
Skylight Theatre, Los Angeles, California.

Pierre Tannous, Larry Buzzeo image: George Wentzler

Written by Michael Aman
Directed by Michael Leeds (also composed one of the songs)
Produced by Island City Stage

In 2003, a gay, struggling actor discovers he has leukemia, and, with no health insurance, he could only be covered for treatment if he was HIV+. He meets an HIV+ man with the idea of getting infected.

The play examines an unconventional love between the two men, and an odd family of characters, each dealing with their own demons; an aging actress struggles with asthma, an eccentric woman speaks with angels, a middle-aged, flamboyant queen, and a young man who died of AIDS early in the health crisis.

Cast incudes: Janet Weakley, Jeffrey Bruce, Pierre Tannous, Christian Vandepas, Larry Buzzeo and Jessica Peterson

“Playwright Michael Aman finds the most unlikely path, constantly surprising with the off-ramps he chooses, each of them shockingly funny and breathtakingly beautiful. It’s as if he looks at the chessboard he has populated with different eyeglasses, seeing moves and points of focus in the varying lenses that the rest of us might not even glance at.” - SouthFlorida.com

“Aman’s comedy is a largely wonderful new work that is likely to have a life beyond this first production.” - Christine Dolen, Miami Herald

October 23, 2014
Island City Stage, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Terry Baum as Lorena Hickok image: Lynne Fried

Written by Terry Baum & Pat Bond
Directed by Carolyn Myers
Produced by Arbeter Ring

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote 2,336 letters to Lorena Hickok, the most famous woman reporter of the 1930s.
The romance between the patrician First Lady, and the hard-living, butch reporter changed both their lives.

Terry Baum, a solo performer who has toured the world, explores this powerful story.

Cast includes: Terry Baum, Stephanie Satie, Eric Gordon.

“A real love story like no other. A compelling one-woman show.” - San Francisco Examiner

November 22, 2014
Arbeter Ring, Los Angeles, California
Information: circle@circlesocal.org

Oscar Wilde image: Demian

Written by Oscar Wilde
Produced by Antebellum and the Purple Circuit

You are invited to A Late Afternoon Salon of Wilde and Decadence in Art, in honor of Oscar Wilde’s death day, 114 years ago.

Readings by Kevin Dulude, Jon Jon, David Trudell, Bill Kaiser.

Also on view; art exhibit by Rick Castro.

November 29, 2014
Antebellum, Hollywood, California
Information: purplecir@aol.com

Dito van Reigersberg image: Andrew Loxley - Feltfoto

Written, directed and produced by Dito van Reigersberg
Musical direction by Andrew Nelson

Inspired by the stories and objects in the Museum, ageless drag queen, Martha Graham Cracker, brings her wry wit and emotional wallop to the Museum stage in an original cabaret. Combining well-known tunes by Jewish composers with unexpected orchestrations, Martha will use her sly way with radical musical reinvention to take the audience on a wild and bumpy ride through classic Broadway and pop songs.

Show created by Martha’s alter ego, Dito van Reigersberg, with Musical Director, Andrew Nelson, as part of the Museum’s artist residency, “OPEN for Interpretation.”

Cast includes: Dito van Reigersberg, Andrew Nelson.

“OPEN for Interpretation” is a residency program that invites creative thinkers to immerse themselves in the Museum’s many stories of courage, imagination, struggle, and heritage as inspiration for new works of art, music, dance, writing, or performance that explore the American experience in new and unexpected ways.

December 3, 2014
The National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Gay Men’s Chorus of L.A. image: Gennia Cui, The Future Collective

Produced by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

The Emmy® Award-winning Holiday Celebration includes music ensembles, choirs and dance companies from the many neighborhoods and cultures of the region. It is a three-hour holiday celebration of the season that is perfect for all ages. And, for the first time, this beloved L.A. tradition will be broadcast on PBS SoCaL, the PBS station for Greater Los Angeles.

Highlights include:

● Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, returns this year with holiday favorites
● Harana Men’s Chorus sings their seasonal repertoire in the traditional Filipino courtship moonlight serenade, or “harana,” in English and Tagalog
● Company Men offers an a cappella holiday mashup.

December 24, 2014
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center, Los Angeles, California
Wheelchair accessible
ASL Interpreted
Watch it live on PBS SoCaL from 3-6 pm and again 9 pm-midnight

Written by Dustin Lance Black

A chronicle of the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8, which stripped same-sex couples of the right to legally marry their partner.

Usually produced as a staged reading, the play allows an audience to witness the Proposition 8 trial. Witness inequality and discrimination unequivocally rejected in a court of law, where truth and facts matter. Hear the testimonies which clarify that marriage equality is a basic constitutional right.

Vimeo: " ‘8’ the play" - trailer 4:27

Writer Dustin Lance Black won an Academy Award in 2009 for his script of “Milk.” He is also a founding member of American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER), which was the sole sponsor of Perry v. Schwarzenegger (now known as Hollingsworth v Perry), the successful federal suit to nullify California’s Proposition 8.

This play has multiple performances around the country.
Information on current productions and how to produce it yourself: “8” the Play

See Web site for GLBT comedy listings in San Francisco, as well as worldwide.

QComedy Showcase occurs on the first Monday of each month.
Mama Calizo’s, 1519 Mission St., San Francisco, California
Information and comedy bookings: Nick Leonard, 415-533-9133; nickdammit@gmail.com