Fresh stage directions: a new year brings a wealth of new theater choices of special interest to lesbian and gay audiences coast-to-coast. (theater preview).Hollywood releases its most unwatchable movies early in the year; TV is a disarray of re-runs and mid-season misses--it's the perfect time to check out live theater. This winter and early spring, drama kings and queens will find noteworthy performances across the country. Here's a sampling. Now playing and opening soon Fifth of July Fifth of July is a 1979 play by American playwright Lanford Wilson. Set in rural Missouri in 1977, it revolves around the Talley family and their friends, and focuses on the disillusionment with America in the wake of the Vietnam War. By Lan ford Wilson * Peter Norton Space * New York * January 16-March 9 New York's Signature Theatre continues its season-long focus on Wilson with a revival of the gay playwright's best-known work, about the reunion of a group of student activists in the aftermath of the war in Vietnam. This production, directed by Jo Bonney, stars Robert Sean Leonard and Parker Posey. The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? By Edward Albee * Alley Theatre * Houston * The Goat: through February 16; Virginia Woolf: through February 8 Houston celebrates the imminent 75th birthday of one of America's greatest living playwrights with his latest work The Goat or Who is Sylvia? and a 40th-anniversary revival of his career-making classic Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Judith Ivey as Martha is something no Texan should miss. The Last Sunday in June By Jonathan Tolins * Rattlestick Theatre * New York * January 31-March 9 "What do we do now that we are no longer fighting for recognition?" asks the playwright of Twilight of the Golds and a producer-writer from the first season of Showtime's Queer as Folk Queer as Folk may refer to:
Little Fish By Michael John LaChiusa Michael John LaChiusa (born 1962) is an American musical theatre composer and lyricist best known for his unusual sounding compositions for shows in the "post-modern" school. * Second Stage Theatre * New York * January 21-March 9 Famed lesbian Broadway and cabaret star Lea DeLaria returns to the stage in a brand new off-Broadway musical by the composer-lyricist of The Wild Party, Marie Christine, and Hello Again. Choreographed and directed by Graciela Daniele. Mapa Mia! By Alec Mapa * Mark Taper Too, Ivy Substation * Culver City, Calif. * January 23-February 9 Chay Yew directs the irrepressibly talented Mapa's two autobiographical one-man shows that chronicle the writer-comedian's journey out of the closet and into the limelight. The previously seen I Remember Mapa will play in rep with Mapa's latest, Drama! in which the gay Filipino high school student discovers himself and finds salvation in drama classes and the movie Fame in 1980s San Francisco. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom By August Wilson * Royale Theatre * New York * January 20-June 29 Whoopi Goldberg returns to Broadway to star in a revival of the blues-infused tale of legendary lesbian singer Gertrude "Ma" Rainey. The Plank Project By Jeff Whitty * The Kraine Theater * New York * Through January 31 It had to happen sooner or later: In this spoof on The Laramie Project and other "documentary theater" missions, a group of earnest actors travels to a rural town to explore the tragic life of a reclusive re·clu·sive adj. 1. Seeking or preferring seclusion or isolation. 2. Providing seclusion: a reclusive hut. 1,100-pound transvestite trans·ves·tite n. One who practices transvestism. transvestite Sexology A person with a compulsion to dress as a member of the other sex, which may be essential to maintaining an erection and achieving orgasm. See Transsexual. who fell down a well and became an international sensation. Radiant Baby By Stuart Ross, Debra Barsha, and Ira Gasman * Public Theater * New York * Begins January 31 This new musical, invoking the frantic energy and spirit of 1980s New York, is based on the life and work of gay artist Keith Haring. Directed by George C. Wolfe, best known for his Broadway productions of Angels in America Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is an award winning play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television miniseries of the same name and an opera by Peter Eötvös. and Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk is a musical that debuted Off-Broadway at the New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater in 1996. It moved to the Ambassador Theatre on Broadway, opening there on April 25, 1996. . Shanghai Moon By Charles Busch * Greenwich House Theater * New York * Through February 9 With a bona fide Broadway hit (The Tale of the Allergist's Wife) under his garter belt, the writer-performer returns to his drag theater roots (remember Psycho Beach Party?) to play Lady Sylvia Allington, the wife of a diplomat who gets seduced by the inscrutably wicked mysteries of the East, in a spoof of the oh-so-incorrect Hollywood oriental melodramas of the 1930s. Sleeping With Straight Men By Ronnie Larson * Maverick Theater * New York * Begins January 28 After a successful run at San Francisco's Theatre Rhinoceros, the comic cautionary tale from the author-director of Making Porn and the upcoming Cocksucker cock·suck·er n. Vulgar Slang 1. One who performs an act of fellatio. 2. A mean or despicable person. Noun 1. : A Love Story arrives off-Broadway. The cult-ready cast includes longtime John Waters favorite Mink Stole and New York drag hostess Hedda Lettuce. Trick Saddle By Jenny Rogers and Clove Galilee * P.S. 122 * New York * January 24--February 9 A posse of hip downtown lesbians explore cowboy mythology with gender-bending glee, using every multimedia trick in the book. Opening in February--March La Dispute By Marivaux * American Repertory Theatre The American Repertory Theatre (or A.R.T.) is housed in the Loeb Drama Center at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1980 by Robert Brustein . Its last artistic director was Robert Woodruff. * Boston * February 1-22 Lesbian artist Anne Bogart and her group, the SITI Company, bring their unique style of theater-making to this 18th-century French classical comedy about the genesis of love, desire, betrayal, and passion. Nine By Mario Fratti; adapted by Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit * Eugene O'Neill Theater * New York * March 11--June 29 You can't get more heterosexual than this musical adaptation of Fellini's 8 1/2--about a philandering filmmaker and the women in his life--but what gay man could resist the opportunity to see Antonio Banderas and Chita Rivera in this revival of 1982's Tony-winning hit? Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, is perhaps one of Frank McGuinness's most respected plays. The Irish dramatist's work received several awards and accolades, most notably the London Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright. By Frank McGuinness * Lincoln Center Theater * New York * February 6--April 3 Directed by Nicholas Martin, this stirring tale of Irish patriots holds many surprises--including its Protestant perspective and homoerotic ho·mo·e·rot·ic adj. 1. Of or concerning homosexual love and desire. 2. Tending to arouse such desire. Adj. 1. heartbeat. Justin Theroux (The Broken Hearts Club) plays a gay man who volunteers for battle with self-destruction in mind. Star Quality By Christopher Luscombe, from the work of Nod Coward * Pasadena Playhouse * Pasadena, Calif. * March 7-April 13 This is the American premiere of Luscombe's play, derived from the master's 1951 short story and rarely produced stage adaptation about behind-the-scenes goings-on at a West End play. Take Me Out By Richard Greenberg * Walter Kerr Theater * New York * Begins February 4 The popular off-Broadway fall hit about baseball, naked men in the locker room, and coming out scores a transfer to Broadway. Directed by Joe Mantello. Ten Unknowns By Jon Robin Baitz Jon Robin Baitz (born November 4, 1961 in Los Angeles, California) is an American playwright, screenwriter, television producer and sometime actor. The son of an executive of the Carnation Company, Baitz was raised in Brazil and South Africa before the family returned to * Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a small thrust stage with 745 seats at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Beckett and Associates. It has presented innovative plays since 1967. The world premiere of Angels In America was produced here. , Los Angeles * March 15--May 4 From the witty and insightful author of The Substance of Fire and A Fair Country, this will be the West Coast premiere of Baitz's play about a New York artist living as a recluse in Mexico and the efforts of his gay art dealer and young assistant to force a comeback. Zanna, Don't! By Tim Acito * John Howseman Theatre * New York * Begins March 4 A new musical about high-school life and love in a reverse world where a couple of straight kids are the ones shut out of the prom. The fairy tale, performed by an unaffectedly buoyant cast, now gets a well-deserved longer run after captivating cap·ti·vate tr.v. cap·ti·vat·ed, cap·ti·vat·ing, cap·ti·vates 1. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm. 2. Archaic To capture. all who caught it on its original off-Broadway stint last fall. Opening in April--May Cavedweller By Kate Moira Ryan * New York Theatre Workshop New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an off-Broadway theatre noted for its acclaimed and innovative productions of new works. Located in New York City’s East Village, it houses a 188-seat theatre for its main productions, and a 75-seat black-box theatre for staged readings and * New York * April 18--May 30 Lesbian playwright and screenwriter Ryan adapts Dorothy Allison's second novel, about the redemptive journey of a former rock star who heads to Georgia to reclaim her abandoned daughters and reunite a family torn apart by violence, poverty, and addiction. Directed by Michael Greif (Rent), rumor has it that original music will be composed by Hedwig and the Angry Inch's out songwriter, Stephen Trask. Gypsy By Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents * Schubert Theater * New York * Begins March 31 Mama Rose is back on Broadway. The new revival of the musical based on the life of Gypsy Rose Lee Noun 1. Gypsy Rose Lee - United States striptease artist who became famous on Broadway in the 1930s (1914-1970) Rose Louise Hovick, Lee is directed by American Beauty's Sam Mendes and choreographed by Hairspray's Jerry Mitchell. Bernadette Peters follows in the footsteps of Merman mer·man n. A legendary sea creature having the head and upper body of a man and the tail of a fish. [mer(maid) + man.] Noun 1. , Lansbury, and (on television) Midler. Hedwig and the Angry Inch By John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell (born April 21, 1963 in El Paso, Texas) is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Shortbus. Early life and career Mitchell was born in El Paso, Texas. and Stephen Trask * City Theatre * Pittsburgh * May 1--June 8 Anthony Rapp, musician and out star of Rent, plays the tragedy-prone, gender-crossed glam rocker in a new production of the off-Broadway play that became an indie movie hit. I Am My Own Wife I Am My Own Wife is a play by Doug Wright which examines the life of German individual Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, born Lothar Berfelde, who killed his father when he was a young boy and survived the Nazi and Communist regimes in East Berlin as a transvestite. By Doug Wright * Playwrights Horizons * New York * May 2--June 8 Jefferson Mays stars in a one-man show by the screenwriter of Quills, based on the life of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (March 18, 1928 - April 30, 2002) was the founder of the Gründerzeit Museum (a museum of every-day items) in Berlin-Mahlsdorf. Early life , who lived through both Nazi Germany and communist East Germany cross-dressed as a woman. Directed by Moises Kaufman of The Laramie Project. She Stoops to Comedy By David Greenspan * Playwrights Horizons, Peter Jay Sharp Theater * New York * April 3-27 A play-within-a-play about an actress who woos her estranged es·trange tr.v. es·tranged, es·trang·ing, es·trang·es 1. To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. 2. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations. lover by playing a cross-dressing role in a summer stock production. A gender-bending farce from inimitable writer, director, and performer Greenspan. The Violet Hour By Richard Greenberg * Steppenwolf Theatre * Chicago * April 17--June 15 With Take Me Out on Broadway and productions of The Dazzle malting the rounds at regional theaters, Greenberg's latest--a comic fantasy about a publisher's fateful encounter with the future--makes its Midwest premiere. Raymond is author of the lesbian and gay guidebook New York Scene. |
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