Orlando, FL February 2 2004–The plays in the series were selected because of their notable impact on the growth of theatre and gay and lesbian history. The series will include:
“The,, Art, Entertain, Art, Entertain, Killing of Sister George” by Frank Marcus on February 29
“The Drag” by Mae West on, Art, Entertain, March 28.
“Love! Valour! Compassion!” by Terrence McNally on April 25
“A Marvellous Party” by Joshua Levine on May 30.
“Forget Him” and “On Tidy Endings” by Harvey Fierstein on June 27.
When Frank Marcus’ “The, Art, Entertain, Killing of Sister George” premiered in the late ’60s, Joseph Le Seuer of the Village Voice warned: “Have we really come a long way from The Children’s Hour which presented lesbianism as a disease no woman should be unfortunate enough to have, to the present work’s nasty and uncompassionate treatment of it as a joke?…I advise lesbians to stay away from it. Life is cruel enough.” The fact that Marcus was married and a father to three probably, Art, Entertain, led to the gay community’s skepticism at the time. While this British import is ripe with stereotypes, hindsight reveals the lead character to be perhaps the first to not only identify herself with being a lesbian, but also being proud of it.
It is 1965. Actress June Buckridge enjoys a successful, Art, Entertain, career as the beloved โ€œSister Georgeโ€ on the popular radio serial Applehurst. In actuality, June is a hard-drinking, cigar-smoking lesbian with severe insecurities, a huge ego and a perverse dominant streak. She acts out the last by heaping endless insults and,, Art, Entertain, Art, Entertain, humiliations upon her partner, Alice. June’s lifestyle comes crashing down, Art, Entertain, when Mrs. Mercy Croft, from the BBC, announces that, in order to stem Applehurst’s faltering ratings, Sister George will be killed off. While June angrily accepts this after much protestation, she has become so immersed in the character (to the point of insisting on being, Art, Entertain, called โ€œGeorgeโ€) she finds she cannot give it up. Making matters worse is that the only job offer she receives is to play a cow on a children’s program. June’s inability to adapt results in the loss of all she holds dear.
Director Stephen Charles Peterson will helm this first reading of the series. A veteran actor of over 100 productions, Peterson is perhaps most familiar to Orlando audiences from his recent multi-character tour de force in Michael Wanzie’s Carolina Moon at the Footlight Theatre at Parliament House. Currently working directing shows for Walt Disney World Entertainment at Disney Event Group, he, Art, Entertain, has directed shows for Maine State Music Theatre, Dallas Children’s Theatre, Young People’s Theatre in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dallas Repertory Theatre,, Art, Entertain, and Garland Civic, Art, Entertain, Theatre. As a producer he has produced 3 new musicals with Maury Yeston, Steve Alper and Sarah Knapp and served on the selection committee with the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s New Musical Workshop in New York.
“Sister George” will be followed in March by a little known play called “The Drag” by an unlikely playwright, Art, Entertain, โ€” Mae West. Like most of her career, the movie star’s playwriting forays were less artistic endeavors than sensationalistic vehicles. West was probably delighted with the front-page publicity generated, Art, Entertain, when the show was closed through police raids. In fact, fearing a trend of censorship, some seventy Broadway producers reportedly, Art, Entertain, conspired to block the play’s pending transition to the Great White Way.
Though an icon to the gay community in her lifetime and beyond, “The Drag” illustrates West’s somewhat homophobic beliefs. โ€œLet them treat [homosexuality like a disease,โ€ wrote West in her 1967 memoirs, Goodness Had Nothing to Do with It, โ€œlike cancer, for instance, discover the cause and if it’s curable, cure it.โ€ Indeed, the theme of her comedy-drama, The Drag, considers the possibility of being able to cure for being gay.
In April, the series will continue with the Tony-awarding winning, “Love! Valour! Compassion!” by openly gay playwright, Terrence McNally. This poignant story takes place at a lakeside, Art, Entertain, country house in upstate New York where eight, Art, Entertain, gay men gather over three major summer holidays: Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. Of “Love! Valour! Compassion!”, The New Yorker stated: โ€œโ€ฆin this beautifully written work McNallyโ€ฆpresent[s humbling evidence of what human love is and can be.โ€ This reading will be directed by Ray Hatch.
The Gay & Lesbian Readers Theatre will also feature an original work by Orlando native, Joshua Levine,, Art, Entertain, in May. Inspired by an assignment to write a period piece while attending DuPaul University, the young playwright explored New York City’s gay community circa 1940s. “A Marvellous Party” examines the delicate balance a group of gay men walk between being socialites and social pariahs,, Art, Entertain, Art, Entertain, . With witty dialogue spoken by recognizable characters โ€” the jaded queen, the bold, Art, Entertain, newbie, the closet case, are all here โ€” Levine reveals that many things have not changed in the hundred years that have passed.
he Balliwick Repertory Theatre of Chicago recently mounted Joshua Levine’s A Merry Jewish Christmas, of which Centerstage Chicago raved: โ€œLighthearted, witty and ever-moving forward to one antic, Art, Entertain,, Art, Entertain, after, Art, Entertain, another,, Art, Entertain, it has, Art, Entertain, all the yummy humor of a screwball comedy without the overkill aftertaste of an excessively fried latke. Surely a treat for all,, Art, Entertain, Goyim or not.โ€ Currently,, Art, Entertain, Art, Entertain, living and working in New York City, Levine counts Terrence McNally among his mentors.
Art at the Center and Heidi Dog, Art, Entertain, have chosen “A Marvellous Party” to be read at GayDayS.com’s host hotel during the Gay Days celebration in June.
The final offering of the Gay & Lesbian Readers Theatre will be an evening, Art, Entertain, of two one-acts by Harvey Fierstein dubbed ‘Double Harvey.’ The first, “Forget Him”, is an absurdist, Art, Entertain, piece about a gay man who is disgruntled with his acerbic matchmaker’s, Art, Entertain, choice of a mate. “On Tidy Endings” is a teleplay that concerns a gay man who must cooperate with his deceased lover’s ex-wife and son as they get the departed’s affairs in order. The staged reading will be directed by co-producers Margaret D. Nolan and Scottie Campbell.
The Gay & Lesbian Readers Theatre begins with a reading of “The Killing of Sister George” by Frank Marcus on Sunday, February 29 at 7pm at, Art, Entertain, the Gay Lesbian, Art, Entertain, Bisexual Community Center. The Center is located 946 N. Mills Ave in Orlando. For more information, log onto www.glbcc.org or call (407)228-8272. There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door. The series is made possible through the generous support of Minuteman Press and Florida Theatrical Association.
About the Producers
Scottie Campbell has been active in Central Florida theatre, on both the creative and, Art, Entertain, administrative side, for over 16 years. Onstage, Scottie has been seen in The Normal Heart, Art, Entertain, at the Civic Theatre of Central Florida, AIDS: The Human Face of Central Florida and Salome at Theatre Downtown, among others. He holds a BA in theatre from, Art, Entertain, Rollins College where he played lead roles in Our Town (with Anne Pitoniak), She Loves Me and Macbeth. As a playwright,his Sidneyrella was greeted by sell out crowds at the Orlando International Fringe, Art, Entertain, Festival and a radio version was broadcast in Central Florida and Australia. Scottie was commissioned to write a one-act about Sojourner Truth for Civic Theatre, which resulted in the well-received Truth. His articles have appeared in several publications and he currently pens theatre reviews for the Orlando Weekly. Among his pending projects, Scottie is working on a photoplay called A Midnight Snack with Tom and Vincent, which he hopes to mount in the near future. He makes his home in Thornton Park with his life partner, Paul Horan (an accomplished artist), and their two dogs, Dexter and Morton.
Margaret D. Nolan has been active on the Central Florida theatre landscape for over 22 years. She’s produced, directed, and/or stagemanaged for Tropical Theatre, Theatre Downtown, UCF-Shakespeare Festival’s New PlayFest, Parliament House’s Footlight Theatre, the former Civic Theatres, and with Ant Farm Productions, Per4Mants, Big Bang Productions, Off-Center Theatre in Tampa, and Bluebeard Players. More recently, she co-produced and did promotions for the smash hit, Hedwig and the, Art, Entertain, Angry Inch, and directed Wanzie and Doug in Fall River’s production of Two Men Trapped in Women’s Bodies Part II: From Beyond the Grave at the Footlight Theatre. She’s also a founding board, Art, Entertain, member of Theatre Downtown and the, Art, Entertain, Central Florida Theatre Alliance. This spring at the Orlando International Fringe Festival, she’ll be co-producing a play currently, Art, Entertain, in development with David Lee and Sam Singhaus called Pie Face: The Adventures of Anita Byrant. She is also working on a documentary about the longevity of relationships in the new millennium and a site-specific performance art project. She lives with her partner, Maudi Dewees, and their pets in Winter Park.
About GLBCC
The Gay Lesbian Bisexual Community Center (GLBCC), known as The Center, was established in 1986 as Florida’s first community center of its kind. The GLBCC is an essential part of the Central Florida community providing a safe meeting and gathering place and resources/referrals for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people of all ages. It offers a series of programs and services for all ages including support and social groups for youth, gay men, lesbians and transgendered people, a coming out group for men, and support for LGBT families,, Art, Entertain, HIV/AIDS prevention and counseling for youth and families. In addition, over 20 autonomous LGBT groups choose to meet at The Center.
Recently, The Center has begun to play a vital role in promoting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered artists through regular art exhibits and by providing rehearsal space for local theatre productions.
GLBCC is located at 946 North Mills Avenue in the ViMi District near downtown Orlando, but draws from all the surrounding communities. Check out more information about the Center and how to become a member at www.glbcc.org
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