What's Happening in Atlanta Theater

Atlantan Margaret Edson’s play about confronting cancer finally heads to Broadway

1/19/2012 11:00:00 PM

For all its critical adoration and awards — including a Pulitzer Prize and an acclaimed HBO adaptation with Emma Thompson — one thing is missing from the resume of Margaret Edson’s play “Wit” – a Broadway engagement.

That changes next week. In previews now, “Wit” officially opens on Broadway for the first time Jan. 26. (Its 1998 New York engagement was not an official Broadway production).

The Manhattan Theatre Club is staging the play with openly lesbian actress Cynthia Nixon in the role of Dr. Vivian Bearing, a college professor who is diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Looking back at her life in flashbacks, Vivian realizes that she could be as cold and uncompassionate to her students as the doctors are to her now.

Edson — who lives in Atlanta and is also openly gay — is delighted that the show is finally Broadway bound. Lynne Meadow, the artistic director of the Manhattan Theatre Club, was working with her staff planning her 2011-2012 season when the idea of “Wit” came up.

Meadow realized it was a great idea and agreed to direct it, and subsequently called Edson. With Edson enthusiastically on board, Meadow then called Nixon, who also loved the idea.

“It was that easy,” says Meadow. “I wish every play was as easy as that – one, two, three.”

Edson lives in Atlanta with her partner, Linda Merrill, and has seen most all of the local productions of “Wit,” including the Alliance version in 2000. When she realized that the play was going to be staged in New York, she flew up to meet Meadow, Nixon and the cast. Most of the time, as a playwright, she isn’t involved in the collaborative process but notes that Meadow very much wanted to get her take for this version.

Edson had a great visit and thinks the play is in very capable hands. Nixon, she feels, is a perfect choice.

“People know her from TV but she has a history with New York theater,” she says.  “She’s been in 40 plays and she sees as much as she can.”

Nixon won a Tony back in 2006 for the play “Rabbit Hole” — also produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club — and many expect her to be in contention again this year.

Having an out actress in the role of Bearing, though, should make no difference in the scope of the play, Edson feels.

“I don’t think it matters,” she says. “It’s about working on the text and bringing it to life.”

In addition to her December visit, Edson will also attend opening night.

Meadow has long been a fan of the play.

“It’s so incredibly intelligent, perceptive and full of wisdom,” she says. “Neither Cynthia or I can believe [Margaret] has only written one play.”

Nixon and Meadow are both cancer survivors. Meadow says a lot of her personal experience went into her version of the play. The big difference, she says, is that she’s still alive.

“I had great doctors,” she acknowledges.

Despite the acclaim for “Wit,” Edson has never been tempted to move, saying she loves her home, Atlanta and her job teaching. Her local family includes two children.

“We’ve been here 13 years and we love it,” she says. “We love the people. We are here to stay.”

Edson currently teaches sixth grade social studies at Inman Middle School.

“I wrote ‘Wit’ when I was 30 and I’m now 50,” she says. “I never wanted to stop teaching — this is my 19th year.”

Top photo: Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer-winning play ‘Wit’ is finally headed to Broadway, with lesbian breast cancer survivor Cynthia Nixon in the starring role. (courtesy Edson)

‘Next Fall’ explores religion, family and coming out

1/5/2012 11:00:00 PM

The gay-themed “Next Fall,” which opens Jan. 12 at Actor’s Express, reunites two artists who haven’t been as active recently in the local theater scene as we might like: out director Kate Warner and out actor Mitchell Anderson.

On Broadway, the drama – co-produced by Elton John and his partner, David Furnish — was nominated for a 2010 Tony Award for Best Play, after much success off-Broadway a year earlier.

The play centers around the relationship between twentysomething Luke (Joe Sykes) and the older Adam (Mitchell Anderson), who is 40. From a religious standpoint, they are completely different. Luke is a fundamentalist Christian and Adam is something of an agnostic.

When an accident occurs, Adam must meet and confront Luke’s very conservative (and divorced) parents, Arlene and Butch (Patricia French and Bill Murphey).

Warner moved to Boston from Atlanta a few years ago to take over as artistic director at New Rep Theatre. She was with the company for more than two years and is now freelancing. She is eager to stage “Next Fall.”

“We tried to get it in Boston this season but another company got it,” Warner says. “We were bidding on it. It’s a well-crafted play.”

When she got a call from Actor’s Express last spring about directing it, she happily agreed.

To Warner, the play is anything but a typical coming out story.

“It’s a relationship play, very post modern,” she says. “Luke has always been conflicted with his sexuality. He is a born again Christian. Religion plays a very big role in the play. Neither point of view is characterized or demonized.

“Adam loves his boyfriend but can’t reconcile his faith and it’s a problem for him. (Eventually) Adam and Luke’s family have to come together.”

Much of the play is told in flashback.

“We meet Luke that way,” Warner says. “Luke has never been out, and his parents don’t know about the relationship.”

She feels “Next Fall” provokes lots of discussion. “People tend to have reactions to these people’s actions and want to have conversations afterward,” she says.

“When you are in a situation in an ICU where you have to make decisions, what would you do? You think you might know but don’t.”

Warner’s last show at the Express was “Octopus,” which also starred Anderson, Sykes and John Benzinger, who’s featured here as Brandon, a friend of Luke’s who is also discreetly gay.

Anderson is very good friends with the playwright, Geoffrey Nauffts.

“I’ve known him since 1987; we went to LA together,” he says.  “He told me that if the show ever opened in Atlanta I should try and be a part of it.”

When Anderson found out that the Express was staging it, he called Artistic Director Freddie Ashley about being involved. “This was a neat opportunity to get back,” he says. “It’s a beautiful play and I see so much of Geoffrey in it, his interjections.”

Anderson admits, though, that this does not represent a return to acting. Running his restaurant, MetroFresh, is his full-time job, he says.

Anderson says Adam is a writer but not a successful one, so he works in a candle shop. When he meets the conservative Luke – who asks for forgiveness after he has sex – he is a little skeptical, but they figure out how to make it work.

The actor is particularly excited about working with Warner again. “Kate is delightful,” he says. “She is a calm influence who can take big ideas and make then work practically.”

‘Avenue Q’ returns

Last fall, Horizon Theatre tackled the first local production of the gay-themed musical “Avenue Q.”  It was a big success – many performances sold out and the show won a number of Suzi Awards, including Musical of the Year.

It’s coming back for an encore next week with its original cast intact.

Top photo: Mitchell Anderson stars in ‘Next Fall,’ which explores religion and coming out through the relationship between Anderson’s character, Adam, and a younger, fundamentalist Christian man. (via Facebook)

‘Odysseo’ brings equestrian, acrobatic extravaganza back to Atlanta big top

12/8/2011 9:14:50 AM

One of Atlanta’s most-attended productions of 2009 was “Cavalia,” which combined Cirque du Soleil-like acrobatics with equestrian elements. The follow-up, “Odysseo,” is making its U.S. debut here, with two of the acrobats in the new show openly gay: Samuel Alvarez and Brennan Figari.

Alvarez and Figari are two of the 54 performers — acrobats, aerialists, dancers, musicians and riders — headlining the troupe. Both are acrobats. Alvarez, a gymnast from Texas, has been working professionally for more than 12 years, stating off with Cirque du Soleil’s “Quidam” before moving to “Cavalia.”

Figari, a San Francisco native, had been doing acts such as the flying trapeze at his local resort and performing recreationally until he got serious about doing it for a living nine years ago.

“Cavalia” and now “Odysseo” are both created and directed by Normand Latourelle, one of the original founders of Cirque du Soleil. “Odysseo” takes place in a forest, when man and horse meet in a world of dreams.

The show opens with a dozen horses entering with their trainers. Seven scenes round out the first act with eight in the second, virtually all of them intertwining horses and acrobats, many in a breath-taking, imaginative manner.

It’s all under an enormous big top tent, called by its organizers the biggest tent in the world. It’s two and a quarter times the size of the original tent from “Cavalia.” (That show was staged at Atlantic Station, but this one had to be moved to Spring Street when organizers simply needed more space.)

Both performers call “Odysseo” completely different than “Cavalia.”

“It’s much bigger,” says Figari. “We have more horses and twice as many people.”

Alvarez has his own take.

“I like to say that the show is ‘Lord of the Rings’ meets a pony show – the circus comes to town,” he says. “There are a lot of beautiful moments, especially in the opening scene. The set is absolutely amazing.”

In all there are 71 horses from countries all over the world. And for those who relish traditional Cirque-like touches, “Odysseo” features astonishing visuals and live music, as well as some dance.

Alvarez and Figari are in the same numbers and play supporting roles in others, before the entire troupe comes out for the finale. One of their two acts is Tempete, an aerial hoops routine in which the acrobats hold hoops the horses jump through.  The other is Carusello, which is the rotating carousel. Both are audience favorites, says Figari.

The horse element adds an extra dimension to the show, Figari says.

“It’s not like you can have a conversation with the horse beforehand,” laughs Figari.

He says that there are no real divas on the set — performer or horse — but a few of the horses can “misbehave” at times. Hence each show can be somewhat different, meaning that it can be impossible to make the horses do every single thing expected from them on cue.

Neither man had worked with horses prior to “Odysseo.”

Figari saw “Cavalia” in Los Angeles and, ironically,  three months later was hired to be part of “Odysseo.”

“I think they had to train me more than the horses,” says Figari.

“Odysseo” premiered in Montreal earlier this fall where the show was warmly received. Both men have great memories of the world premiere.

Since “Cavalia” extended its run here a few years ago, Figari and Alvarez are hopeful “Odysseo” will do the same. Leading up to the opening, it’s not unheard of for the “Odysseo” performers to rehearse twice a day as they have prepared for opening night.

After the show ends in Atlanta, it will move on to Miami. Both men are committed to “Odysseo” for a few years.

While they acknowledge that “Odysseo” and “Cavalia” have gay/lesbian fans, they don’t think there is one particular reason why.

“I think that this is a show that everyone likes,” says Alvarez.

Top photo: ‘Odysseo’ features a myriad of equestrian and acrobatic acts under what organizers bill as the biggest tent in the world. (Publicity photo)

Local stages offer gay favorites

11/24/2011 11:00:00 PM

As the holiday season gets underway, local theaters bring out their heavy hitters, many sure to appeal to LGBT audiences.

At the perennial top of the Christmas must-see list is Horizon Theatre’s “The Santaland Diaries.” Openly gay actor Harold Leaver returns for a 13th time as the sarcastic main character, who becomes a department store elf to earn some money one holiday season. It’s based on gay writer David Sedaris’ own experience, as told in his “Holidays On Ice.”

According to Leaver, for whom the role has been career-defining, it’s a production that has stayed snarky throughout the years – and kept its gay sensibility intact. A few years ago, “The Santaland Diaries” lost its original director Clint Thornton (with Jeff Adler taking over) but it’s kept on charming audiences, with the cast and crew finding ways to make the comedy fresh.

An event bound to be campy will be drag diva Varla Jean Merman in “The Book of Merman” at Actor’s Express. The statuesque Merman, who has appeared in everything from “Project Runway” and “Girls Will Be Girls” to “Ugly Betty,” will perform in her relatively new show, which Merman launched in Provincetown this year.

Freddie Ashley, artistic director of Actor’s Express, thinks that it will be immensely popular.

“Varla Jean has a sizable following,” he says. “When we had the chance to host her here, we jumped.”

Ashley says audiences can expect Varla Jean’s quintessential brand of entertainment – “A lot of music and comedy. She’s just very funny.”

Fabrefaction Theater Company, fresh off of a well-received version of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd,” gives us “The Rocky Horror Show” for the holidays.  Of course, it finds young couple Brad and Janet – their car having broken down – knocking on the door of a castle that belongs to the bisexual, cross-dressing Dr. Frank-N-Furter. The musical is given a wintry spin in this version.

The Center for Puppetry Arts has brought back its sold-out hit of last year, “Rudolph: The Red-Nosed Reindeer.” It’s very faithful to the original material, with the red snouted Rudolph shunned by his fellow reindeer, while Hermey the elf is ridiculed for wanting to be a dentist. Gay audiences will not only enjoy its nostalgic side, but its story of two outsiders/misfits. “Rudolph” is fun for children and adults alike.

One production bound to make noise is “Odysseo,” making its U.S. debut in December in Atlanta. “Odysseo” features dozens of performing horses and equestrian acts under a giant big top tent.  Its predecessor, “Cavalia,” was extremely popular in town a few years back and I expect this one to be as well.

Another new-to-Atlanta production is a musical version of the classic tale “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” virtue of the Atlanta Broadway Series.  It’s all about the dastardly Grinch who wrecks Christmas but then gets a change of heart. It will truly be interesting to see how the material gets turned into a musical.

Onstage Atlanta’s “A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol” is one of the company’s multiple holiday offerings. It’s a good-feel production directed by lesbian Cathe Hall Payne and starring a number of out performers.

For purists, the Alliance Theatre has its annual, lavish “A Christmas Carol,” while Dad’s Garage hosts the largely improvisational “Invasion: Christmas Carol,” which has a new character invading the world of Scrooge each night.

Productions this holiday season

‘Rudolph: The Red-Nosed Reindeer’
Through Dec. 31 at Center for Puppetry Arts
1404 Spring St., Atlanta, GA 30309
www.puppet.org

‘The Santaland Diaries’
Nov. 25 – Jan. 1 at Horizon Theatre
1083 Austin Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307
www.horizontheatre.com

‘A Christmas Carol’
Nov. 25 – Dec. 24 at Alliance Theatre
1280 Peachtree St., Atlanta, GA 30309
www.alliancetheatre.org

‘Invasion: Christmas Carol’
Nov. 25 – Dec. 23 at Dad’s Garage
280 Elizabeth St., Atlanta, GA 30307
www.dadsgarage.com

‘A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol’
Nov. 25 – Dec. 18 at Onstage Atlanta
2597 North Decatur Road, Decatur, GA 30033
www.onstageatlanta.com

‘Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical’
Nov. 29 – Dec. 4 at Fox Theatre
660 Peachtree St., Atlanta, Georgia 30308
www.foxtheatre.org

‘The Rocky Horror Show’
Dec. 1 – 23 at Fabrefaction Theatre
999 Brady Ave., Atlanta, GA 30318
www.fabrefaction.org

‘Merry Little Holiday Shorts’
Dec. 7-18 at Onstage Atlanta

‘Odysseo’
Dec. 7 – Jan. 8 at 8th and Spring Streets
www.cavalia.net

‘My Fair Lady’
Dec. 8-11 at Cobb Energy Centre
2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway
Marietta GA 30339
www.cobbenergycentre.org

‘The Book of Merman’
Dec. 9 – 10 at Actor’s Express
887 W. Marietta St. Suite J-107, Atlanta, GA 30318
www.actorsexpress.com

Top photo: Horizon Theatre’s ‘Santaland Diaries’ is such a gay hit that actor Harold Leaver appeared in character in the 2011 Atlanta Pride parade. (Photo via Facebook)

‘Tea Party’ with a twist

11/10/2011 11:00:00 PM

Art imitates life in the politically themed “Tea Party,” the new show by playwrights and couple John Gibson and Anthony Morris, known for their long running play “Peachtree Battle.”

“Tea Party” is a political satire where the lives of two strangers collide. Preston Miller (Truman Griffin) is a political newcomer from Connecticut who simply wants to make the world a better place. Clarissa Cannon (Tonglia Davis), the wife of Mississippi congressman Thurgood Cannon (Patrick A. Jackson), is dead set on getting into the White House.

In an attempt to appear more white to Tea Party folks, the African-American Cannons hire Preston, but only to re-do their image. Preston thinks he has been hired on merit, unaware of the real motivation.

“Tea Party” is a play Gibson and Morris have been working on for more than year. The couple had to re-write the play when Herman Cain came to prominence and become a viable GOP force.

“We didn’t expect that, but when he cracked double digits in the polls we knew we had to,” says Gibson.

They have incorporated all sorts of political figures into the mix – the Cannons, for instance, have offstage meetings with Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. In typical fashion, the playwrights are known to add big news of the day into the evening’s performance.

“If it’s current, we talk about it,” Gibson says.

A scandal ensues when the Cannon’s son Zeke (Richard Allen Lee)  turns out to be gay. According to Gibson, he is a non-stereotypical character, a Heisman-nominated running back whose sexual orientation is known to none of his family. Yet when a sex tape surfaces, and the family is blackmailed, his secret bubbles to the surface.

“Clarissa doesn’t care that her son is gay – what she cares about are the poll numbers,” says Gibson. His father, though, has a harder time accepting it.
This is the first play Gibson and Morris have penned that centers around an African-American family.

“Peachtree Battle’ is about a family and so is this,” he says. “We all want the same things – we want a family and we want what is best for our children.  But we’ve found that people love watching messed up families.”

The playwrights address a lot of issues in the play but do it through laughs.

“We handle the race issue through comedy,” Gibson says. “Preston thinks he knows what it means to be black, but he doesn’t. He only knows one person.”

Gibson feels this is one of their strongest plays and one of the best ensembles he has ever put together. Yet he admits that he and Gibson have only one goal in their writing.

“We don’t do art – we want to entertain,” he says.

Tim Miller’s ‘Lay of the Land’

Gay performer Tim Miller can always be counted on for a healthy dose of theatrical activism. His brings his politically-charged “Lay of the Land” to 7 Stages this week.

The one-man show deals predominantly with marriage equality and queer citizenship — the status of being gay in America right now. It came about shortly after Prop 8.

“For me, the big prompt is always about what you can’t make peace about and for me, it’s my state – California,” Miller says.  “For five joyous months we had marriage equality followed by this endless and visible battle and eventually it was declared unconstitutional.”

In previous shows Miller has talked about immigration laws, which is especially relevant as his partner since 1994, Alistair McCartney, is an Australian who he is not allowed to marry.

In addition to his political musing, Miller is also known for getting naked onstage. This go-around, he gives us his own comic and political variation of “turning the other cheek,” he laughs.

Top photo: In ‘Tea Party,’ Clarissa Cannon (Tonglia Davis) and Thurgood Cannon (Patrick A. Jackson) hire Preston Miller (Truman Griffin) to help make Mr. Cannon’s presidential candidacy more enticing to conservative voters. (Publicity photo)

‘In the Next Room’ explores women’s sexuality

10/28/2011 12:00:00 AM

The advent of a new instrument changes the lives of many in “In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play,” which runs Oct. 28 to Nov. 19 at Synchonicity Theatre.

The play, a 2010 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize nominee for Best Play, is set in the days of corsets, bustles and horses and buggies. A noted doctor has come up with a vibrator that is designed to treat women for “hysteria” but instead makes them enormously happy.

“Vibrator Play” is directed by Rachel May,  artistic director or Synchronicity, and was written by acclaimed playwright Sarah Ruhl.

“I like her work – she is a smart writer but she has heart,” May says. “She reminds me of Paula Vogel in that she makes you laugh but undercuts it with social commentary. The humor works to get you into it but important things are underneath.”

May also laughs that when she heard about the play, she thought “if the show was half as good as its title, it would be fun to produce.”

For May, “Vibrator Play” is “a love letter to marriage.”

“It traces the journey from a lack of intimacy to intimacy between the doctor and his wife,” May says.

The director had to do extensive research. According to May, the show is based on true events and the advent of the vibrator.

“Women were treated for the disease of ‘hysteria’ up until 1950,” she says.  “What that is now is a healthy woman’s sexual desire.”

“Vibrator Play” has lesbian content with two of the women, Mrs. Daldry (Tiffany Morgan) and Annie (Daryl Fazio), the doctor’s midwife.

“Annie holds her hand when she gets undressed and does a manual treatment,” says May. “Through this interaction they form a relationship and it is the most intimate relationship either has ever had.”

Gay teen, sister at heart of ‘Edith’ at Actor’s Express

Coming off of a rousing success with the musical “Spring Awakening,” Actor’s Express opens the gay-themed “Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them.”  The new play, which runs through Nov. 26, is written by A. Rey Pamatmat and is part of a rolling world premiere at the Express.

According to Freddie Ashley, the artistic director of Actor’s Express who also directs the play, “Edith” is something of a comedy drama with a cast of three. With their mother dead and their father having left them, sixteen-year-old Kenny (Ralph Del Rosario) has to take care of his twelve-year-old sister, Edith (Rose Le Tran), on a farm in middle America.

Kenny has also noticed that he had developed feelings for his best friend, Benji (Tucker Weinmann), who is his study buddy.

The three kids form something of an unlikely family bond, until a threat rises up from the outside world and leads Edith – the youngest – to take matters into her own hands and start firing.

Ashley says he likes the show — in which adult actors play the children — because it is about “all different kinds of family,” and because it has a heart as well as optimism and warmth. Ashley also calls “Edith” emotionally complex and observant about the relationship between the three characters.

Teenagers Kenny and Benji have never felt anything like what they are going through.

“They are completely inexperienced,” says Ashley. “This is the first inkling of sexual awakening for them.”

Edith is okay with the situation, though, and even becomes protective of Benji.

According to Ashley, Edith is a “plucky, self-assured character, one with an active imagination,” who teaches her brother how to stand up for himself while he teaches her to develop more patience.

Top photo: In ‘In the Next Room,’ Mrs. Catherine Givings (Kate Donadio) wonders about the treatments her husband, a doctor, uses to treat female ‘hysteria’ and ultimately learns about her own sexual satisfaction. (Photo by Chris Bartelski / thereasonilove.com)

Comedy pairs gay theater critic with good ol’ boy kidnappers

9/30/2011 12:00:00 AM

Out comedian/director Sherri Denise Sutton has returned to Atlanta and already has a slew of projects lined up. First up is directing the comic “Gray Area” at Aurora Theatre.

It’s a farcical show, written by John Ahlin, about what happens when a New York theater critic makes an on-air crack about Civil War re-enactors as his last public statement — and is promptly kidnapped by three good ol’ boys. It stars openly gay actor Glenn Rainey as the critic, Farragut. The character is gay, says Sutton, which the kidnappers don’t know when they nab him.

“They think he is straight – they have no idea he’s gay,” she says. “The audience is in on the joke.”

Sutton knew the only person she wanted to play the lead character was Rainey. Ironically, Rainey himself knew the playwright, had already read it and brought it to the theater’s attention.

Doing a play called “Gray Area” forced the cast and creative team to look at their own “gray areas” and deal with them, says Sutton.

“This show makes you laugh but it also challenges you and makes you think about others and their side; about having conversations no one wants to have,” she says.

Although it can be broad at times, she doesn’t call it campy.

“It is more sophisticated,” she says. “The characters are honed in truth. Glenn’s character may be flamboyant but the play is about playing stereotypes and then breaking them.”

Sutton was born in Savannah and moved to Atlanta, where she became active in theater and eventually became artistic director for the Atlanta International School.

She left Atlanta in 2004 and eventually landed in New York, where she pursued another passion – stand up comedy. Much of her material sprang from her own life, which included being married to a man before realizing she was attracted to women.

Now that she is back home in Atlanta, she has already committed to direct  “Xanadu” at Actor’s Express. Later this year she will also be involved in a comedy troupe, “The Effin Queer Comedy Tour.”

‘The Glass Menagerie’

One of the most anticipated shows of the fall season came close to not happening. “The Glass Menagerie,” one of gay playwright Tennessee William’s most loved plays, was almost curtailed by Georgia Shakespeare’s financial difficulties.

A few weeks ago the company stated publicly that if supporters did not raise $500,000 over the next few months, they would have to close their doors. Luckily they have raised enough of the initial money they’ve needed to stabilize, according to Georgia Shakespeare artistic director Richard Garner.

“The Glass Menagerie” is a memory play about the Wingfield family. Amanda (Mary Lynn Owen) hovers over her family: Laura (Bethany Anne Lind) and tortured Tom (Joe Knezevich).

Garner, who is directing, says that he feels their version of the classic doesn’t make a judgment about Tom. It’s always been suggested that he is out seeking the company of other men but never directly stated in the text.

When asked where he’s been out late at night, Tom always says that he was at the movies.

“We want the audience to make up their own mind,” says Garner.

According to Garner, Williams has said that “Glass Menagerie” is based on his family but has always said Tom is not a carbon copy of himself.

Top photo: Out actor Glenn Rainey (center, hands tied) plays a kidnapped theatre critic whose captors don’t know he’s gay in ‘Gray Area.’ (Photo by Christopher Bartelski)

Comedy pairs gay theater critic with good ol’ boy kidnappers

9/30/2011 12:00:00 AM

Out comedian/director Sherri Denise Sutton has returned to Atlanta and already has a slew of projects lined up. First up is directing the comic “Gray Area” at Aurora Theatre.

It’s a farcical show, written by John Ahlin, about what happens when a New York theater critic makes an on-air crack about Civil War re-enactors as his last public statement — and is promptly kidnapped by three good ol’ boys. It stars openly gay actor Glenn Rainey as the critic, Farragut. The character is gay, says Sutton, which the kidnappers don’t know when they nab him.

“They think he is straight – they have no idea he’s gay,” she says. “The audience is in on the joke.”

Sutton knew the only person she wanted to play the lead character was Rainey. Ironically, Rainey himself knew the playwright, had already read it and brought it to the theater’s attention.

Doing a play called “Gray Area” forced the cast and creative team to look at their own “gray areas” and deal with them, says Sutton.

“This show makes you laugh but it also challenges you and makes you think about others and their side; about having conversations no one wants to have,” she says.

Although it can be broad at times, she doesn’t call it campy.

“It is more sophisticated,” she says. “The characters are honed in truth. Glenn’s character may be flamboyant but the play is about playing stereotypes and then breaking them.”

Sutton was born in Savannah and moved to Atlanta, where she became active in theater and eventually became artistic director for the Atlanta International School.

She left Atlanta in 2004 and eventually landed in New York, where she pursued another passion – stand up comedy. Much of her material sprang from her own life, which included being married to a man before realizing she was attracted to women.

Now that she is back home in Atlanta, she has already committed to direct  “Xanadu” at Actor’s Express. Later this year she will also be involved in a comedy troupe, “The Effin Queer Comedy Tour.”

‘The Glass Menagerie’

One of the most anticipated shows of the fall season came close to not happening. “The Glass Menagerie,” one of gay playwright Tennessee William’s most loved plays, was almost curtailed by Georgia Shakespeare’s financial difficulties.

A few weeks ago the company stated publicly that if supporters did not raise $500,000 over the next few months, they would have to close their doors. Luckily they have raised enough of the initial money they’ve needed to stabilize, according to Georgia Shakespeare artistic director Richard Garner.

“The Glass Menagerie” is a memory play about the Wingfield family. Amanda (Mary Lynn Owen) hovers over her family: Laura (Bethany Anne Lind) and tortured Tom (Joe Knezevich).

Garner, who is directing, says that he feels their version of the classic doesn’t make a judgment about Tom. It’s always been suggested that he is out seeking the company of other men but never directly stated in the text.

When asked where he’s been out late at night, Tom always says that he was at the movies.

“We want the audience to make up their own mind,” says Garner.

According to Garner, Williams has said that “Glass Menagerie” is based on his family but has always said Tom is not a carbon copy of himself.

Top photo: Out actor Glenn Rainey (center, hands tied) plays a kidnapped theatre critic whose captors don’t know he’s gay in ‘Gray Area.’ (Photo by Christopher Bartelski)

Gay fare prominent in local theater this season

9/16/2011 12:00:00 AM

The fall theater season includes many productions with significant LGBT interest making their local bows.

A few of the hot button productions will appear at 7 Stages, which produced the gay-themed “Mr. Universe” earlier this spring. First up is Dale Daigle’s “All Blues,” set in the Jim Crow South, which runs Sept. 22 – Oct. 9.

It’s based on the true story of Ray Sprigle, a white journalist who disguises himself as a black man for a month to report on the black experience first-hand. Out actor Patrick McColery is in the cast —ironically, he portrays the role of a racist in the drama. The show is making its world premiere here.

Gay performance artist Tim Miller will also be making a return engagement to the ATL after a long absence with his “Lay of the Land” at the Little Five Points company, Nov. 10 -13. Of course, he will have lots to say of a political nature.

“‘Lay of the Land’ friskily gets at that feeling of gay folks being perpetually on trial, on the ballot, and on the menu!” says Miller.

As he is also frequently naked onstage, expect him to find a way to drop trou as well. The last time he was in town he was faced with the fact that his male lover was about to be deported, so expect updates on that front too.

One of the other stand-out shows of the season is expected to be Georgia Shakespeare’s “The Glass Menagerie,” by gay playwright Tennessee Williams, set for Oct. 6–30. It stars Mary Lynn Owen as Amanda Wingfield and Bethany Anne Lind as Laura. It will be curious to see how Tom (played here by Joe Knezevich) is portrayed – in some productions his sexual orientation is more than hinted at.

It was just announced, though, that the company is in a financial crunch and might not be able to produce the show unless it receives $150,000 by Sept. 23. Let’s all hope the company can climb back.

Sarah Ruhl’s “In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play,” being staged by Synchonicity from Oct. 28 to Nov. 19, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and three Tony Awards. It’s a sex comedy, as well as a period piece set in the 1880s, with a feminine awakening sensibility as well as lesbian moments between its female characters. And it has the best title of the season.

Actor’s Express never shies away from LGBT issues. Openly gay Freddie Ashley directs “Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them,” Oct. 27 – Nov. 26. Written by A. Rey Pamatmat, it’s a coming of age drama about a 16 year old boy, taking care of his sister on a rural farm, who falls in love with his male best friend.

Elsewhere, gay actor Glenn Rainey, off of a celebrated turn in Theater of the Stars’ “Guys and Dolls,” comes to the Aurora Theatre for “Grey Area” to play a theater critic/radio announcer who gets kidnapped after he makes an unflattering on-air comment. Set for Oct. 6–30, it’s directed by Sherri Sutton, who is lesbian. Gay playwrights (and couple) John Gibson and Anthony Morris are also expected to open their political comedy “Tea Party” in October.

Musicals are popular this fall both in local and traveling productions. Fabrefaction, one of the newest companies in town, will stage gay composer Stephen Sondheim’s masterwork “Sweeney Todd” (Oct. 25 – Nov. 13). Among traveling shows, two of the notables are Atlanta mainstays. “Mamma Mia” is back Nov. 2– 6; of note, besides the infectious Abba music, is that one of the male characters turns out to be gay. “Wicked,” the predecessor to “The Wizard of Oz,” opened Sept. 14 at the Fox Theatre and runs through Oct. 9. On Broadway, it made stars of Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.

This is just the tip of the fall theater iceberg – check local listings for complete schedules.

“Wicked”
Sept. 14 – Oct. 9 at Fox Theatre
660 Peachtree St., Atlanta, GA 30308
www.foxtheatre.org

“All Blues”
Sept. 22 – Oct. 9 at 7 Stages
1105 Euclid Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307
www.7stages.org

“The Glass Menagerie”
Oct. 6 – 30 at Oglethorpe University
4484 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30319
www.gashakespeare.org

“Grey Area”
Oct. 6 - 30 at Aurora Theatre
128 Pike St., Lawrenceville, Georgia 30046
www.auroratheatre.com

“Sweeney Todd”
Oct. 25 – Nov. 13 by Fabrefaction Theatre Co.
999 Brady Ave., Atlanta, GA 30318
www.fabrefaction.org

“Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them”
Oct. 27 – Nov. 26 at Actor’s Express
887 W. Marietta St., Atlanta, GA 30318
www.actorsexpress.com

“In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play”
Oct. 28 – Nov.19 at Horizon Theatre
1083 Austin Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307
www.synchrotheatre.com

“Tea Party”
October TBD at Ansley Park Playhouse
1545 Peachtree St., Atlanta, GA 30309
www.ansleyparkplayhouse.com

“Mamma Mia!”
Nov. 2 – 6 at Fox Theatre
660 Peachtree St., Atlanta, GA 30308
www.foxtheatre.org

“Lay of the Land”
Nov. 10 -13 at 7 Stages
1105 Euclid Ave., Atlanta, GA 30307
www.7stages.org

Top photo: Gay performance artist Tim Miller brings his ‘Lay of the Land’ to Atlanta’s 7 Stages in November. (Publicity photo)

[Review] 'Spring Awakening' at Actor's Express is devastating, beautiful

9/11/2011 3:40:53 PM

After a harrowing, but seemingly successful fundraising campaign to save itself from financial collapse, Actor's Express can celebrate bringing the drama back to the stage with it's 24th season opener, "Spring Awakening," directed by Freddie Ashley.

Apparently I've been living under a rock. I'd heard of "Spring Awakening" as this Duncan Sheik rock and roll musical. I knew it was successful. But 11 Tony Award nominations and eight wins? "Glee" star Lea Michelle working half her life to be the the lead in the original Broadway cast? Her "Glee" co-star Jonathan Groff, too?

In short, "Spring Awakening" is about coming of age in puritanical 1890s Germany. The boys are voracious to express their inexplicable sexual urges, the girls are starting to notice, and the adults are too afraid — and religious — to get involved.

It is a tragedy in he truest sense of the word.

Wendla, played in the local production by Kylie Brown, sets the tone from the start with a vulnerable moment on stage singing about how ill-equipped she is to deal with life's biggest questions, and her burgeoning teenage body.

She and her friends have just started dishing about the boys in school, most notably the handsome, free-thinking and positively "radical" Melchior (Jordan Craig) and his unlikely friend Moritz (Greg Bosworth), who is worried his wet dreams are a sign of madness.

Without ruining your own "Awakening," the consequences of mixing sexual exploration and naiveté in a no-questions-asked conservative regime are powerful and just as relevant now as they were when Frank Wedekind wrote the play upon which the musical is based.

In 1892.

It's some kind of Gothic after-school special period piece with bits of rock and roll storytelling injecting pace and vigor courtesy Sheik's almost radio-friendly soundtrack with concise lyrics and straight-forward book by Steven Sater.

Craig's Melchior was the most powerful individual performance, but more importantly, the group's collective energy and adequate talent hold the show together.

Particularly during Act II's "Totally Fucked," the cast lets go, and their energy is contagious. It was a much-needed reprieve from the dramatic darkness that is more indicative of the show's tone.

Other notables include LaLa Cochran, who plays all of the adult women in the show, and Jordan Harris as the scene-stealing Hanschen/Rupert and dead wringer for a young Johnny Depp. He is thankfully a part of the show's brief gay subplot, which is respectfully treated and was in fact a part of Wedekind's original work.

Actor's Express's production was stripped down, even compared to the show's original art direction, but the costuming was particularly successful in illustrating the show's intent to be specifically vintage, but at the same time modern.

The show's most glaring issue is more technical than anything. Whether it's the volume of the band or underutilized microphones, it was difficult to hear the lyrics sung by most of performers, particularly during the show's most kinetic rock tracks.

That said, the entirety of the production was absolutely powerful. It was devastating in the most beautiful ways and the material—the true gem of this particular theatrical experience—was done justice.

'Spring Awakening'
Through Oct. 1
Actor's Express
887 W. Marietta St.
Suite J-107
Atlanta, GA 30318
404-607-SHOW
www.actors-express.com

Photo: The cast of 'Spring Awakening' (Photo by Jen Hofstetter Photography)