PSA, the Journal of the Pirandello Society of America seeks submissions of
short dramatic pieces (5 to 30 minutes of expected performance time) inspired
by Luigi Pirandello’s short stories, for publication in the next or future
issues. An essential requirement is that proposed dramaturgies draw inspiration
from Pirandello’s short stories.
***
Last Frontier Theater Conference ~ up to 200 submissions will be accepted from
new applicants; at that point, full-length submissions will only be open for
Alaskans, past participants. New folks will still be able to submit plays 30
minutes and under.
***
Heartland Theatre Company is seeking eight 10-minute original plays to be
considered for production in June of 2023 as part of our 20th annual 10-minute
play festival. This year, the theme is THE WAITING ROOM.
*** FOR MORE INFORMATION about these and other opportunities see the web site
at https://www.nycplaywrights.org
***
*** CROSS-DRESSING MUSICALS ***
These periodic speeches of “we-get-it-we-really-do” rather undermine Tootsie’s
central conceit: a male actor dresses as a woman to get work, leading to a
woman falling for him as a woman, and a man falling for him as a woman. The
experience teaches Michael—well, what exactly? How hard it is to be a woman,
and phew, he’s ultimately very happy to be a man, albeit one who’s learned
something about sexism.
While there is no overt homophobia or misogyny in either movie or stage show,
note that the central “joke” in both of Tootsie’s intimate scenarios is that
Michael’s cross-dressing could lead to, with both male and female suitors—oh
no—two variants of a same-sex kiss or attraction, and Michael is a straight guy
in a dress! Stop the clocks!
More...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/tootsie-on-broadway-a-cross-dressing-classic-gets-a-large-spoonful-of-woke
***
“As the producers of Mrs. Doubtfire made clear in their statement on December
2, 'they have taken feedback and notes from people representing different
constituencies who have seen rehearsals as part of the process of making the
show.' One GLAAD employee attended a rehearsal, but not in an official
consulting capacity. No formal feedback from GLAAD has been given to producers.
Conversations between the show’s producers and GLAAD continue.
“Some media stories have implied that Mrs. Doubtfire has worked with GLAAD,
while Tootsie did not. On the contrary, GLAAD has been working closely with the
producers and creative team of Tootsie during its rehearsal process and
Broadway run, to make sure any concerns from members of the transgender
community are addressed. It has been a collaborative and productive
relationship. GLAAD’s insights and suggestions have been met with understanding
and have been implemented into the production where needed.
More...
https://playbill.com/article/exclusive-glaad-responds-to-mrs-doubtfire-and-tootsie-reports
***
After much self-ballyhooing, this much anticipated revival of the musical 1776
has arrived, and the trend-makers (and Hamilton whisperers) at the American
Repertory Theater and Roundabout Repertory Theatre Company also draw on the
signing of the Declaration of Independence as a way to reenvision history. In
this version, the roles of the members of the first Continental Congress —
white men all — are performed by a multiracial, multigenerational cast that
includes only female, nonbinary, and transgender performers.
Like so many 20th-century plays and musicals, 1776, which opened on Broadway in
1969, desperately calls for an update. In the over half a century since the
show won three Tony Awards, including Best Musical, many of the air-brushed
myths about our founding fathers have been undermined. Among the complicating
facts: of the 47 original signers of our first guiding document, 34 were
slaveholders. Perhaps no one in that First Congress has been the subject of a
more radical change of heart than the author of the Declaration himself, Thomas
Jefferson. Jefferson (played with grit and underlying anger by Elizabeth A.
Davis) is one of the show’s three leading characters. His sexual involvement
with his slave Sally Hemings after his wife’s death resulted in six children.
The other two leads are John Adams (Crystal Lucas-Perry, who is solid in the
role, but not nearly obnoxious or disliked enough) and Benjamin Franklin (the
wonderful, but too understated, Patrena Murray). The action of the narrative
spans two months during a blistering hot Philadelphia summer in May and June of
1776, culminating with the signing of the Declaration on July 4.
More...
https://artsfuse.org/257661/theater-review-1776-still-an-egg-in-the-theatrical-incubator/
***
One can fit a number of genres and genders under a dress-wearing umbrella —
there are men and male-presenting performers playing women, playing men playing
women, wearing dresses for drama, wearing dresses for laughs, wearing dresses
as a means of self-expression. And many artists see drag, performed by people
of all genders, as its own distinct category of stylized performance.
Each new production prompts a new round of reflection, conversation, and
occasionally controversy over whether these characterizations are sexist,
transphobic, dated or delightful. The musical adaptation of “Some Like It Hot,”
a 1959 movie starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe, promises
that the film’s plot and characters “have been updated for a modern audience,”
and one of its lead actors is nonbinary.
One long-running production is now rethinking its practice. Since 1996,
“Chicago” has featured a character, Mary Sunshine, played by a male soprano
dressed as a woman, whose wig is dramatically removed to reinforce the line,
“things are not always as they appear to be.” But the show has just posted a
notice inviting performers of “any gender identity” to audition for the role;
asked about the change, Barry Weissler, a lead producer, said: “Our collective
understanding of gender and the art of drag has evolved over the past two
decades. We updated our casting breakdown to reflect this.”
More...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/09/theater/comedy-gender-some-like-it-hot.html
***
At first glance, the Kinky Boots represent the fruits of two New Yorkers who
have made countless contributions to American literature, theater, music, and
film. The glittery, thigh-high, men’s boots worn in a theatrical production by
a cross-dressing character who vividly speak up for an often-misunderstood
community. They also represent one of New York City’s most vibrant industries.
Within the context of the musical, the boots symbolize a timely message of
tolerance and an appreciation for cultural and human differences. For
centuries, works of art have been analyzed for the light they can shed on the
cultures that produced them. As works of art and objects of material culture,
the boots offer an opportunity to reflect on contemporary debates about gender,
discrimination, and intolerance.
More...
https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/heels-history-sparkly-red-kinky-boots-tell-us-american-culture
***
The arrival in the West End in March of a stage musical version of the hit
Australian film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert will continue
that dialogue as three drag queens reinvent themselves as a family unit aboard
a tour bus.
Cross-dressing has lately been used to explore these matters, but the theatre
has always been about dressing up – not least for the very practical reason
that women were banned acting on the Greek and Shakespearean stage, forcing men
to play the women's roles.
Nowadays, of course, those prohibitions are long gone and women are laying
claim to men's roles. As Michael Billington has previously argued: "There
should be much more gender switching in the classics: not least because women
are otherwise excluded from great roles."
If such gender switches are to be welcomed, is it important for the actor to
share the sexuality of the role he or she is playing? Fierstein, for his part,
has fought to have gay men play Albin in La Cage. He says in a programme note
to the current production: "If you stand up and sing 'I Am What I Am'
without feeling your sexuality and your persecution right down to your painted
toenails, it's never going to be quite the same thing."
More...
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2008/nov/05/drag-hairspray-priscilla-wig-out
***
Booking is now open for La Cage Aux Folles, and the FM Theatre
Productions and Teatru Manoel co-production will continue the legacy in Malta
of this internationally acclaimed musical, which has won multiple Tony Awards
including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Musical Revival, as well
as a Laurence Olivier Award.
“We can’t wait to present La Cage Aux Folles at the Manoel
this October,” says FM Theatre Productions founder and managing director Edward
Mercieca. “This crowd-pleasing, rollicking and heart-warming musical about
family, commitment, show biz and drag is one of musical theatre’s all-time
biggest hits and is sure to become one of Malta’s as well.”
Based on the 1973 French play by Jean Poiret, La Cage Aux Folles tells
a funny and moving story that also served as inspiration for the much-loved
movie The Birdcage, starring Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.
After 20 years of partnered bliss, gay couple Georges and Albin run a drag
nightclub in Saint-Tropez, where Albin is the star performer known as Zaza.
When Georges’ son announces his impending marriage to the daughter of a
bigoted, ultra-conservative politician, M Dindon, Georges reluctantly agrees to
masquerade as ‘normal’ to meet the family of the bride-to-be – but Albin has
other plans, with hilarious results!
Featuring a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman,
the FM Theatre/Teatru Manoel production of La Cage Aux Folles boasts
an all-star cast including Mikhail Basmadjian as Georges, Ray Calleja as Albin
and Edward Mercieca as M Dindon. An equally impressive supporting cast features
Raphael Pace, Jasmine Farrugia, Francesco Nicodeme, Maria Eleonora Zammit,
Krista Zammit Marmara and Sean Borg, among many others. Meanwhile, FM’s
extraordinary creative team behind the production includes director Christopher
Gatt, musical director Kris Spiteri and choreographer Francesco Nicodeme, with
vocal coach Tina Frendo.
More...
https://www.indulge.com.mt/rollicking-musical-la-cage-aux-folles-to-dazzle-audiences-at-the-manoel/
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