“Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that…
Billed as an ‘Out-rageous Musical Revue,’ “Boys Will Be Boys” presented at the Studio Theater as part of the ongoing NYMF certainly lives up to its claim. Almost everything from concept, lyrics, characters, parodies and innuendos are completely over the top and as gay as one can possibly imagine. It is a fun romp very reminiscent in style to the…
“Dwight” is an ill-conceived new play about a group of unlikable LGBT friends (well, no one really knows Cash’s precise sexual status) who hang out in Cash’s BIN, recycle, create art from their recycled treasures, and grumble a lot, especially when Dwight is around – which is most of the time. They unfortunately mistake ex-gangbanger Lex as their enemy even…
All goes extremely well in David Koteles’ “After the Chairs” – his inventive reimagining/retelling of Ianesco’s “The Chairs” – until the otherwise well constructed play’s end. Marc (Allen Warnock) and his partner Richard (Don Cummings) are unique re-tellings of Ianesco’s Old Man and Old Woman. Here the couple is trapped in an absurdist cycle of caregiver-patient conversation that serves as…
“Her hair is Harlow gold, her lips sweet surprise / Her hands are never cold, she’s got Bette Davis eyes.” (Donna Weiss, Jackie DeShannon) Jessica Sherr has those Bette Davis eyes along with remarkable Davis lookalike hair and lips. This actor utilizes all of these assets to create a winning retrospective of Bette Davis’ personal life and career. The 1939…
“After the ball is over/After the break of morn After the dancers’ leaving/After the stars are gone Many a heart is aching/If you could read them all Many the hopes that have vanished/After the ball.” “After the Ball,” Charles K. Harris (1892) A group of brave and talented women left hearts aching after their performances: aching men’s hearts; aching women’s…
A slice of gay life or for that matter any selective lifestyle is the scenario that plays out in J. D. Cerna’s solo show “Not as Cute as Picture” taking the stage at the historic Duplex in Greenwich Village. Rather than the common coming out or coming of age drama this falls more into the finding myself category in which…
I have taught in urban high schools for the past eight years and have heard many stories from many students about being bullied and have been asked many important questions about coming out by LGBT students. One of the most touching queries came at an open house for middle school students trying to decide which high school to attend. After…
“Thus in silence in dreams’ projections, Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hospitals, The hurt and wounded I pacify with soothing hand, I sit by the restless all the dark night, some are so young, Some suffer so much, I recall the experience sweet and sad, (Many a soldier’s loving arms about this neck have cross’d and rested,…