Chicago – Pride Films and Plays Executive Director David Zak today announced the remaining productions in the company’s 2019-20 season – an eclectic mix of LGBTQIA+ themed plays and musicals that will include world, US, and Chicago premieres as well as revivals. Their season began earlier this month with the newly-revised version of the musical ALL THAT HE WAS by Larry Todd Cousineau and Cindy O’Connor, which opened to the press on Monday August 12 and has been extended through September 15; and the Chicago Premiere of CASA VALENTINA, Harvey Fierstein’s drama inspired by real-life incidents at a resort catering to cross-dressing heterosexual men on holiday, directed by Michael D. Graham, which will open on August 26. Previously announced was the heartwarming musical A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, created by the team that wrote RAGTIME and ANASTASIA: Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Terrence McNally. This production will be directed by Donterrio Johnson, with music direction by Jeff Award-winning Robert Ollis and will be performed on the Broadway stage, Pride Arts Center, from October 10 – November 10, 2019.
December will bring a new holiday musical penned by the ALL THAT HE WAS and FLIES! writing team of Cindy O’Connor and Larry Todd Cousineau. AMERICA’S BEST MISFIT TOY will imagine what later happened to the misfit toys rescued by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Donterrio Johnson will direct. AMERICA’S BEST MISFIT TOY will play on the Broadway stage, Pride Arts Center, from November 29 – January 12, 2020.
In January, Pride Films and Plays will join with The Arc Theatre for a co-production of STOP KISS by the American playwright Diana Son. It tells the story of two women, Sara and Callie, who are assaulted on the street after their first kiss. STOP KISS was first produced Off-Broadway in 1998 at The Public Theater in New York City. Kanomé Jones will direct the production to be performed on the Buena stage, Pride Arts Center, from January 16 to February 9, 2020.
STOP KISS will be followed in February with the U.S. Premiere of THE PASS, a play about homophobia in the world of British soccer that premiered in a 2014 London production that starred Russell Tovey. Donterrio Johnson will direct the production, which will play the Broadway stage, Pride Arts Center, in February and March 2020. Specific dates to be announced.
The season will conclude in April and May with the intergalactic gay extravaganza I PROMISED MYSELF TO LIVE FASTER, conceived and created by the Pig Iron Theatre Company of Philadelphia, with text by Gregory S. Moss. The play premiered at Philadelphia’s FringeArts Festival in 2015 and was included in that same year in the 39th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Kentucky. JD Caudill, director of Pride Films and Plays’s production of SOUTHERN COMFORT, will direct the production, set to play the Broadway stage, Pride Arts Center, in April and May 2020. Specific dates to be announced.
Another highlight of the season, in addition to the slate of full staged plays and musicals is the annual LEZFEST – the company’s annual a presentation and celebration of queer female and non-binary performance artists. To meet popular demand for this always-sold-out event, this year’s LEZFEST will be performed twice, with performances scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday October 22nd and 23rd at 7:30PM. The soon-to-be-announced lineup of performers will include singers, stand-up comedy, poetry reading, and burlesque.
Beyond LEZFEST and STOP KISS, additional female-centric program are in development for the spring and summer schedules.
A full slate of production for summer 2020 is in planning stages and will be announced later.
NEW ARTISTIC ASSOCIATES
Executive Director David G. Zak has announced the addition of Donterrio Johnson, Michael D. Graham, Topher Leon, JD Caudill and Larry Todd Cousineau as Artistic Associates of Pride Films and Plays, joining Robert Ollis, who continues as an Artistic Associate.
LISTING INFORMATION
ALL THAT HE WAS
Book and Lyrics by Larry Todd (Johnson) Cousineau, Music by Cindy O’Connor
Directed by Larry Todd Cousineau
Music Direction by Cody Bradley
August 10 – September 15, 2019
Previews Saturday August 10 at 8:00 pm and Sunday August 11 at 5:00 pm
PRESS OPENING – Monday August 12 at 8:00 pm
Regular performances Thursdays – Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Sundays at 5:00 pm. Special “industry night” performance on Monday, August 19 at 8:00 pm.
The Buena, Pride Arts Center
4147 N. Broadway
Tickets are $40 premium reserved seats, $30 general reserved seats, $25 students and seniors (not valid Saturdays)
With music by Cindy O’Connor and book and lyrics by Larry Todd (Johnson) Cousineau, this winner of the National Playwright’s Award and the ACTF Musical Theatre Award is a moving and surprisingly funny account of one man’s struggle with AIDS and the reverberations of his death. The deceased functions as host and narrator, invisible among the friends and family assembled to pay him final respects. Hoping for a day when the shattered pieces of his life can come together, he leads them on a journey of shared reminiscences.
CASA VALENTINA
By Harvey Fierstein
CHICAGO PREMIERE
Directed by Michael Graham
August 22 – September 29, 2019
Previews Thursday August 22 through Saturday August 24 at 7:30 pm and Sunday August 25 at 5 pm
Press Opening Monday August 26 at 7:30 pm
Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 5 pm.
Ticket prices: $40 premium reserved seats, $30 general reserved seats, $25 students and seniors (not valid Saturdays)
The Broadway, Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago
Tickets available by phone at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or online at www.pridefilmsandplays.com
CASA VALENTINA is an inconspicuous bungalow colony in New York’s Catskill Mountains that caters to a very special clientele: heterosexual men who delight in dressing and acting as women. These white-collar professionals discreetly escape their families to spend their weekends safely inhabiting their chosen female alter-egos. But given the opportunity to share their secret lives with the world, the members of this sorority must decide whether the freedom gained by openness is worth the risk of personal ruin. Based on real events and infused with Fierstein’s trademark wit, this moving, insightful, and delightfully entertaining work offers a glimpse into the lives of a group of “self-made women” as they search for acceptance and happiness in their very own Garden of Eden.
A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
Music by Stephen Flaherty, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, Book by Terrence McNally
Directed by Donterrio Johnson
Music Direction by Robert Ollis
October 10 – November 10, 2019
Previews Thursday October 10 – Saturday October 12 at 7:30 pm, Sunday October 13 at 2:30 pm
Press Opening Monday October 14 at 7:30 pm
Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 2:30 pm
Ticket prices: $40 premium reserved seats, $30 general reserved seats, $25 students and seniors (not valid Saturdays)
The Broadway, Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago
Tickets available by phone at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or online at www.pridefilmsandplays.com
A musical adaptation by the Tony Award-winning writers of RAGTIME and ANASTASIA of the 1994 film that starred Albert Finney. Alfie Byrne is a bus conductor in 1964 Dublin whose heart holds secrets that he can’t share with anyone but his imagined confidante, Oscar Wilde. When he attempts to present an amateur production of Wilde’s SALOME in the local church hall, he must face the forces of bigotry and shame over a love “that dare not speak its name.” But the redemptive power of theatre changes his life and gains him the support of his true friends.
LEZFEST
Tuesday October 22 and Wednesday October 23 at 7:30 pm each night
Pride Arts Center – The Broadway, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago
All seats $11.00. Proceeds will fund future programming by, for, and about our queer community.
Tickets available by phone at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or online at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe.c/10348755
LEZFEST, the popular and ever-evolving interdisciplinary program of performance by queer female and non-binary artists. Performances will cover an eclectic range of disciplines ranging from poetry reading to burlesque, with musical performances and stand-up comedy in between.
AMERICA’S BEST MISFIT TOY
Book and Lyrics by Larry Todd Cousineau
Music by Cindy O’Connor
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by Donterrio Johnson
November 29 – January 12, 2019
Previews Thursday November 29 – Monday December 2
Press Opening Tuesday December 3
Ticket prices: $40 premium reserved seats, $30 general reserved seats, $25 students and seniors (not valid Saturdays)
The Broadway, Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago
Tickets available by phone at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or online at www.pridefilmsandplays.com
A holiday reality show musical. We all know the story of the misfit toys and how they were rescued from their island by Rudolph (may he rest in peace) and some other long-forgotten creatures. But what became of the misfit toys when they came back to America? They became huge celebrities, of course! Now, years later, they return to the island to compete in a series of challenges where they must sing, model, design fashion, outwit/outplay/outlast and bake cakes, and of course, dance for their lives, all to prove that they are AMERICA’S BEST or FAVORITE, or LEAST OBJECTIONABLE, or something! And you, the audience, actually determine the results with your vote, meaning every night can be a whole new show!
STOP KISS
By Diana Son
Directed by Kanomé Jones
Co-Production with The Arc Theatre
January 16 – February 9, 2020
Preview Wednesday January 15, 2020
Press Opening Thursday January 16, 2020
Regular Run: January 16 – February 9, 2020; Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 5 pm, Mondays January 27 and February 3 at 7:30 pm
Ticket prices: $40 premium reserved seats, $30 general reserved seats, $25 students and seniors (not valid Saturdays)
The Buena, Pride Arts Center, 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago
Tickets available by phone at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or online at www.pridefilmsandplays.com
Sara and Callie are walking through New York City’s West Village very late at night, when they share their first kiss. This leads to a vicious attack by an angry bystander that transforms their lives in a way they could never anticipate. VARIETY called it “A poignant and funny play about the ways ,both sudden and slow, that lives can change irrevocably.”
THE PASS
By John Donnelly
U.S. PREMIERE
Directed by Donterrio Johnson
February – March 2020
The Broadway, Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago
Ticket prices: $40 premium reserved seats, $30 general reserved seats, $25 students and seniors (not valid Saturdays)
Tickets available by phone at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or online at www.pridefilmsandplays.com
Set in three hotel rooms over a span of 12 years, THE PASS follows the fortunes of the ambitious soccer player Jason. We first see him as a 17-year-old sharing a room in Bulgaria with his team-mate, Ade, on the eve of a big match, and there is something about their horseplay that implies a longing for deeper physical contact. Seven years on, Jason is a star and, although now married with kids, feels the need to quell rumors about his sexuality. By the last section, Jason is a 29-year-old legend who may have won football’s golden fleece but has sacrificed private fulfilment to international fame.
I PROMISED MYSELF TO LIVE FASTER
Conceived and Created by Pig Iron Theatre Company
Text by Gregory S. Moss and Pig Iron
CHICAGO PREMIERE
Directed by JD Caudill
April -May 2020
The Broadway, Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago
Ticket prices: $40 premium reserved seats, $30 general reserved seats, $25 students and seniors (not valid Saturdays)
Tickets available by phone at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or online at www.pridefilmsandplays.com
I PROMISED MYSELF TO LIVE FASTER is an intergalactic gay extravaganza featuring closeted extraterrestrials, high-stakes pursuits, and nuns from outer space. In this wild work, Tim’s out trolling for a good time when an order of intergalactic nuns charge him with a quest: retrieve the Holy Gay Flame from the clutches of the evil emperor to save the race of Homosexuals and restore the balance of power in the universe. But when he’s captured by the fabulously androgynous Ah-Ni, Tim’s chances look bleak. Ridiculous and delirious, this epic extravaganza of allegorical adventure redefines the search for identity for homosexuals circa 2015. This piece is recommended for mature audiences.
BIOS
Cindy O’Connor (composer, ALL THAT HE WAS and AMERICA’S BEST MISFIT TOY) and Larry Todd (Johnson) Cousineau (bookwriter/lyricist and director, ALL THAT HE WAS and AMERICA’S BEST MISFIT TOY) have a long history together. Most recently, their musical comedy FLIES! THE MUSICAL!, a hit at Pride Arts Center in 2018, was nominated for a Jeff Award for Best New Musical. Their other works include 40 IS THE NEW 15, which had a critically acclaimed run at the NoHo Arts Center in Los Angeles, receiving Best New Musical award from Stagescene LA and a GLAAD Media Award Nomination for Outstanding Los Angeles Theatre. Several of their songs have been featured in concerts by the Gay Men’s Choruses of Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. O’Connor was nominated in 2018 for an Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score) Emmy for her work on ONCE UPON A TIME (ABC). Her other credits include CRASH (Starz), DOLPHIN TALE, and FORGIVING THE FRANKLINS (Sundance). Cousineau’s writing has been featured in animated series including YIN, YANG, YO! (Disney), THE NEW CARE BEARS, and ANGELA ANACONDA. His SONGS FROM MY CLOSET cabaret series is an annual hit previously at Uptown Underground and now at Mary’s Attic. Larry was recently named an Artistic Associate of Pride Films and Plays.
Harvey Fierstein (playwright, CASA VALENTINA) won two Tony Awards for TORCH SONG TRILOGY (Best Play, Best Actor). He has also written the Tony-winning hit, KINKY BOOTS (now playing on four continents), as well as LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (Tony and Drama Desk Awards), Newsies (Tony nominated), CASA VALENTINA (Tony nominated), A CATERED AFFAIR (12 Drama Desk nominations), SAFE SEX (Ace Award), LEGS DIAMOND, SPOOKHOUSE, FLATBUSH TOSCA, COMMON GROUND and more.
Michael D, Graham (Director, CASA VALENTINA) returns to PFP after previously directing HOLDING THE MAN and TEN DOLLAR HOUSE. His work as a director has been seen at Piccolo Theatre (where he is the Artistic Director), Halcyon Theatre, Hubris Productions, the side project, Act One Studios, and Appetite Theatre among others.
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Lyricist and Composer, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE) are considered the foremost theatrical writing team of their generation and are members of the Theater Hall of Fame. They won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for RAGTIME, and were nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes for ANASTASIA, Twentieth Century Fox’s animated feature film. Anastasia was a long running hit on Broadway and is now touring in Europe and the United States. Last season, their ONCE ON THIS ISLAND won Broadway’s 2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. In 2019, Ahrens and Flaherty were nominated for their fourth Grammy Award, as well as for the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame. Other theatre credits include SEUSSICAL (one of the most produced shows in America); ROCKY; MY FAVORITE YEAR; CHITA RIVERA-THE DANCER’S LIFE; DESSA ROSE; A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE; THE GLORIOUS ONES; LUCKY STIFF and two upcoming shows, KNOXVILLE and MARIE.
Terrence McNally (Bookwriter, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE). McNally’s far-ranging works include landmark plays such as MASTER CLASS, LOVE! VALOR! COMPASSION!, and FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIRE DE LUNE – plays that celebrate men and women—biographical and fictional, gay and straight—who embrace life’s possibilities in all their ridiculous and painful glory. He has contributed the books of ground-breaking musicals such as KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, RAGTIME, and THE VISIT, that challenge notions of race, class, and sexuality. In the world of opera, he has created the librettos for the poignant DEAD MAN WALKING and the upcoming GREAT SCOTT at the Dallas Opera. Some of his other plays and musicals include THE RITZ, THE RINK, THE FULL MONTY, DEUCE, CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, MOTHERS AND SONS, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, THE LISBON TRAVIATA, LIPS TOGETHER, TEETH APART; CORPUS CHRISTI, A PERFECT GANESH and ANASTASIA. Pride Films and Plays produced McNally’s SOME MEN in 2014 and IT’S ONLY A PLAY in 2018.
By the time he won the 1993 Tony for Best Book of a Musical for KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN (the first of four Tony awards), Mr. McNally was already a recipient of multiple Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel, and Obie Awards. He was inducted to the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1996 and has been honored by numerous organizations for his ongoing contributions to the theatre.
Donterrio Johnson (Director, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, AMERICA’S BEST MISFIT TOY, THE PASS) was director of Pride Films and Plays 2019 production of BUYER AND CELLAR by Jonathan Tolins. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for intricate storytelling that is thought-provoking and modernistic, Donterrio Johnson has created some incredible art as both actor and director over the past 15 years. He was a Jeff Award-winner for his Judas Iscariot in JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR with Theo Ubique and has earned raves for his Dan in NEXT TO NORMAL and his Caldwell B. Cladwell in URINETOWN, both with BoHo Theatre. He has also appeared in the Chicago cast of SPAMILTON and as Leading Player in PIPPIN at Mercury Theater and recently returned from a year-long stint in the National Tour of WAITRESS. Johnson’s notable directing credits include: THE COLORED MUSEUM, 101 DALMATIANS , EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES WILLY WONKA, LAST FIVE YEARS, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS AND THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE. Donterrio has worked with companies such as Pulse Theatre Company, Prisco Center, and The REPA Center.
Robert Ollis (Music Director, A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE) is an Artistic Associate of Pride Films & Plays and served as Music Director for PFP’s productions of SOUTHERN COMFORT, YANK!: A WW II LOVE STORY, THE NANCE, PRISCILLA: QUEEN OF THE DESERT, THE BOY FROM OZ, SONGS FROM AN UNMADE BED, A HISTORY OF SUMMER and THE BOOK OF MERMAN, plus the premiere of Leo Schwartz’s award-winning UNDER A RAINBOW FLAG. He served as Music Director for Underscore Theatre’s recent musical HAYMARKET: A NEW FOLK MUSICAL for which he earned a Jeff Award nomination. Robert received a Jeff Award for musical direction of KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, plus nominations for five other shows. Robert is the music director and co-creator of JUDY AND LIZA: THE LONDON PALLADIUM CONCERT — A TRIBUTE and accompanies other notable cabaret performers in New York City and Chicago venues.
Diana Son (Playwright, STOP KISS) is the author of the plays STOP KISS, SATELLITES, BOY, R.A.W. (‘CAUSE I’M A WOMAN) and others. Stop Kiss and Satellites premiered at the Public Theater in NYC. STOP KISS won the GLAAD Media Award for Best New York Production and Ms. Son won the Berilla Kerr Award for playwriting. STOP KISS has been produced at hundreds of theatres regionally and abroad. Her works have been produced at La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Woolly Mammoth and others. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three sons.
Kanomé Jones (Director, STOP KISS) works in Chicago as a director and casting director. She is the Casting & Producing Associate at Victory Gardens Theater and the Associate Producer for Midsommer Flight. Recent Directing Credits include: PLAINCLOTHES (Co-Director w/Spenser Davis, Broken Nose Theater), SHE KILLS MONSTERS (Aurora University), KINGDOM (World Premiere, Broken Nose Theater). Assistant Directing Credits include: MANSFIELD PARK (Northlight Theatre, dir. Stuart Carden), RADIO GOLF (Court Theater, dir. Ron OJ Parson), and INSURRECTION: HOLDING HISTORY (Stage Left Theater, dir. Wardell Julius Clark). She has cast shows with several companies including Strawdog Theater, Raven Theatre, City Lit Theater, Midsommer Flight & Waltzing Mechanics. Kanomé is an alum of the apprenticeship program at Actors Theatre of Louisville and holds a BFA in Acting from Missouri State University.
John Donnelly (Playwright, THE PASS) is a British playwright whose plays, in addition to THE PASS, include THE KNOWLEDGE, and a version of THE SEAGULL by Anton Chekhov. His play THE KNOWLEDGE was TIME OUT London’s best play of 2011. Other writing includes BURNING BIRD, SONGS OF GRACE AND REDEMPTION, and CONVERSATION #1 and many works for British television.
Gregory S. Moss (Playwright, I PROMISED MYSELF TO LIVE FASTER) is a writer, educator and performer from Newburyport MA. His work has been produced at Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep, Steppenwolf, La Comédie-Française, EST-LA, Clubbed Thumb, Capital T Theatre and South Coast Rep, among others. His plays include INDIAN SUMMER, PUNKPLAY, REUNION, BILLY WITCH, HOUSE OF GOLD AND SIXSIXSIX.
JD Caudill (Director, I PROMISED MYSELF TO LIVE FASTER) is a queer director, music director, and performer whose work offers images of hope and beauty to queer audiences, while helping non-queer audiences better understand our experiences. They’ve directed for Pride Films and Plays (SOUTHERN COMFORT), Broken Nose Theatre (BECHDEL FEST 4-6), Haven Theatre (JANE DOE 232 in Director’s Haven 2015), Stage Left (CERCLE HERMAPHRODITOS), The New Colony (FACE THE DAY; PREFER NOT TO ANSWER, OR OTHER), The Runaways Lab Theatre (DDADIS 2015-2018), 16th Street Theatre (MERCHILD at Center on Halsted), The Syndicates, New American Folk Theatre, Hobo Junction, 20% Theatre, Paragon Theatre, Otherworld Theatre, Arc Theatre, and Red Theatre. They’ve music directed FLIES! at Pride Films and Plays, STANLEY IN THE NAME OF LOVE at The New Colony, and six fabulous shows with Hell in a Handbag Productions. They’ve even been onstage with New American Folk Theatre (SCRAPS), Interrobang Theatre Project (WHITE RABBIT, RED RABBIT), The New Colony (DISPLAYED), and Hobo Junction. They are the literary manager of Broken Nose Theatre, an ensemble member of Hell in a Handbag Productions, an artistic associate of Pride Films and Plays, and the former marketing director of Haven Theatre. JD graduated from Bowling Green State University, where they studied directing, musical theatre performance, and research psychology.
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