With a world premiere musical, several plays nominated for Tony’s, and a number of campy delights, Atlanta’s spring theater season promises a lot for LGBT audiences.
Lesbian director Sheri Sutton is helming one of the most anticipated productions – Tony-nominated musical “Xanadu” by Douglas Carter Beane at Actor’s Express. It’s a goofy show based on the Olivia Newton John musical from 1980, where an Australian Greek muse comes to help a young man open a disco. One of its stars is openly gay actor Craig Waldrip and some of the campy moments are, fittingly, on skates.
Also at the Express is Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Tony-nominated comedy drama “The Motherf***er With the Hat,” just on Broadway with Chris Rock and Bobby Canavale. Centering on the relationship between a long-time couple in and out of rehab, it is directed by openly gay Actor’s Express artistic director Freddie Ashley. According to Ashley, the drama was not in the company’s original 2011-2012 season but when “The Night of the Iguana” fell out he jumped to do this instead.