Playwright Oscar Wilde had the opportunity to escape with his younger male lover and avoid the indecency charges that eventually imprisoned and destroyed him. Why Wilde did not take that chance is explored in David Hare’s drama “The Judas Kiss,” opening May 12 at Actor’s Express.
Author of such classics as “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “The Importance of Being Earnest,” Wilde was one of London’s most popular writers in the 1890s. But imprisoned for two years for “the love that dare not speak its name,” Wilde never recovered his stature or spirit and died at age 46.
Making its Atlanta debut, this production of “The Judas Kiss” features two gay actors in the lead roles — Freddie Ashley (returning to acting after seven years) and Clifton Guterman — as well as a gay director, David Crowe. Ashley plays Wilde and Guterman stars as his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, nicknamed Bosie.
Stage comedy highlights gay look on vampire mythology
One of the most controversial features at the recent Sundance Film Festival was the gay-themed thriller “Red State.” The film’s director, Kevin Smith, brings his “Red State, U.S.A.” tour to the Cobb Energy Centre for a March 29 screening and question-and-answer session.
In the film, which follows a traditional horror movie plot, three teenagers discover an ad on the Internet from an older woman looking for sex and decide to answer it. What they find, instead, in the woods where they agree to meet is a family using various techniques to lure in unsuspecting young men they believe to be sinners; they often target gays as part of their crusading.
Jonathan Gordon, the film’s producer, says “Red State” is inspired loosely by Pastor Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church, the type of people who “say God’s word is the only word and picket funerals.”
Gay playwright Tennessee Williams would have been 100 years old this month. Just in time to honor that milestone comes the play “Confessions of a Nightingale.” It’s directed by Patrick McColery and stars Sid Shier, both of whom are gay.
The play, based on Charlotte Chandler’s interviews with Williams for the book “Ultimate Seduction,” takes places in 1983 near the end of Williams’ life. According to Shier, it’s basically a conversation with the audience about Williams’ life, his relationships (Williams never hid the fact that he was gay) and his career, including his successes and failures.
“He was very complex,” says the actor, who shares the common sentiment that most of Williams’ great work was done early in his career.
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Actor’s Express, the gay-inclusive Atlanta-based theater company, is in danger of closing its doors unless the company can come up with significant cash by the end of this month.
Artistic Director Freddie Ashley, who is gay, sent out an email last week explaining the situation the company faces. “Our theatre is at a critical juncture — a true life or death moment. As you know from our many recent calls for support, we are fighting to make it through an extraordinarily difficult time for the arts in Atlanta. Decreased discretionary spending and a reduction in philanthropic support have dramatically impacted our revenues.
“Our staff and board have worked tirelessly to do more with less — cutting our spending while continuing to present works of the highest quality and importance. In spite of our efforts, though, we are faced with an impending deficit that quite literally threatens our existence,” the email explained.
It’s an iconic image: 17 eager dancers on a bare stage auditioning to get a role in an upcoming musical. “A Chorus Line” — the longest running American Broadway musical ever and winner of nine Tony awards — is about to return to Atlanta as part of the Gas South Broadway Series, with openly gay actor Paul Flanagan in the cast.
Flanagan stars as Al in the musical. Al is 30 years old, from the Bronx, and a very experienced dancer who is in the audition with his wife, Christine. “He is ready to settle down and is at the audition to settle down Christine,” he says.
The actor has been in “A Chorus Line” once before, back in a Hilton Head production when he was 20. He started with this tour back in the fall and will be with it until the late spring, when the tour goes international in Tokyo.
Actor's Express, one of several Atlanta theater organizations known for producing gay and gay-favorite plays and musicals, is in dire need of financial support, according to an e-mail sent out today by Artistic Director Freddie Ashley.
“Our theatre is at a critical juncture — a true life or death moment,” Ashley, who is gay, says in the e-mail. “As you know from our many recent calls for support, we are fighting to make it through an extraordinarily difficult time for the arts in Atlanta.”
Ashley says in order to save Actor's Express, the organization must raise $50,000 in four weeks and $150,000 in the next four months.
Atlanta offers up plenty of gay-friendly theater options today