GayFest! Comes to Philadelphia, Now thru 8/23

August is looking very gay in Philadelphia with the fourth annual GayFest! - a festival of LGBT theater presented by Quince Productions at Plays & Players and two spaces in the Adrienne Theatre. This year's festival, today, August 5-23 at various theaters in Philadelphia, is bigger than ever, with three special events, four mainstage plays, and five one-night stands (of the theatrical variety, that is!).

The Four Mainstage Plays:
The Haunted Host by Robert Patrick. The 50th Anniversary production of America's first gay play, with laughs galore as Jay, a 1964 Greenwich Village queen, gets a surprise visit from sexy, straight (or is he?) Frank.

Some Are People by Kathleen Warnock, a Philadelphia premiere, presents Tommy (aka the drag queen Miss Fitt) and his lesbian landlady/friend Anna, two Provincetown residents. How are their lives changed by a mysterious young woman who drifts into town like so many "summer people"?

You Know My Name: A Daniel Talbott Trio by Daniel Talbott shows three Philadelphia/world premieres by this major New York playwright . A cross-dressing teen and the kid bullying him discover some truths. Two men (one naked) who meet in a public space discover the meaning of connection. Two brothers-one straight, one gay-uncover some dark family secrets from beyond the grave. Like nothing you'll see this year!

Next Fall by Geoffrey Nauffts, is the Philadelphia premiere of the recent Broadway hit, a comedy-drama about faith, relationships, and coming out.

Special Events
GayFest! opens with a two-night performance (August 5-6) of Head Over Heels. New York-based dance company The Bang Group returns to open GayFest! after their triumphant appearance at GayFest! 2012 with "Misters and Sisters." Their new show, in typically hilarious Bang Group fashion, presents an amalgam of influences from gay culture and street dance to MGM musicals.

Week 2 sees a special one-night only benefit for GayFest! and Equality PA: Standing On Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays a series of short plays by famous playwrights on the subject of same-sex marriage.

Week 3's special event is the international hit show Confessions of a Mormon Boy Steven Fales' one-man, which has wowed audiences from off-Broadway to London, Dublin, and Edinburgh. Before The Book of Mormon there was a Mormon Boy!

In addition to the runs of the four plays and weekly special events, Quince will also present a series of five one-night stands at Plays & Players - evenings devoted to a wild variety of presentations showcasing the diversity within the LGBT community. The one-night stand series kicks off on Monday, August 11 with The Homo Poe Show, presented by Baltimore's Iron Crow Theatre. Madness! Ghosts! Sexy lesbian plumbers! An evening of bizarre, funny, and moving pieces inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe. Other notable one-night stands include R. Eric Thomas in Always the Bridesmaid, this renowned storyteller's well-loved one-man show, Rachel Tension in Karma Came Round a witchy celebration of love and life lessons told with hip hop and tarot cards, and Thomas-Robert Irvin in One's Self I Sing , a staged reading of Tim Martin's one-man show about Walt Whitman.

Too many shows to choose between? Multi-show or all-festival passes let you see everything at huge discounts.

Tickets, calendar, and information: www.quinceproductions.com. For information, 215-627-1088.

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