Music Theatre of Connecticut Announces PRIDE IN THE THEATRE Featuring Joanna Gleason and More

Music Theatre of Connecticut has announced PRIDE IN THE THEATRE: The Theatrical Impact on the LGBTQ+ Movement, an online event premiering Saturday, June 20th, 2020 at 8:00pm. June has long been celebrated as Pride Month, but with the current state of the country, many of the local pride celebrations have either been canceled or postponed until a later date. MTC will do its best to fill this void with an inspiring, empowering, and educational, musical event.

PRIDE IN THE THEATRE will be comprised of three chronological segments centered around major events in LGBTQ+ history. These include Stonewall through the 1980s, the AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s, and civil rights and marriage equality in the 2000s to present day. Songs, scenes, and monologues will paint the picture for how theatre reflected the social climate of the time, followed by interviews with LGBTQ+ activists and/or significant contributors to the movement on the local or national scene. Songs, scenes, and monologues featured range from a variety of shows including Falsettos, La Cage aux Folles, Fun Home, A Chorus Line, A Letter to Harvey Milk, The Prom, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Boys in the Band, Mothers and Sons, The Normal Heart, The Inheritance, and Torch Song Trilogy.

Performers include Broadway actors Raissa Katona Bennett (Phantom of the Opera), Kirsti Carnahan (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Nicolas Dromard (Jersey Boys), Amy Griffin (How The Grinch Stole Christmas), Jeff Gurner (The Lion King), Logan Hart (Jagged Little Pill), Dennis Holland (The Music Man), Eric Scott Kincaid (CATS), Juliet Lambert Pratt (Les Miserables), Greg Roderick (South Pacific), as well as Christian Cardozo (SToNC- Carousel), Elissa DeMaria (Live Arts Maryland- Kiss Me Kate), Andrew Foote (Nat'l Tour- Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical), Jim Schilling (Hamlet with Tony Roberts), Jack Parrotta (MTC/Boston Conservatory student) and special guest Joanna Gleason (B'way- Tony Award - Into The Woods, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Nick & Nora).

The evening will also feature interviews with Nationally recognized LGBTQ+ advocates and pundits Jonathan Lovitz (National President LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, On-Air Consultant for MSNBC, NBC, CNN) and Dr. Gary Blick (Internationally recognized AIDS expert).

PRIDE IN THE THEATRE: The Theatrical Impact on the LGBTQ+ Movement can be viewed for free on www.musictheatreofct.com and on MTC's Facebook Page. For more about the event, including information on the performers and speakers, please visit www.musictheatreofct.com/prideinthetheatre.