Learn more about the lineup here!
Out Front Theatre Company - Georgia's professional, award-winning, and only LGBTQIA+ theatre company, has revealed the lineup for its 2023/24 season. The company's eighth season will feature the homecoming of a beloved musical, impactful Southeastern premieres, and exciting camp comedy fun for all audiences.
"Every season we strive to produce the best queer focused shows to ensure we have a wide range of thought-provoking works and entertainment that let audiences both think and escape," says Founder & Producing Artistic Director Paul Conroy. "This season I'm excited that we're running the gamut from a play written by one of queer theatre's most legendary authors to contemporary writers that are pushing the boundaries with their work. The five shows making up our eighth season truly offer something for everyone, and I know that audiences will connect with each and every one of them."
Out Front's 2023/24 season will open with THE PROM, with book & lyrics by Chad Beguelin, book by Bob Martin, and music by Matthew Sklar. THE PROM follows four eccentric Broadway actors lamenting their days of fame, as they travel to the conservative town of Edgewater, Indiana, to help a high-school student banned from bringing her girlfriend to prom. THE PROM will run October 26 - November 11, 2023.
THE PROM had its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre back in 2016, and its staging at Out Front serves as a celebratory homecoming. "It is exhilarating to have The Prom return to its hometown roots here in Atlanta," says Conroy. "The show has warmed hearts and widened smiles across the country for the past seven years, including a hit, Tony Award-nominated run on Broadway. Now Atlanta audiences can get ready to sing and dance again with a truly feel-good musical that we all need and want right now!"
For the holiday season, Out Front will present the Southeastern Premiere of SNOWGIRLS - THE MUSICAL, with book by Derek Van Barham and music by David Cerda with Scott Lamberty and Jeff Thomson. A parody of the cult-classic film SHOWGIRLS, SNOWGIRLS - THE MUSICAL follows Snowmi Malone, a rebel who dreams of becoming a dancer. Her quest leads her to the cold cruel world of the North Pole, where she'll stop at nothing to fulfill her fantasy. SNOWGIRLS explores what happens at the North Pole the other 364 days of the year - and it isn't always pretty. This campy, holiday extravaganza will run December 7-17, 2023.
Kicking off 2024, Out Front will produce the Georgia Premiere of AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN by Terry Guest. AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN is a one-act play about Blackness, southern queerness, and the fine art of drag. From African Gods and Goddesses to Trina and Whitney Houston, this play thoughtfully uses storytelling, drama and drag to explore identity, illness, and the narratives we construct for ourselves. Come party at the wake. Bring your own heels! AT THE WAKE OF A DEAD DRAG QUEEN will run February 1-17, 2024.
"I wrote At The Wake of a Dead Drag Queen to honor my uncle Anthony," says playwright Terry Guest. "He was the only openly queer person that I knew growing up and when he died (from complications due to AIDS) I was left confused. And devastated. And angry. I knew then that I wanted to create something to honor him. 10 years later, I had a fun, gay, imaginative little play and this little play has saved my life in more ways than one. I am beyond excited to bring it home and to share it with the Georgia queer community! Let's go girls."
Out Front will then stage THE GULF by Audrey Cefaly. On a quiet summer evening, somewhere down in the Alabama Delta, Kendra and Betty troll the flats looking for redfish. After Betty begins diagnosing Kendra's dead-end life, their routine fishing excursion takes a violent turn. THE GULF won the 40th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival and was extended into a full-length play. This Southeastern Premiere will run March 14-30, 2024.
Finally, Out Front will close its season with the cult-classic PSYCHO BEACH PARTY by Charles Busch. PSYCHO BEACH PARTY follows Chicklet Forrest, a teenage tomboy, desperately wanting to be part of the surf crowd on Malibu Beach in 1962. One thing getting in her way is her unfortunate tendency towards split personalities. Her most dangerous alter ego is a sexually voracious vixen named Ann Bowman who has nothing less than world domination on her mind. Beach party epics and Hitchcockian thrillers collide when PSYCHO BEACH PARTY runs May 2-18, 2024.
"Psycho Beach Party has long been on my list to bring to the Out Front stage," says Conroy. "Written by a true legend of groundbreaking queer theatre, Charles Busch, Psycho Beach has a very personal connection with me as well. It is the very first queer focused show that I worked on over 20 years ago while living in Boston. It was a juggernaut of success and fun and lead to my first participation in a Pride parade celebration. Sentimentality aside, this show is campy, sexy, silly and a perfect way to end our season and kick off summer."
Season memberships and single tickets to Out Front's eighth season will go on sale July 1st. Please visit www.OutFrontTheatre.com for more information.
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