Cast Announced for Live Online Reading Of THE LAST SUNDAY IN JUNE

Jonathan Tolins' look at gay life in the 1990s - THE LAST SUNDAY IN JUNE - will be performed via Zoom by a cast of socially-distanced actors on the actual last Sunday of June 2020 - the day on which Chicago's Pride Parade was set to take place before its cancellation due to the city and state's COVID-19 restrictions prohibiting large gatherings. Michael Rashid, an ensemble member of Hell in a Handbag, will direct.

The reading, part of the Pride Films and Plays "Pride in Place" live online play readings, will begin at 7 pm on Sunday, June 28. Tickets are $10.00 per virtual "seat" and are on sale now at www.pridearts.org. Pride Films and Plays Executive Director David Zak says, "we hope this will help compensate to some degree for the loss we'll feel since we won't be able to celebrate together as a community."

Rashid's cast will include a mix of Chicago favorites and new faces. Danny Bernardo, whose Chicago stage career included roles at the Goodman, Victory Gardens, About Face, Silk Road Rising, The House, and The Gift before his move to Los Angeles several years ago, will "return" to Chicago virtually via Zoom for the reading. Bernardo will play James, an ex-boyfriend of one of the party hosts, who comes to the party to announce his intention to marry a woman. Hosts Tom and Michael will be played by Gary Henderson (of THE BOYS NEXT DOOR with Pride Films and Plays) and stand-up comedian Ron Popp. Their middle-aged, opera loving friend Charles will be played by Michael Kingston, seen this past year in WORKING with Theo Ubique and MIRACLE THE MUSICAL at the Royal George Theatre. The youngest guest of the party – the recent college graduate Joe, who is savoring the gay lifestyle of New York City - will be played by Christopher Sylvie, seen recently in BACK IN THE DAY with Urban Theatre Company) and BARNEY THE ELF with Pride Films and Plays.

Ethan Warren (of ALL THAT HE WAS with Pride Films and Plays and DEAD MAN WALKING with Lyric Opera) will play the hunky Scott, and Jamal Howard will play the acerbic Brad. The Los Angeles-based Leslie Connelly will play James' intended wife, Susan. Michelle X Taylor, whose one-woman show, FOR THE DIVA IN YOU played the Gorilla Tango Theatre, will narrate.

Michael Rashid (Director) is an actor, director, and playwright; and an ensemble member at Hell in a Handbag. He holds a BA in Theatre Performance from Western Michigan University and MFA in Acting from West Virginia University. Favorite directing credits include GROSS INDECENCY, NEVER THE SINNER, and OUR LEADING LADY. (Click on image to access high res file.)

THE LAST SUNDAY IN JUNE was first produced in 2003 by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, a New City company that has introduced plays by such important contemporary playwrights as Annie Baker, Craig Lucas, Adam Rapp, and Craig Wright. THE NEW YORK TIMES called it a "smart, timely and funny play..." that intends "to push the 'gay' play forward into its next generation of concerns."

Following THE LAST SUNDAY IN JUNE in the "Pride in Place" series will be UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN REMAINS AND THE TRUE NATURE OF LOVE by Brad Fraser, directed by Jacob Van Hoorn. This provocative political comedy from Canada will be performed Wednesday, July 1 at 7 pm.

Ticket price for each reading is $10.00. Tickets are available at Pride Films and Plays.org or by phone at 773-857-0222.

 

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