Pride Films & Plays to Feature the Work of Terrence McNally This Fall

Pride Films & Plays, an international network of writers and professionals working in film and theater, announces that its next reading series will feature THE GREAT PLAYS OF Terrence McNally, a survey of his works written between 1975 and 2006. Beginning Sunday, August 29 and running through Sunday, October 24, tickets for all performances are $10, with $5 tickets for students and film and theater industry members. The August and October readings are at 7 p.m. at Stage 773, 1225 West Belmont.

The September readings are at 6 p.m. at Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark Street. For tickets, call Brown Paper Tickets, 1800 838 3006 or online at www.brownpapertickets.com.

One of the most beloved and important American dramatists of the last 50 years, Terrence McNally has written many works with GLBTQ themes that have had an impact on our cultural identity. From his early off-Broadway successes through his prolific list of major works such as The Lisbon Traviata (1989), Master Class (2006), his books for classic musicals Kiss of the Spider Woman (1992), Ragtime (1996), The Full Monty (2000), and the opera Dead Man Walking (2000) McNally stands as a giant in America's literary heritage. In THE GREAT PLAYS OF Terrence McNally, Pride Films & Plays present the Chicago premiere of Some Men, and revisit Corpus Christi; The Lisbon Traviata; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Lips Together, Teeth Apart and conclude with The Ritz, featuring Alexandra Billings.

The schedule is as follows:

Chicago Premiere
Some Men
directed by Andrew Souders
Sunday, August 29, at 7 p.m.
Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont
Hosted by Scott Waguespack, 32nd Ward Alderman

Often funny and touching, Some Men features a series of interlocking vignettes set between 1922 and 2007 that touch on the important events and themes in gay culture. With scenes considering long-term relationships and one-night stands, the Army and AIDS, bathhouses and piano bars, and
marriages of all kinds, McNally explores gay life and love against a background of some of the events that shaped the last century. Some Men premiered in 2006.

Lips Together, Teeth Apart
directed by Jonathan Verge
Sunday, September 5, at 6 p.m.
Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark Street.
Celebrity Hosted by David Cerda, Artistic Director of Hell in A Handbag Theater

Two straight couples are discovered lounging poolside, staring out to sea, in a house on Fire Island inherited from a gay brother who has died of AIDS. Amidst the seemingly mundane activities of Fourth of July weekend, the complex relationships among the quartet and their attitude towards the gay neighbors partying on either side of them becomes hilariously and painfully clear. Lips Together, Teeth Apart premiered in 1991.

The Lisbon Traviata
directed by Goodman Theatre's Steve Scott
Sunday, September 12, at 6 p.m.
Mary's Attic
5400 N. Clark Street
Hosted by Charles Middleton, president of Roosevelt University

The Lisbon Traviata is beloved for the fussiness of Mendy, a ferociously dedicated opera buff who begs and cajoles his friend Stephen to let him borrow his copy of the pirated Maria Callas recording of La Traviata. Their hilarious banter in Act 1 segues into a second act in which cold reality reaches a climax of operatic proportion. The Lisbon Traviata premiered in 1989.

Love! Valour! Compassion!
directed by Roosevelt University's Michael Lasswell
Sunday, September 19, at 6 p.m.
Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark Street
Hosted by Harry Osterman, State Representative

At a lakeside vacation house, eight gay friends spend the three major holiday weekends of one summer together - Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day. The house belongs to Gregory, an aging Broadway choreographer and his blind 20-something lover, Bobby. Guests include business consultants Arthur and longtime partner Perry, costumer and musical theater fanatic Buzz, a sour Englishman John Jeckyll, his twin brother James, and John's lover Ramon. Infidelity, flirtations, soul-searching, AIDS, truth-telling, and skinnydipping, along with monumental questions about life and death, mix with a wacky dress rehearsal for Swan Lake performed in drag. Love! Valour! Compassion! premiered in 1994.

Corpus Christi
directed by Jeff Award-winner Patrick Rybarczyk
Sunday, September 26, at 6 p.m.
Mary's Attic, 5400 N. Clark Street Hosted by Fausto Fernós

The most controversial and talked-about play of the 1998 theatrical season begins: "We are going to tell you an old and familiar story." But from that point on, nothing feels quite familiar again as McNally tells a story about Joshua, a gay man coming of age in Corpus Christi, Texas, that parallels the story of Jesus' birth, disciples, death, and resurrection in a remarkable and unforgettable evening that deals with love, faith, marriage, and more.

The Ritz
directed by Glitterati Productions Artistic Director John Nasca
Sunday October 24, at 7 p.m.
Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont
Hosted by Honey West
Featuring Alexandra Billings

At the Ritz, the rates are low, the decor is rococo, and the clientele is congenial. Gaetano Proclo reasons this all-male bathhouse is the perfect place to hide from his murder-minded brother-in-law Carmine. But what Gaetano and his fellow bathhouse patrons get is an exercise in wild, manic
mayhem as he eludes chubby chaser Claude, and off-beat entertainer Googie Gomez. Other participants in the mayhem are The Ritz' gatekeeper Abe, habitué Chris, go-go-boys Tiger and Duff, detective Michael Brick, and his wife Vivian. The Ritz premiered in 1975.

Pride Films and Plays is dedicated to examining the history of great gay writing and fostering its excellence in new works for the stage and screen. THE GREAT PLAYS OF Terrence McNally follows our initial reading series FIVE DECADES OF GREAT GAY PLAYS, which surveyed works from
the 1960s to the 2000s, including Mart Crowley's Boys in the Band, Lanford Wilson's Fifth of July, William M. Hoffman's As Is, Jonathan Harvey's Beautiful Thing, and Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out. Through readings, contests, classes, screenings and full Theater Productions, Pride Films and Plays engage artists and audiences in the full developmental process needed to create great artistic experiences.

In addition to the play readings, Pride Films and Plays is also running two contests to promote excellent writing. The Great Gay Screenplay Contest, presented in conjunction with Chicago Filmmakers, is accepting applications through July 31. And the Great Gay Play Contest will be accepting entries from September 1 through October 31, 2010.

For more details on either the readings or the contests, visit www.pridefilmsandplays.com. Pride Films can also be reached by phone at 773 250 3112 or by fax 773 281 4844.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

To post a comment, you must register and login.