Celebration Theatre to Present OUTober, A Coming-Out Theatre Festival Next Week

Celebration Theatre, one of the nation's longest-running LGBTQIA+ arts organizations, will present OUTober, a weeklong festival of live events to spotlight the coming-out experience across the queer spectrum. The festival takes place October 10 - 16 at The Broadwater complex in Hollywood Theatre Row, as well as free-to-the-public livestreams on YouTube. More information and tickets can be found at CelebrationTheatre.org.

The festival opens Sunday, October 10th at 2pm PT with a staged reading of lesbian pioneer Merril Mushroom's one-act, Bar Dykes, a slice-of-life glimpse into the world of 1950s butch/femme bar culture, aptly presented at the Broadwater Plunge Bar. At a time when there remain just 21 lesbian bars in the country, audiences can travel back in time to a watering hole where queer women could flirt, dance, smoke, drink, and let loose. The piece is directed by Katie Lindsay, produced by Kathleen Jaffe, and features Provvidenza Catalano, Makeda Declet, River Gallo, Frankie Orr, Kimberly Joy McBride, Tiana Randall-Quant, Haley Schwartz, Lauren White, and Sable Worthy. They will be joined by special guest Lauren Richer, founder of Hot Donna's Clubhouse, an exciting effort by a new wave of queer women to expand the meaning of "lesbian bar" to create an "all-inclusive space for queer, non-binary, trans and lesbian individuals who want to have fun, explore, and be accepted in a safe space."

The next event, Bi, Bi, Bi: Erasure, Enlightenment, and Anecdotes, takes place Tuesday, October 12th at 7:30pm PT at the Broadwater Black Box and offers a frank, truthful, and funny conversation with a roundtable of bi folx from all walks of life, as they spill the tea on their own coming out moments and what it's like to step out in front of the stigmas. Featuring a debut reading of the one-act play Wake Up Alone written and directed by Celebration Theatre company member Nathaniel Mathis, audiences will get a first look at this sensual drama about three lonely people looking for love in the wrong person. Produced and Moderated by Brittney S. Wheeler, Associate Artistic Director, the evening welcomes panelists Nathan Birnbaum, James Clover, Kristyn Evelyn, Ariella Salinas Fiore, and Kirsten Vangsness ("Criminal Minds"), as well as company members Mario Burrell, Kimberly Joy McBride, Tom Trudgeon, and Brittney S. Wheeler reading for the one-act play.

The theatre's third event, Hear THEM Loud: A Celebration of New TGNCINB Work, takes place Thursday, October 14th at 7:30pm PT again in the Broadwater Black Box, with an epic evening of all original work from our community of transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex & non-binary artists in this celebratory, uplifting, and enriching night of theatre! Produced and directed by Shaan Dasani and associate produced by Amanda Kruger, this program of music, poetry, dramatics, and comedy features new work from artists Ryan Cassata, Natalie Nicole Dressel, River Gallo, Vittorio Wyatt Gray, Damian Joseph Quinn, Avi Roque, and Jen Winslow!

Closing out the OUTober festival is Ring of Keys: A Coming Out Cabaret, presented Saturday, October 16th at 8pm on the Broadwater Main Stage. In a big night of Broadway songs only available in person (not online), audiences will be taken on a deliciously musical journey of coming out and claiming your place for all the letters. Directed by Ryan O'Connor, music directed by Gregory Nabours, and produced by Company Manager Parnell Damone Marcano, this evening brings together the musical talents of Ty Deran, Justin Jones, Kasper, Michelle Lane, Emma Lutsky, Amanda Kruger, Parnell Damone Marcano, Nathaniel Mathis, Trent Mills, Vancie Vega, and Brittney S. Wheeler.

Tickets range from free to $40 reserved depending on the event and can be purchased online at www.celebrationtheatre.org/tickets.

To post a comment, you must register and login.