NO HOMO Returning to Los Angeles

It was announced today that the smash hit, award-winning comedy NO HOMO will again sashay onto the Los Angeles Theater scene this summer.

NO HOMO made its world premiere in the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival, where it swept the Closing Night Award Ceremony with 9 nominations and 5 wins, including Best World Premiere, Best in Ensemble Theater, and the coveted Encore Producers' Award. The production then moved to the New York International Fringe Festival, where it was a critical and audience favorite. A new draft of the script was performed in an industry-only reading in December 2014. The upcoming production will feature the same cast as the December reading.

Michael Lutheran (recently seen in Passages at Theatre Unleashed and Trainspotting at The Elephant Theater) will be playing the role of Luke, a computer programmer in the throes of an identity crisis. Lauren Flans company member of "Lost Moon Radio" and recurring cast member on MTV's "Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out") will play Luke's sister, Chrissy, a brash and brassy animal activist who loves bacon and hates closets. Reprising their award-winning performances from the Hollywood and New York productions are Jonny Rodgers as Ash, Luke's best friend and confidant; AJ Jones (The Outsiders at La Mirada Theatre, ENRON at The Production Company) as Serge, Ash's emotionally distant gay brother; Henry McMillan as Kris, Serge's spicy WeHo Royalty boyfriend; and Elizabeth Ellson as Babette, Luke's hapless new girlfriend who has a history of dating men who like men.

The production will be directed by Jessica Hanna and produced by Brandon Baruch and Max Oken in association with Bootleg Theater. Scenic Designer David Offner, Costume Designer Laura Wong, and Sound Designer Corwin Evans are also returning to the production. Playwright Baruch will design lights.

NO HOMO tells the tale of Luke and Ash, two 20-something Los Angeles urbanites who identify as heterosexual, even though their friendship is totally gay. Their friends and family refuse to acknowledge the platonic nature of their relationship, and eventually the men themselves start to question their own sexual identities, leading to a drunken evening that their friendship might not survive.

Brandon Baruch explains his inspiration for writing the play: "Growing up in and around West Hollywood, my sexual orientation has never been a big part of my identity. I feel like most LGBT theater, film, and literature concentrates on the characters' struggles to create an identity and find acceptance. But that's simply not my experience. NO HOMO is less about the struggle to accept one's sexual identity than it is about the quest to understand one's sexual identity. It also validates my theory that a person doesn't have to be homosexual to be really, really gay."

Playwright Brandon Baruch is a writer, director, producer, and lighting designer. His plays have been seen on both coasts, and he has designed lights for of productions in Southern California, New York, and Chicago. Baruch recently directed House of Rabbits' Charivari in Voyeurville: a Vaudeville Rock Musical Masquerade.

Director Jessica Hanna is a Los Angeles based theater artist. She is Co-Founder, Producing & Managing Director of Bootleg Theater. She has directed at various spots around town including Abundant Sugar at the Brewery and at Occidental College. She has produced over 100 productions and events at Bootleg since 2006.

NO HOMO sold out its extended run in the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival and swept the Hollywood Fringe Festival Closing Night Awards, winning The Golden Elephant Award for Golden Playwright (Brandon Baruch); the Ezra Buzzington Spirit of the Fringe Award for Best Director (Jessica Hanna); the Fringe Freak Award for Best in Ensemble Theater; the Fringe Freak Award for Fringe First - Best World Premiere; and garnering nominations for The Golden Elephant Award for Golden Production; The O-Face Award for Most org*smic Playwright (Brandon Baruch); The Ezra Buzzington Spirit of the Fringe Award for Best Playwright (Brandon Baruch); and The Fringe Freak Award for Top of Fringe. Later that year, it played to full houses and rave reviews in the New York International Fringe Festival.

This summer will mark the first full run of the play outside of a Fringe Festival setting. Location and dates will be announced later this month.

To post a comment, you must register and login.