Pride Month Fringe Premiere Serves as Nerve-Racking Coming Out for Its Star
By: Julie Musbach May. 09, 2018
As Adrian Eli hits "post" on his Hollywood Fringe show announcement - his heart is pounding. More than a world premiere, "Baby Boy" is the personal, and outrageously hilarious, tale of his journey to finally telling the world he's gay. He only came out to close friends just a few years ago at age 30 - and his parents still don't know.
"My dad googles me. This could be it! And yeah...that terrifies me", Eli says with a nervous laugh.
In 2018 Los Angeles it's hard to imagine such a difficult admission, but his traditional Mexican-American family in the heart of Texas is a different story. What's even more complicated - his older sister came out as gay when Adrian was just 10-years-old, and he watched his parents painfully grieve for the child they shunned.
"I couldn't imagine doing that to them again. Parents who don't accept their gay children aren't bad people, they just don't understand. Yet. I know my parents have hearts of gold and want to love me for who I am, and that's part of why I'm doing this show."
With unusual features and a knack for extreme faces and accents, Adrian is John Leguizamo with a splash of Jim Carrey, and shares the versatility of his most celebrated character actor heroes.
"I'm a third generation Mexican with funny ears who doesn't speak Spanish - there aren't exactly an abundance of parts for my type. I had to tell my own story, in my own voice, with the cast of characters that have formed the pieces of my unusual life."
Eli first tested the waters with his hit sellout 2018 Solofest show. "From the moment the lights came up the audience was roaring with laughter", said Jenni Melear, director of "Baby Boy." "It was nearly 2 hours of raw material that could ONLY happen to Adrian, and took us on a journey from hilarious to absolutely heartbreaking. So we've cut it in half and totally reworked it for Fringe, keeping only the most vital and captivating moments of his outrageous real-life tale, with a few exciting surprises. There's nobody like Adrian - and Hollywood's about to find out why."
Constance Marie, of George Lopez and Switched at Birth fame, also had a glowing response to the Solofest show; "Adrian's show is simultaneously heartfelt & funny. As a Latino gay man, he takes us through laughter and tears with deft transitions, and ultimately inspires and educates us all."
"Baby Boy" world premieres during LGBTQ Pride Month at the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival.
JUNE 4, 7:30PM (PREVIEW)
JUNE 10, 3:00PM
JUNE 16, 4:30PM
JUNE 23, 7:30PM
FLIGHT THEATRE AT THE COMPLEX
6476 SANTA MONICA BLVD, LOS ANGELES 90038
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