Island City Stage to Present PAGEANT and More in 11th Season

Island City Stage, creating quality professional theatrical experiences focused on the LGBT+ community for a universal audience, has announced its 11th South Florida Season. Coming off a successful 10th anniversary run, the theater company will open its 11th year in October with the glittering, grandiose and glorious musical comedy Pageant. Offering compelling storytelling in an intimate setting, Island City Stage picks-up the season, again, in January with thought-provoking productions that explore bittersweet longing, gender questions, loneliness, the ins and outs of friendship, the magic of random human connection and ethnic conflict within the generational divide.

"Our 11th season features a laugh-out-loud fun interactive favorite followed by many new diverse stories about love, friendship, longing, moral conflict and the buoyancy of the human spirit - how these connect us on a deeper level. We're also tackling a relevant story that speaks to us from the front pages of social media news," said Andy Rogow, artistic director of Island City Stage. "We're excited to bring these new productions to life and spark meaningful conversation in our community."

Island City Stage's 11th 2022-23 season will feature:

Pageant; Book and Lyrics by Bill Russell and Frank Kelly; Music by Albert Evans; Conceived by Robert Longbottom

October 20 - November 20, 2022

It's Miss America meets RuPaul's Drag Race! This hilarious musical comedy sends up the once cherished traditions of beauty finalists in bathing suit and ball gown competitions, while contestants compete for the title of "Miss Glamouresse." And who wins the crown? The audience decides! Judges selected from the audience at each performance pick the winner ensuring that no performance is the same - and the on-stage suspense is real! This opening production stars an ensemble cast including Conor Walton, Michael Scott Ross, Matthew Buffalo, Luckner Bruno, Marcus Davis, Kevin Veloz and Larry Buzzeo. It is directed by Carbonell Award-winning choreographer/director Ron Hutchins with musical direction from Michael Ursua.

Rotterdam by Jon Brittain

January 19 - February 19, 2023

Alice wants to come out as a lesbian. Her girlfriend, Fiona, wants to start living as a man. What happens next is a bittersweet comedy about gender, sexuality, and being a long way from home. Rotterdam won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre and Brittain was nominated for the Evening Standard's Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright. His other plays include the Fringe First Award-winning A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad) and the critically acclaimed musical adaptation of David Walliams' children's book "Billionaire Boy." This new transgender comedy from the co-creator of Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho and writer of What Would Spock Do? and The Sexual Awakening of Peter Mayo promises a fun evening of entertainment.

I Wanna F@#king Tear You Apart by Morgan Gould

March 2 - April 2, 2023

Samantha and Leo are a team-best friends, roommates, allies against the world - until a new friend enters and upends their co-dependent world of mutual self-loathing and Grey's Anatomy marathons. A play about the nature of friendships in all of its f@#ked up forms, with a special shout-out to the kind of love that sometimes looks like a lot of rage, hits all the highs and lows of emotions.

Tracy Jones by Stephen Kaplan

May 18 - June 18, 2023

Tracy Jones is throwing a party and she's invited every woman in the world also named Tracy Jones to the festivities. And as she sits alone for over an hour, nursing her Diet Coke, wondering if any other Tracy Joneses will show up, epic loneliness is about to be tested beyond anything Tracy ever imagined.

Springfield Pride* Commissioned by Island City Stage

August 3 - September 3, 2023

*title subject to change

Imagined from today's headlines comes a story of politics, tense alliances, and deep conflict. When a liberal, cis-gender politician's off-record comments about Black Lives Matter become public and don't match his public, social justice persona, can he still remain the Grand Marshal of Springfield's Gay Pride Parade happening in just three days? As the movement is challenged from within, can its complex agenda and its traditional partnerships and social justice alliances still find a unified message? Is such a thing even possible today, especially when the clock is ticking and strong voices are in the room? Patrons will enjoy this new play about the divisions within the LGBTQ+ community and the growing ethnic, race, gender and generational divide.

Along with its Season 11 lineup, Island City Stage will be bringing back its introspective Behind the Red Curtain public forum series, launched last year as an anniversary initiative to address the stories and issues that inspire its shows, as well as its popular Women's Night at the Theatre and Sunday matinee special offer programs.

Tickets, on sale now, start at $35 per show. Season subscribers can save with a $90 Flexpass for three productions (a $21 savings off individually priced tickets plus no processing fees) and receive $5 off of additional tickets purchased. Other discounts are available for groups. More details can be found on the Island City Stage website at islandcitystage.org. Corporate and individual donors are also invited to become part of Island City Stage's Spotlight Club. Donations start at $25 and all are tax deductible and remain in program listing for one year.

For more information and tickets, please call (954) 928-9800 or email md@islandcitystage.org. Follow Island City Stage on Facebook at facebook.com/IslandCityStageFL and on Instagram at @islandcitystage1.

About Island City Stage

Founded in 2012, Island City Stage produces award-wining professional theatrical experiences rich with LGBTQ+ history, stories and characters, but have a heart and soul that is truly universal. It specializes in developing new work in addition to featuring the efforts of playwrights who expose audiences to different voices and diverse experiences. These shows are brought to life on stage through the talents of professional artists whose credits include Broadway, Off Broadway, national tours, major regional theaters, film and television. Island City Stage offers an intimate setting with six rows of stadium seating to foster a feeling of inclusion and participation in each theatrical event. Island City Stage is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization It is located at 2304 N. Dixie Hwy in Wilton Manors. For tickets and more information, please call (954) 928-9800 or visit islandcitystage.org.

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