Ringwald's 5th Annual GPS Runs Now thru 6/30

The Ringwald Theatre is thrilled to announce the 5thinstallment of its wildly popular Gay Play Series (GPS). Who would've thought when this series began that 5 years later it would still be going strong? And this year's special anniversary edition features a slate of one act plays by all-Detroit playwrights!

GPS will run for two weekends, today, June 20th-June 30th, 2014 at The Ringwald Theatre in beautiful downtown Ferndale.

The 2014 GPS will kick off on Friday, June 20 at 8:00 PM with a special screening of audience favorite Southern Baptist Sissies - The Movie! Filmed live last year in Los Angeles, and featuring Emmy Award winner Leslie Jordan and Willam Belli (of RuPaul's Drag Race fame), Del Shores' Southern Baptist Sissies has played The Ringwald three times over the past seven years, always to great acclaim. We are thrilled to be able to screen the movie for the opening night kickoff!

The original One Act Festival will kick into gear on Saturday, June 21 and will repeat Sunday, June 22, Saturday, June 28, and Sunday, June 29.

Artistic Director Joe Bailey said, "Of all the submissions received this year, the best were from our own hometown. So it made sense, for the 5th Anniversary of GPS, to celebrate the talent here and to make it a complete Detroit playwright lineup."
The 2014 One Acts are:

· Make Room for Stu written by Bitch and Fag (Tara Rase & Mark Sobolewski) & directed by Gary Lehman.

· The Shelter written by Josh Campos & directed by Josh Campos

· Let Go, Larry written by Jeff Mansk & directed by Lauren Bickers

· The Choice written by Dave Davies & directed by Dyan Bailey

· Monster written by Mike McGettigan & directed by Clint Lohman

· At the Food Court by Kim Carney & directed by Julie Moriarty

· Who's on Dick? by Marty Shea & directed by Joe Plambeck

· Mom is so GLAAD by Margaret Edwartowski & directed by Dave Davies

As always, audience members will be voting for their favorite script. The winning script will receive an additional performance at the closing ceremonies on Monday, June 24 at 8PM. Audience members will also be asked to vote for a favorite performances and director.

Monday, June 23 brings the newest Shakespeare outing from Slipstream Theatre Initiative: Shrew. On the heels of their successful all-male production of Twelfth Night, Slipstream Theatre Initiative is at it again, this time tackling Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. Using an all-male cast, they are creating the play in a world of dominance vs. submission, where it is not a battle of the sexes but a battle for control in general. Using an S&M theme and taking advantage of the adaptable space of the Ringwald stage, their Shrew is a bit unlike any you've seen before. The question you'll be asking yourself is not "was she really tamed?" but rather "where did they get all that bondage gear?!" The cast features Steve Xander Carson, Alexander H. Trice, Miles Bond, Emilio Rodriguez, Dick Ward, Ryan Ernst, Michael Lopetrone, Bailey Boudreau, Brenton Herwat and newcomer Michael Soave, with direction and costume design by Boudreau. The play has been spliced from its standard three hours to a mere hour and fifteen minutes and will be sure to have you seeing the Bard in a whole new way: in leather and lace.

Friday, June 27 marks the return of hometown hero Vince Kelley in an all new concert,Pop Tart! Enjoy the vocal stylings of Mr. Kelley as he works his way through an all-pop concert featuring songs by Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and many more. This will mark Vince's first Detroit appearance since moving to New York City last year.

Saturday, June 28 and Sunday, June 29 will feature all 8 one act plays both days.

The festival will conclude on Monday, June 30 with the awards ceremony, a repeat performance of the audience-voted favorite one act and a fierce lip sync battle, Lip Sync for Your Life. This promises to be an evening of awesome lip synced performances wherein participants will, almost-but-not-quite-literally-lip sync for their lives!

· Admission to individual events during this year's GPS will be $10 per event.

· A $30 All Pass (which gets you into all events during both weekends) will also be available.

Tickets can be purchased at www.TheRingwald.com or at the theatre box office. The Ringwald box office opens 45 minutes before performances and tickets can be purchased with cash or Visa/Mastercard. The Ringwald Theatre is located at 22742 Woodward Avenue in the Times Square of downtown Ferndale.

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