Who Wants Cake? Gay Play Series Ends 6/28

Who Wants Cake? is proud to announce the final details for its inaugural Gay Play Series (GPS). Joe Bailey, artistic director of Who Wants Cake?, says, " We are very excited to be kicking off what we know will be an annual event for many years to come. Not only do we get to present a staged reading and a new cabaret act, we have the privilege of premiering 5 new plays by 5 exciting playwrights. And that is the best part about doing GPS!"

The festival will kick off on Friday, June 25, 2010 at 8:00 PM with a rare staged reading of the gay cult masterpiece Valley of the Dolls, based on the novel by Jacqueline Susann. The cast for this special reading includes Melissa Beckwith, Christa Coulter, Kate Peckham, Bryan Lark, Dave Davies, Dyan Bailey, Mark Sobolewski, Vince Kelley, Joe Bailey, Laurel Hufano and others.

Saturday and Sunday, June 26 and 27 brings the GPS Main Event. Five original one-act plays will be presented. Earlier this year Who Wants Cake? sent out a request for short new gay plays and these five were chosen from the 22 submitted. The plays being produced are:

• In by Dave DeChristopher, directed by Scott Myers
• The Single Life by Megan Buckley, directed by Katie Galazka
• My Dull Friend by Margaret Edwartowski, directed by Gary Lehman
• Joy by Audra Lord, directed by Matthew Turner Shelton
• He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss) by Kristian O'Hare, directed by Courtney Burkett

All five pieces will be presented as one performance on each day. They will start at 8:00PM on Saturday, June 26 and at 3:00PM on Sunday, June 27, and at the end of each performance, audiences will be asked to vote for their favorite play.

The festival will conclude on Monday, June 28 at 8:00PM with a repeat performance of the winning play. Following that winning production will be a cabaret performance, The Motown MisCast Cabaret, wherein the men will perform musical theatre songs traditionally sung by women and the women will sing songs traditionally sung by men. A huge hit in cities such as New York and Boston, Who Wants Cake? is thrilled to bring the MisCast concept to Detroit.

Tickets will be $10.00 per day or a $20.00 weekend pass will also be available. Tickets/passes will be available at the door. The box will open 45 minutes before each performance. Reservations may be made by calling 248-545-5545 or by logging onto www.whowantscaketheatre.com.

GPS Festival Lineup:
Friday, June, 25 8:00PM: Staged Reading of Valley of the Dolls
Saturday, June 26 8:00PM: GPS Main Event, Five original short one-act plays
Sunday, June 27 3:00PM: GPS Main Event, Five original short one-act plays
Monday, June 28 8:00PM: Performance of winning play followed by The Motown MisCast Cabaret

Who Wants Cake? opened the doors to their resident home, The Ringwald, in May 2007 with Fatal Attraction: A Greek Tragedy. Quickly, The Ringwald became a mainstay of Detroit's theatre community. Their first season offered up slice after slice of successful shows including Southern Baptist Sissies, Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical, Bug, The Facts of Life: The Lost Episode, The Bad Seed, Killer Joe, Rent, and Evil Dead: The Musical. Who Wants Cake? was named the 2008and 2009 Best Theatre Group in Channel 4's Vote 4 The Best contest.

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