Stage Left Studio Celebrates LGBT Theatre with 6th Annual Left Out Festival, Now thru 4/30

The Sixth Annual Left Out Festival - a celebration of LGBT theatre - will run today, April 20-30 at Stage Left Studio. This annual festival is a benefit for Bailey House (www.baileyhouse.org) which provides housing and support for people living with HIV and AIDS.

This year's festival will feature a set of 10-minute plays about HIV - with the focus on the new over-the-counter HIV test that hit the shelves in January 2013. Within a few days of that event, Cheryl King, Producer, and William LoCasto decided to write a set of 10-minute plays, entitled "TEST - Do you really want to know? Are you positive?"

Each of these plays is about two characters taking the test, locked in a powerful tension that carries us from the first to the last word. Cast members include Ms. King herself, TC Corwin, Joe Hutcheson, Mary Erwin, Michelle Ramoni, Peter Straus, KC Weakley, Anthony Romeo and Jeremy Neal.

The festival kicks off tonight, April 20 at 730 pm with "I Light Up My Life", written and performed by Mark Sam Rosenthal, and directed by Todd Parmley. Billed as "the world's first preemptive celebrity autobiography", it's the smut-fueled road-to-success story of a celebrity who's succeeded nowhere but his own mind!

Festival producers Cheryl King and Joe Hutcheson are working together on Mr. Hutcheson's third solo show, "Son of a Hutch." Hutcheson, who won FringeNYC's Overall Excellence Award and Critics' Pick of the Cincinnati Fringe, will share a hilarious collection of stories about growing up gay in the Hutcheson family, where all the men are nicknamed "Hutch" and boys who identify with soap opera heroines can't identify with their Dads. Until they grow up.

Another veteran of previous Left Out Festivals, Topher Cusumano returns with a 2-man play called "You're a Good Boy, Abercorn". Cusumano will perform the play with Broadway's Josh Lamon (Hair, Into the Woods). This drama, about a boy abducted and raised in seclusion, features Cusumano's signature dangerous wit, and explores a landscape of ritual, sexual violence, and survivor's guilt.

The festival will also feature lesbian works, including Margaret Morrison's "The Loves of Miss Jimmie LeRoy," a scene from Morrison's new play in development, a sequel to the erotically-charged lesbian love story, "Home In Her Heart." Set in 1942, this 2-woman play features Margaret herself as Miss Jimmie LeRoy, who is desperate to reunite with the love of her life. Her ex-lover Margery (played by Cheryl King) shows up, ready to reopen old wounds, recall glory days, and remind Jimmie that even bitter old love can be sweet.

The 2013 Left Out Festival features playwrights from ages 22 to 70, including the youthful Ean Kessler, with his 2-man play Brotherly Love. Performed by Matt Cox and Will Turner, and directed by Dave Delaney, it's a screwball comedy about brotherhood and family-- a story about just what a family can deal with...and just how much a person is willing to put up with from their family.

Rounding out the offerings is "Let the Little Boy Dance", a solo comedy by Ray Durand and Michael Shepley, directed by Shepley and performed by Durand. Set at his 50^th High School reunion, a Bayou Boy shares his journey in story and song through family business, show business - and the business of self-acceptance and love.

Except for one show at 2 pm (Sunday, April 21) all shows are at 730 pm. Show dates and times are available at www.stageleftstudio.net. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $15 tickets are available for seniors and students.

The performance schedule is:

Sat, Apr 20 7:30 pm - "I Light Up My Life" - written and performed by Mark Sam Rosenthal

Sun, Apr 21 2:00 pm - "Brotherly Love" - Ean Kessler & "The Loves of Miss Jimmie LeRoy" - written by Margaret Morrison, performed by Margaret Morrison and Cheryl King

Sun, Apr 21 7:30 pm - "Son of a Hutch" -written and performed by Joe Hutcheson

Mon, Apr 22 7:30 pm - "Let the Little Boy Dance" - written by Ray Durand and Michael Shepley, performed by Ray Durand

Tue, Apr 23 7:30 pm - "Test-Do you really want to know? Are you positive?" - written by Cheryl King and William LoCasto. Performed by Cheryl King, TC Corwin, Joe Hutcheson, Mary Erwin, Michelle Ramoni, Peter Straus, Anthony Romeo, Jeremy Neal and KC Weakley

Wed, Apr 24 7:30 pm - "Brotherly Love" - Ean Kessler & "You're a Good Boy, Abercorn" written by Topher Cusumano, performed by Topher Cusumano and Josh Lamon

Thu, Apr 25 7:30 pm - "The Loves of Miss Jimmie LeRoy" - written by Margaret Morrison, performed by Margaret Morrison and Cheryl King & "You're a Good Boy, Abercorn" written by Topher Cusumano, performed by Topher Cusumano and Josh Lamon

Fri, Apr 26 7:30 pm - "I Light Up My Life" - written and performed by Mark Sam Rosenthal

Sun, Apr 28 7:30 pm - "Son of a Hutch" -written and performed by Joe Hutcheson

Mon, Apr 29 7:30 pm - "Let the Little Boy Dance" - written by Ray Durand and Michael Shepley, performed by Ray Durand

Tue, Apr 30 7:30 pm - "Test-Do you really want to know? Are you positive?" - written by Cheryl King and William LoCasto. Performed by Cheryl King, TC Corwin, Joe Hutcheson, Mary Erwin, Michelle Ramoni, Peter Straus, Anthony Romeo, Jeremy Neal and KC Weakley

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