2012 GAY PLAY WEEKEND
APRIL 13-15, 2012
HOOVER-LEPPEN THEATER - CENTER ON HALSTED
3656 N HALSTED ST, CHICAGO, IL 60613

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Thanks to the support of Center on Halsted, Gay Play Weekend is April 13 to 15 with the following schedule:

· Friday, April 13 7:30 - Lost In History
· Saturday, April 14 4:30 - Mr. Teddy
· Saturday, April 14 7:30 - Hello Norma Jeane
· Sunday, April 15 1:30 - At The Flash
· Sunday, April 15 4:30 - Under A Rainbow Flag

At The Flash by Sean Chandler and David Leeper, Woodland Hills, CA

At The Flash is a multi-character history of a fictitious gay bar called The Flash as seen through the eyes of five specific, yet universal characters whose stories are told through a series of inter-woven scenes representing LGBT history from the 1960s to today. One actor plays all the roles in this theatrical tour-de-force.

Sean Chandler and David Leeper, legally married since 2008, reside in Woodland Hills, CA. Together and separately, their additional scripts include Kissing the Frog Prince, Radical Morality, Everyday Joseph, Make Mine a Double, and The Pack.

Hello Norma Jeane by Dylan Costello, London, UK


Video Promo

Joe has his life turned upside-down when his grandmother admits her deepest secret - that she is in fact Marilyn Monroe, coming out of hiding 50 years after faking her death in 1962. Can Joe really be the gay grandson of Marilyn Monroe? Joe's search for the truth, his self-worth, and his love for his grandmother are tested to the limit in this funny drama that is full of surprises.

Native Londoner Dylan Costello is a screenwriter and playwright. His debut movie Coronado is currently in pre-production in Hollywood and his first two plays were produced in London in 2010. His short climate change film Edge of Existence was also shown at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in December 2009

Lost in History by Adam Siegel, Maplewood, NJ

In Lost in History, we meet Ben Goldfarb, a man who is caring for his demanding father while trying to have a baby through a surrogate. When his father gets a new roommate at the nursing home where he is living, Ben learns it is Isaac Strauss - the famous psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor. What will Ben learn about his father, about Isaac, and about himself in this new powerful new drama of family and history?

Adam Siegel is the author of several plays, including The Legacy, winner of the 2008 New Play Festival at South Carolina's Centre Stage. In addition, the play has had readings at regional theaters around the country and was a semifinalist for the O'Neill Playwrights Conference.

Mr. Teddy by George Smart, Quincy, MA


Mr. Teddy explores the sexy and complex dynamics of a long-term relationship between three men who are a part of the gay subculture where role playing is the norm and a way of life. 'Daddies' Alex and Marc have enjoyed 10 years together with their 'son' Teddy, until their friend Joan instigates a confrontation that tests the very definition of family.

 

George Smart, a Boston based playwright, enjoys exploring the world as seen from a gay perspective in his writing. Produced 10 minute plays include IDWYT, Bottom And The Big Bad Bat, You Don't?, and It Doesn't. Full length plays include A Dog and His Boys and Charlote's Crossing.

Under A Rainbow Flag by Leo Schwartz, Chicago, IL

Navy Medical Corpsman Jon Philips finds himself in the company of other gay men, both stateside and on the battle field in World War II. As we follow Jon and his friends from 1943 to 1951, we learn of love, joy, and loss in this brand-new musical. Under A Rainbow Flag is based on actual events in the life of Navy corpsman, Jon Philips, resident of Evanston, Illinois, and is the first musical to be named a finalist in this competition.

Leo Schwartz is a multi-award winning composer of Musical Theatre, Film, Concert Music, and Jazz. In 2011, he won a Gold Medal for Film Scoring at the Park City Film Music Festival. His works have been performed Off-Broadway, in Europe, on the radio, and in concert halls across the United States. www.leoschwartz.com



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2011 GAY PLAY WEEKEND

All five works will be featured in a festival of staged readings at the Hoover-Leppen Theater in the Center on Halsted in March

Chicago, IL - Five new plays featuring GLBT characters or themes have been selected as the finalists in the first Great Gay Play Contest sponsored by Pride Films and Plays. All five scripts will be performed in a festival of staged readings March 3 – 6, 2011, at the Hoover-Leppen Theater at the Center on Halsted in Chicago.

The five finalists are:

False Reality by Joe Lauderdale, Los Angeles, CA
Learn To Be Latina by Enrique Urueta, San Francisco, CA
Save the Date by Tyler Dean, Chicago, IL
Short Expanse by Corinne J. Kawecki, Chicago, IL
The Times by Mark S. Watson, Key West, FL

The final judging in the contest is being done by an esteemed panel of directors and artistic directors including Marshall W. Mason, Jason Moore, Doug Finlayson, Patricia Kane, Jeremy Cohen, Patrick Trettenero, Brian Fonseca, and others.

The five final scripts will be presented in a festival of staged readings at the Hoover-Leppen Theater in Center on Halsted, Chicago, on the weekend of March 3 – 6, 2011. Details of the performance schedule will follow.

“We are thrilled to be assisting with the development of fresh GLBT work,” says Pride Films and Plays Executive Director David Zak. “We believe that all of these scripts are ready to be given serious consideration for productions at theaters across the country for next season.”

Here are the five synopses and authors’ bios :

False Reality, by Joe Lauderdale, Laguna Beach, CA
To deal with his difficult family, Trevor has created a fictional identical twin Aidan whose life is much better. But Kyle falls for Aidan and their intense, tender, romantic relationship is full of good intentions and fraught with mistakes. When Trevor’s fiction and reality collide, the relationship is tested in a terrifying moment of truth in Joe Lauderdale’s new drama.

Joe Lauderdale was the Youth Theatre Director at the Laguna Playhouse for 17 years. He directed or produced more than 70 productions for both adults and youth. His stage adaptation of Cut, the story of a teenage girl dealing with self-injury, received wide acclaim and his production of The Wrestling Season was presented for a GLAAD Los Angeles special event.

Learn To Be Latina, by Enrique Urueta, San Francisco, CA
In Enrique Urueta’s irreverent new comedy, Hanan Mashalani is beautiful and talented, but she's Lebanese and that just doesn't a pop star make. As she's made over by FAD records to be the next Latin bombshell, she falls in love with an actual Latina. She struggles to maintain the image everyone expects her to be, which ultimately tests her relationship and her own identity.

Enrique Urueta lives in San Francisco and is the author of the plays The Danger of Bleeding Brown, Forever Never Comes, and Get Your Troy On. He has a BA in theatre from The College of William & Mary and a MFA in playwriting from Brown.

Save the Date by Tyler Dean, Chicago, IL
Today is the biggest day of wedding coordinator Bradford Curtis' career. Not only is he the best man, but the mother of the bride happens to be the editor-in-chief of one of the nation's most prestigious wedding magazines. When someone from the groom's past shows up with intentions of stopping the wedding, it's up to Bradford to make sure everything goes as planned. With mistaken identities, plenty of chases, and double entendres galore, Save the Date is Tyler Dean’s modern twist on a classic farce.
Tyler Dean is a Chicago-based playwright, actor, and sketch comedian. He is a Network Playwright at Chicago Dramatists. His newest play Run-of-the-Mill is receiving its world premiere production in Chicago in February.

Short Expanse by Corinne J. Kawecki, Chicago, IL
It’s 1997 and Chloe’s 10th birthday. Lydia, Chloe’s swim coach and neighbor, and Colleen, Lydia’s partner of 8 years, have thrown a costume party to celebrate. David, their friend, and Star, Chloe’s mom, are in attendance. A happy time … or is it? Revelations abound and the past changes the future forever in Kawecki’s new drama.

Corinne J. Kawecki’s plays, A Bridge to Something, The Moon, the Lake and Fire, Demons and Monsters, Serious, The Interview, Wishes, and Lesbian Nightmare, have been produced in cities across the country including Chicago, New York, Santa Ana, CA, and Baton Rouge, LA. Corinne is a Network Playwright at Chicago Dramatists and a Member of the Dramatists Guild.

The Times by Mark S. Watson
Noah is reunited after 10 years with his college sweetheart Christian. But a wedding announcement in the New York Times brings unexpected comedy, drama, and twists of identity and fate.

Mark S. Watson is a North Carolina native who has resided in Key West, Florida for the past 12 years. He received his Bachelors in Dramatic Art and Speech Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mark has performed in regional theatres across the United States as an actor, singer, and dancer. The Times marks his professional debut as a playwright.