A scene fromBluebonnet Court. Photo credit:
Diversionary Theatre basks in Broadway glow
By , UNION-TRIBUNE THEATER CRITIC
Sunday, May 16, 2010
If “Memphis” rode a rocket from San Diego to Broadway, “Yank!” took Manhattan by Greyhound bus.
Now both of these locally connected musicals are New York darlings and, in one way, friendly adversaries: They are pitted against each other in the best musical category of next Sunday’s Drama Desk Awards, which honor the best in Broadway and off-Broadway theater.
But while “Memphis” was readied for Broadway at the prestigious La Jolla Playhouse, one of the nation’s top regional theaters, “Yank!” took a very different path. The World War II-set musical landed at the 106-seat Diversionary Theatre in University Heights two years ago for its West Coast premiere, in a key developmental staging.
From there, “Yank!” scraped together an off-Broadway run — one that turned into a hit — and now has earned the show not only nominations for the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards, which take place Monday, but also a planned Broadway staging next season.
For all the hard-earned glory that goes to the Playhouse and the Old Globe, the San Diego cultural powerhouses that have sent dozens of shows to Broadway over the years, the story of “Yank!” demonstrates the outsize impact that a small San Diego theater like Diversionary can have on the wider theatrical world.
“At the time we did the show at Diversionary, it was not on some pre-Broadway track,” said Joseph Zellnik, who composed the score to “Yank!” That contrasts with big musicals at the Globe and Playhouse, which often arrive not only with Broadway ambitions but also with a ticket waiting to be punched.
Like most musical-theater artists, Zellnik and his brother, David, the show’s writer-lyricist, have long entertained Broadway dreams.
“But at the time, that seemed a long way off,” Joseph Zellnik said. “We were just working hard to raise money” for a hoped-for off-Broadway production. “There was no way to know what would happen.”
What did happen was a warm reception in San Diego for the show, which featured a cast of local actors led by Tom Zohar, a rising young performer who at the time had no professional experience in musicals.
Zohar recalled that when he auditioned for the lead role of the serviceman Stu, all he knew was that the play “was something about tap-dancing soldiers,” he said with a laugh. “That’s how Dan (Kirsch, Diversionary’s artistic chief) put it to me. But I knew it was something that sounded like fun.”
He felt sure it was something more than that when he met then-director Igor Goldin and the Zellnik brothers, and saw how people were reacting to the show.
“I had a really good feeling it might go to Broadway. So when I heard it was going, I was not surprised,” Zohar said.
Kirsch is reluctant to take too much credit for the show’s post-San Diego success — and it’s true that the theater was not as deeply involved in the play’s development as the Playhouse was with “Memphis.”
But, he said, “there’s totally a sense of pride. We were fortunate enough to grab a great project. We had the backing of the board and community.
“The stars align and yeah, I feel proud.”
A few factors helped Diversionary score the coup of landing “Yank!,” which Kirsch affirmed is the highest-profile show connected to the theater in its 25-year history.
One is that San Diego is renowned as a military town, and the creative team was eager to see how the show’s storyline of romance in the armed forces would play here. Another is that the company’s stated mission is “to produce plays with gay, lesbian and bisexual themes,” and the love story in “Yank” happens to be between two men.
The show, which had first received exposure at the 2005 New York Musical Theatre Festival, was initially produced by the Gallery Players theater in Brooklyn. High praise made its way to Diversionary through a friend of the theater’s then-board president, Ruth Howell.
Matt Schicker, Gallery Players’ former executive director and now a “Yank!” producer, then heard of the potential Diversionary interest and soon was calling the company to talk about bringing the show to San Diego for further development.
“A musical is such a complicated thing,” as Schicker put it. “It’s so hard to get it right because of all the various elements. We all knew there was more work that needed to be done. We thought, where could we go with it?
“When I came out to meet with Dan Kirsch and pitch the show to him, I only got about two seconds into it, because he said, ‘We’re going to do this show.’ ”
To Schicker, the fact that “Yank!” hasn’t followed the lead of so many Broadway-bound musicals by going through a big regional theater “shows that every piece has to find its own path. And for “Yank!” that path happened to be small productions, where the piece is refined.”
Even “Memphis” had its own small-scale stagings early on.
In March, after a year-and-a-half hiatus during which the producers and creative team of “Yank!” tinkered with the show and drummed up investment money, it opened off-Broadway with the York Theatre Company at a cost of about $450,000.
Bobby Steggert, a 2010 Tony nominee for “Ragtime,” portrayed Stu (Zohar’s part) off-Broadway, as he did at Gallery Players.
The producers say it will cost about $5 million to take the show to Broadway — not cheap, but still less than half the estimated budget of “Memphis.”
TALE OF TWO MUSICALS
“Memphis”
Local link: La Jolla Playhouse
Company profile: $15 million annual budget; three performance spaces ranging from 388 to 492 seats.
Path to New York: World premiere at Playhouse in September 2008 after several years of development; opened on Broadway in October 2009.
Storyline: A 1950s DJ puts rhythm and blues on the white airwaves, helping ignite the rock revolution.
Nominations: Tony Awards (8); Drama Desk Awards (7); Outer Critics Circle Awards (7); Drama League Awards (2)
“Yank!”
Local link: Diversionary Theatre
Company profile: $600,000 annual budget; one 106-seat performance space.
Path (back) to New York: West Coast premiere at Diversionary in July 2008 after one festival and one professional New York staging; opened off-Broadway in March 2010. Scheduled for Broadway premiere in 2010-11 season.
Storyline: Two young servicemen, sent to the Pacific in World War II, deal with prejudice and their own struggles for identity.
Nominations: Drama Desk Awards (7); Outer Critics Circle Awards (2); Lucille Lortel Awards (2)
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Updated May 14, 2010
Diversionary Theatre announces 2010-2011 season
Season celebrates 25th Anniversary Year
Season includes three West Coast Premieres and two World Premieres
Diversionary Theatre will celebrate its 25th Anniversary Year during its 2010-2011 season. Gay and lesbian historical figures, stories of the LGBT movement and readings of plays from Diversionary’s history are part of the celebratory season. Founded in 1986, Diversionary is the 3rd oldest continuously producing LGBT Theatre in the United States.
The six-show mainstage season includes: the musical [title of show], a love letter to musical theater, by Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen, directed by James Vasquez, with musical direction by Tim McKnight; the 1970’s coming-of-age story Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins by Brian Christopher Williams, directed by Shana Wride; a limited holiday engagement of Santa Claus is Coming Out, written and performed by Jeffrey Solomon, directed by Joe Brancato; Fair Use, a romantic comedy and lesbian take on Cyrano de Bergerac, by Sarah Gubbins, directed by James Vasquez; and the world premiere of a new play about the iconic life of Dr. Tom Dooley, Dooley, by William di Canzio, directed by Rosina Reynolds. One additional play will be announced at a later date.
Special events include Robin Tyler, a well-known comic and lesbian activist, who brings her one-woman show Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Groom to Diversionary in September; the world premiere of the music theatre piece Sextet, by local composer Nic Reveles, directed by Cynthia Stokes; and Dance/Theatre will be back for a third edition, with artistic direction by Peter G. Kalivas.
Diversionary will celebrate their anniversary with readings of Lunch and Dessert by Philip Real, the first plays staged by Diversionary in 1986; a holiday reading of Robert Joseph’s Our Gay Apparel; and a reading of Dear Harvey in May 2011 to celebrate Harvey Milk Day, a play that Diversionary commissioned and premiered last year that is currently enjoying readings and productions across the United States.
“We are very excited to welcome back Karson St. John, Tony Houck, James Vasquez, Glenn Paris, Rosina Reynolds, Jennifer Brawn Gittings and other favorite performers, directors and designers back to Diversionary,” said Dan Kirsch, Executive & Artistic Director of Diversionary Theatre, as he announced the 2010-2011 season. “We’re very proud of our unique mission – to tell lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) stories. It’s hard to believe the Theatre is 25 years old. We’ve had great support and encouragement from artists, donors and funding agencies throughout the years. We’re very proud of our accomplishments and are ready to celebrate our history.”
Mainstage Season
[title of show] July 8-August 8, 2010. West Coast Premiere!
Music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen. Book by Hunter Bell. Directed by James Vasquez; musical direction by Tim McKnight. Featuring Tony Houck, Heather Paton, Karson St. John and Tom Zohar. An official event of San Diego LGBT Pride.
[title of show] is the story of two struggling young writers writing a witty new musical about two struggling young writers writing a witty new musical. Jeff Bowen (Music & Lyrics) and Hunter Bell (Book) decide to submit something for the 2004 New York Musical Theatre Festival just three weeks before the deadline. They began chronicling their own process and crafted an original story that just happens to be (with some artistic license taken) autobiographical, so they cast themselves in the roles along with their two friends, Susan and Heidi. The evolution of [title of show], from its smash debut at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in the fall of 2004, to its successful Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theatre in February 2006, to its debut on Broadway in July, 2008, is chronicled in this “zesty, sweet and charming new musical.” (The New York Times).
The blurb on the [title of show] website () reads, in part, ‘The New York Times called [title of show] “delectable entertainment! A postmodern homage to the grand tradition of backstage musicals like Babes in Arms, Kiss Me, Kate and A Chorus Line."’ Jeff and Hunter are also well-known as the creators of the popular web series “the [title of show] show” (http://www.youtube.com/user/titleofshow).
ANITA BRYANT DIED FOR YOUR SINS. October 28-November 21, 2010.
By Brian Christopher Williams. Directed by Shana Wride. Underwritten in part by Joann Clark.
An energy crisis,an unpopular war and the fight forequal rights for gay Americans. Sound familiar? It's 1977, and15 year-old Horace Poore is trying to make sense ofthetumultuous eventssurrounding him – andthe tumultuous events within him, as his sexual awakening is hastened by images ofOlympic swimmer Mark Spitz and former pageant queen/orange juice promoter/anti-gay crusader Anita Bryant.Nudging him along his journey to self-awareness are hisidiosyncratic parents, his draft dodging brother andhis dreamy gym teacher. Thislyric comedyis an unconventional look ata young man's coming-of-age set against thecultural flashpoint of the 1970s. Premiered August 2009 by West Coast Ensemble in Los Angeles. “Critic’s Choice – A deft west coast premiere…A tickling, touching play and endearing production.” – L.A. Times. “Pick of the Week GO! – The title of [the] play suggests a slick, sassy gay comedy, and so it is, but something much more than that, something far richer.” – L.A. Weekly.
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING OUT. December 4-21, 2010. Special Limited Engagement!
Written and performed by Jeffrey Solomon. Directed by Joe Brancato.
Inspired by America’s culture wars, this solo mock-u-mentary lays bare the intensely personal struggle of Santa Claus as he tries to reconcile his love with Italian toy-maker Giovanni Geppedo (creator of Pinocchio) with his passion for giving to the world’s children.
It starts when Gary, a not altogether manly little boy, asks for a doll, gets a truck, and thinks he’s been bad. Gary’s quiet letter of complaint shakes St. Nick to the soul as he recalls his fearful childhood during the middle ages and regrets the promotional deals with Coca-Cola that force him to stay in the closet. But word of Santa’s secret leaks out and the “forces of decency” rally against what they perceive to be the ultimate plot to indoctrinate children into the homosexual lifestyle! Solomon impersonates little gay Gary, his confused mother, his angry dad, his sassy black girlfriend, a kindly Rudolph, his fake-actress wife and other wacky characters.
“Charming and hilarious, thought-provoking and genuinely moving.” – TheatreMania.com. “This isn’t a clumsy parody, but a sensitive, imaginative tale that really is about a boy’s realization that he is different. Mr. Solomon portrays an amazing range of characters, all of them beautifully.” – N.Y. Times.
FAIR USE. February 10-27, 2011. West Coast Premiere!
By Sarah Gubbins. Directed by James Vasquez.
Sexual politics collide with legal brinksmanship in this whip-smart romantic comedy. Sy, an ambitious attorney, is in love with her co-counsel Madi, who in turn is involved with Chris, another lawyer in the firm who is just not quite sure how to express himself. While in the midst of a high-profile legal case, the love triangle gets complicated by a series of seductive, eloquent love letters. This hilarious love story was a 2009 finalist in the Alliance Theatre’s prestigious Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition. “While attorneys at a Chicago law firm take on a high-profile plagiarism case, their after-hours romantic triangle echoes Cyrano de Bergerac. Sarah Gubbins’ play savors the pleasures of language, sensuality and rich debate over such elusive concepts as intellectual property. Actor’s Express’ world premiere proved to be one of the company’s smartest and most entertaining productions in years.” – Creative Loafing/Atlanta, Top Ten Plays of 2009.
(RIGHTS TO BE SECURED) THE TEMPERAMENTALS. March 24-April 17, 2011. At time of this release, would be the West Coast Premiere.
By Jon Marans. Directed by Glenn Paris.
“Temperamental” was code for “homosexual” in the early 1950’s, part of a created language of secret words that gay men used to communicate. The Temperamentals tells the story of two men – the communist Harry Hay and the Viennese refugee and designer Rudi Gernreich (who, years later, would become famous as the creator of the topless bathing suit) – as they fall in love while building the Mattachine Society, the first gay rights organization in the pre-Stonewall United States. The play weaves together the personal and political to tell a relatively unknown chapter in gay history. It explores the love between two complex men, as their impossible dream of forming such an unheard of organization becomes a reality in this perilous, unpredictable world.
2010 Lucille Lortel winner for Outstanding Lead Actor Michael Urie (TV's Ugly Betty). The playwright Jon Marans was a 1996 Pulitzer Prize Finalist for Drama for Old Wicked Songs. Local director Glenn Paris, Producing Artistic Director of ion theatre company, co-directed the Diversionary/ion co-production of Bent at Diversionary in November 2009. "With style and a sense of humor, The Temperamentals mixes meat-and-potatoes political content with campy comedy and unexpected bursts of emotional candor." — Time Out New York.
Note: other shows under consideration (in case rights are not available) include "The Pride" by Alexi Kaye Campbell, "Iron Kisses" by James Still or "Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party" by Aaron Loeb.
DOOLEY. May 5-29, 2011. World Premiere!
By William di Canzio. Directed by Rosina Reynolds. Underwritten in part by The James Irvine Foundation and Carlos Malamud.
Dr. Tom Dooley was a man who delighted in his sexuality, paid consequences, and yet refused to be defeated, long before ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’. Dooley completed his residency at Camp Pendleton. He died young, but was cited by John F. Kennedy for his humanitarian work in Southeastern Asia as an inspiration for the start of the Peace Corps.
Thomas Anthony Dooley III was an who, while serving as a physician in the , became increasingly famous for his and anti- activities in during the late 1950s. Based on his experiences working in and , he authored a number of popular anti-communist books in the years preceding the .
He completed his residency at and in 1954 he was assigned to the which was traveling to to evacuate . Dooley was chosen as a symbol of Vietnamese-American cooperation, and was encouraged to write about his experiences in the refugee camps. In 1956 his book Deliver Us from Evil was released. While on a promotional tour for the book, Dooley was accused and investigated for participating in activities, and was forced to resign from the Navy in March 1956. The story of his forced resignation from the military can be found in the book : Vietnam to the Persian Gulf by .
After leaving the navy, Dooley went to to establish medical clinics and hospitals under the sponsorship of the . Dooley founded the Medical International Cooperation Organization (MEDICO). During this same time period he wrote two books, The Edge of Tomorrow and The Night They Burned the Mountain about his experience in Laos. In 1959 Dooley returned to the United States for cancer treatment; he died in 1961 from malignant . Following his death cited Dooley's example when he launched the . He was also awarded a posthumously. There were efforts following his death to have him as a Roman Catholic saint. One of the books about his life is Dr. America: The Lives of Thomas A. Dooley, 1927-1961, by James T. Fisher.
Special and Anniversary Events
ALWAYS A BRIDESMAID, NEVER A GROOM. Written and performed by Robin Tyler. September 16-19. A hilarious multi-media romp through LGBT history, including the Marriage Equality movement. From Marches on Washington, to not-so-pretty breakups with ex-lovers, Robin’s show exposes three decades of lesbian and gay history through Comedy, and at times, Tragedy, leading up to Robin and her (now spouse), Diane Olson’s, historic California Supreme Court marriage case. Tyler began performing in nightclubs as a Judy Garland impersonator and as a stand-up comic. In 1978, she became the first out lesbian on U.S. national television on a Showtime comedy special hosted by Phyllis Diller. During the 1980s, Robin produced several West Coast Women's Music and Comedy Festivals and Southern Womyn's Music and Comedy Festivals. In 1979, she initiated a call for a gay and lesbian march on Washington, D.C. She was also instrumental in organizing the second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987, where the AIDS quilt was displayed for the first time, and the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, which drew almost a million GLBTQ protesters from around the nation.
SEXTET. September 30, October 1-3. World Premiere! Composed and Libretto by Nicolas Reveles. Directed by Cynthia Stokes. What do Walt Whitman, the rapture, and a gay bath house all have in common? Those are among the unusual subjects explored in Sextet, shedding light on various aspects of gay desire: for community, for power, for acceptance, for family, for sex and for love. Reveles is The Geisel Director of Education and Outreach for the San Diego Opera. Stokes recently directed Romeo and Juliet for the San Diego Opera. Underwritten in part by The James Irvine Foundation.
DANCE/THEATRE. April 22-25, 2010. Inspired by Theatre/Created through Dance. Peter G. Kalivas, project artistic director, engages local choreographers to bring past Diversionary productions to life through new dance pieces. Underwritten by California Institute for Contemporary Arts.
To celebrate the 25th Anniversary Year, the following readings will be presented (dates to be announced): LUNCH and DESSERT by Philip Real (the first two one-act plays produced by Diversionary Theatre in 1986); OUR GAY APPAREL by former Executive Director Robert Joseph (a holiday favorite for several seasons); and DEAR HARVEY by Patricia Loughrey, with music by Thomas Hodges (commissioned by and premiered at Diversionary in April 2009) to celebrate Harvey Milk Day.
Diversionary will hold two “fun-raisers” during the year: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner on Saturday, October 9 (multiple dinner parties at individual homes, where the host provides the dinner and each guest makes a contribution to Diversionary; everyone comes together at the end of evening for dancing, champagne and dessert); and the second edition of Better Homos & Gardens (date to be announced, Spring 2011).
The Year Ahead
Mainstage productions will have three to five week runs, with 16 or more performances per run. Each show will preview on Thursday and Friday night, with openings on Saturday nights (please note: Santa Claus is Coming Out has a different performance schedule). Performance schedule for the year is Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm, Sunday at 2:00pm, and selected Monday’s at 7:30pm and Saturday’s at 3:00pm.
Discounted six-show subscription packages ranging from $129 to $229 are now available through June 1 (prices go up on June 2). The early bird discounts include a package with a 35% discount. There are no handling/service charges for tickets purchased through Diversionary’s box office.
Single tickets go on sale six weeks before the opening date of each show. Group sales for any show during the season can be arranged now by calling the box office. More information about all the shows and season subscriptions are available through the Box Office at 619.220.0097 or at www.diversionary.org.
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Financial support for Diversionary Theatre is provided in part by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2010
Diversionary lands the musical [title of show]
for summer opener
(at the time of this announcement) Diversionary production
will be West Coast Premiere
Just in January and February 2010, four productions of [title of show] have opened around the country – in St. Louis, Boston, Detroit, and through the Arizona Theatre Company performing in both Tuscon and Phoenix. Diversionary Theatre has landed the rights to stage a production, starting July 8, that might be the West Coast Premeire! (We say might be, because another theatre along the West Coast could also apply for the rights and open a production the day before ours. That would be a bummer.)
[title of show] is the story of two struggling young writers writing a new musical about two struggling young writers writing a new musical. Jeff Bowen (Music & Lyrics) and Hunter Bell (Book) decide to submit something for the 2004 New York Musical Theatre Festival just three weeks before the deadline. They began chronicling their own process and crafted an original story that just happens to be (with some artistic license taken) autobiographical, so they cast themselves in the roles along with their two friends, Susan and Heidi. The evolution of [title of show], from its smash debut at the New York Musical Theatre Festival in the fall of 2004, to its successful Off-Broadway run at the Vineyard Theatre in February 2006, to its debut on Broadway in July, 2008, is chronicled in this “zesty, sweet and charming new musical.” (The New York Times).
The boys (Jeff and Hunter) have a blurb on the [title of show] website () that reads, in part, ‘The New York Times called [title of show] “delectable entertainment! A postmodern homage to the grand tradition of backstage musicals like Babes in Arms, Kiss Me, Kate and A Chorus Line."’ Jeff and Hunter are also well-known as the creators of the popular web series “the [title of show] show” ().
Dan Kirsch, Diversionary’s Executive & Artistic Director had this to say. “What fun!” Diversionary has asked James Vasquez to direct and Tim McKnight to musical direct. [title of show] will open on July 8 as the first show of Diversionary’s 2010-2011 season in celebration of their 25th Anniversary Year. The mission of the theatre is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily (and [title of show] is both very gay and very contemporary!).
The entire 2010-2011 Season will be announced in late April. For more information, call the Diversionary box office at 619.220.0097 or log on to www.diversionary.org.
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San Diego State University’s critically acclaimed production of Dear Harvey chosen to participate in the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival
December 16, 2009 - The San Diego State University School of Theatre, Television, and Film’s September production of Dear Harvey has been selected to participate in the Southwest Regional Finals for the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival being held in St. George, Utah in early February. If the show does well in Utah, the production will move to the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in April!
Originally commissioned by Diversionary Theatre, Patricia Loughrey’s original play Dear Harvey had its world premiere at Diversionary in April 2009. Diversionary Theatre is the nation’s 3rd oldest continuously producing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender theatre. The commission for the play was underwritten in part by The James Irvine Foundation New Connections Fund and community member Carlos Malamud. Dear Harvey has original music by Thomas Hodges, uses historical photos of Harvey Milk by Daniel Nicoletta, and was first directed by Diversionary’s Executive & Artistic Director, Dan Kirsch.
Drawn from over thirty interviews conducted by the Patricia Loughrey, Dear Harvey recounts the achievements and vision of the first openly gay man elected to a major public office in the United States. A drag queen, a State Senator, an international gay rights activist, a nineteen-year-old composer… the play weaves these voices and more with the personal and political writings of Harvey Milk to paint a portrait of a leader, and a vision for equality. Supported by photos from Milk’s friends and family, Dear Harvey celebrates the stories not found in history books: stories of a love that reached beyond fear.
The SDSU production was directed by Peter Cirino and featured John Alspaugh, Shane Blackburn, Crystal Brandan, Emily Davenport, Ken Hodges, Courtney Howard, Diahann McCrary, Kristin McReddie, Bailey Neill, Anthony Simone, Derek Smith, Jon Wat, Berlyn Wieland and Jacqui Yawn. The show played to sold- out, standing ovation crowds during its run at SDSU.
The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide which has served as a catalyst in improving the quality of college theater in the United States. The KCACTF has grown into a network of more than 600 academic institutions throughout the country, where theater departments and student artists showcase their work and receive outside assessment by KCACTF respondents. Through state, regional, and national festivals, KCACTF participants celebrate the creative process, see one another's work, and share experiences and insights within the community of theater artists. The KCACTF honors excellence of overall production and offers student artists individual recognition through awards and scholarships in playwriting, acting, criticism, directing, and design. You can find more information about KCACTF at and more information about the regional festival in Utah at
Patricia Loughrey’s script for Dear Harvey is entered in the Michael Kanin Playwriting Awards Program and is under consideration for the David Mark Cohen Award, the Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, the Paula Vogel Award and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival National Student Playwriting Award.
Three SDSU students are up for Irene Ryan acting awards for their roles in Dear Harvey: Anthony Simone for his portrayal of Nicole Murray-Ramirez; Derek Smith for his portrayal of Cleve Jones; and Diahann McCrary for her portrayal of Dottie Wine. Three members of the production have received Meritorious Achievement Awards: Thomas Hodges for Musical Score; Lauren Beck for Dramaturgy; and Lila “Lace” Flores for Lighting Design.
SDSU is now fundraising to get the production to Utah. A tax-deductible donation of $457 will completely underwrite one actor’s expense for the entire week of the regional festival, including hotel, registration fees, acting workshops, transportation, and a few meals. There are 14 actors and two stage managers traveling to Utah. If you would like to help send this production to Utah, please call Jay Sheehan at SDSU at 619-594-4990 or email him at JSheehan@mail.sdsu.edu.
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Links:
Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival:
KCACTF Regional Festival in St. George, Utah:
San Diego State University School of Theatre, Television and Film:
Patricia Loughrey:
Jay Sheehan at SDSU: email Jay at JSheehan@mail.sdsu.edu
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News & Theatre Updates
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2009
CONTACT: Dan Kirsch, Executive/Artistic Director – 619.220.6830
or Travis Guss, Patron Services Manager – 619.220.0097
Diversionary Theatre announces 2009-2010 season
Season of two musicals, four plays includes two West Coast Premieres
Diversionary
Theatre’s 2009-2010 season of two gender-bending musicals and four
provocative plays includes two West Coast Premieres, dynamic local actors
and directors, and a reading of a new queer opera. The six-show
mainstage season includes: the new musical Twist by
Gila Sand and Paul Leschen, based on Charles Dickens’ Oliver
Twist, directed by James Vasquez; Bent,
the seminal play by Martin Sherman, in a co-production with ion theatre
company; Paul Rudnick’s big gay comedy The New Century,
directed by Igor Goldin; same-sex marriage gets a comic nod with The
Marriage Bed by Nona Shepphard, directed by Rosina Reynolds;
laugh out loud with teenage angst in Speech and Debate by
Steven Karam, directed by Jason Southerland; and filled with melancholy
and lust, the musical play Moscow, by Nick Salamone
and Maury R. McIntyre, rounds out the season.
Diversionary’s
Queer Theatre program continues with a second Dance/Theatre event,
and readings of a new queer opera by Nicolas Reveles and plays by David Zellnik
and Madeleine George.
“We are very excited to welcome back Tom Zohar, David McBean, Rosina Reynolds and other favorite performers and directors back to Diversionary,” said Dan Kirsch, Executive & Artistic Director of Diversionary Theatre, as he announced the 2009-2010 season. “We’re thrilled to partner with ion theatre company. We love to encourage new work from local artists. We’re very proud of our unique mission – to tell lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) stories.”
Mainstage Season
TWIST! July 9-August 9, 2009.
Book, lyrics
and additional music by Gila Sand. Music by Paul Leschen. Additional
music by Garret Guadan. James Vasquez will direct; musical direction
by Tim McKnight. Diversionary’s cast will feature Jacob Caltrider
as Twist, Tom Zohar as The Artful Dodger and David McBean as Fagin, with Jackie
Cuccaro, Andy Collins, Tony Houck, Jimmy Latimer Jr., Benjamin Lopez and Amy
Northcutt. An official event of San Diego LGBT Pride.
Music. Dickens. Bondage. Dickens'
famous tale re-imagines Oliver as an attractive young man searching
for love. A
gender-bending dark comedy with Victorian erotica! By turns outrageous
and provocative, this unique retelling entertains with exquisite drag, arch
wit, a bit of kink and a catchy set of new contemporary songs. Yet
the show remains surprisingly true to Oliver Twist, a coming-of-age
tale of loneliness, craving, adventure, and finally, redemption.
Twist was created by Gila Sand and composer Paul Leschen. For the Diversionary production, Gila and Paul are excited to premiere new songs to Twist’s award nominated score. Twist’s Drama Desk nomination came after nine performances off-off Broadway, in company with Broadway nominees Spring Awakening and Legally Blonde. The following workshop of Twist, at New York’s Midtown International Theatre Festival, garnered awards for Best Book, Lyrics & Music. Visit for more background and history of the show.
BENT. A co-production with ion theatre
company. October 29-November 22, 2009.
This
co-production commemorates the 30th anniversary
of the seminal play by Martin Sherman. Directed by Glenn Paris.
Yellow stars. Pink triangles. Dignity. Courage. Comfort. Survival. A
riveting story of love in the midst of the Holocaust. This 1979
play about gays under persecution by the Nazis took the world stage by
storm. Profoundly universal and provocatively theatrical. “An
explosive, overpowering experience.” – WWD
Ion’s mission ()
is to ignite community change through the staging of bold, re-imagined
classics, and part of Diversionary’s mission is share the complexity
of our LGBT history.
Prior to Bent, there had been virtually no inclusion of gays
in discussions about the Holocaust. It had a groundbreaking impact
when it was first staged off-Broadway in 1978; an impact that continued
when the play was performed in London the next year and then finally brought
to Broadway. The uniqueness of the story line and the strength of
its message about tolerance, love, and human dignity made the play successful. It
was nominated for both a Pulitzer and a Tony in 1980.
THE NEW CENTURY. West
Coast Premiere! December 3, 2009-January 2, 2010.
A big gay
comedy from Paul Rudnick. Directed by Igor Goldin.
Gratuitous nudity and snappy one-liners! A Jewish matron, a flamboyant
aging homosexual and a Midwestern craftswoman collide in this outrageous
and poignant comedy. "The one-liners fly like rockets in The
New Century, the rollicking bill of short plays…Building
on time-honored traditions within gay and Jewish humor, Mr. Rudnick turns
stereotypes into bullet-deflecting armor and jokes into an inexhaustible
supply of ammunition…." – NY Times. Rudnick
is the playwright of Jeffrey, Valhalla and The Most Fabulous
Story Ever Told. Goldin directed last summer’s smash
hit Yank! For the first time, the show will run over both
the Christmas and New Year weekends.
THE MARRIAGE BED. West Coast Premiere! February
11-28, 2010.
By Nona
Shepphard. Directed by Rosina Reynolds.
Jeni loves Val and Val loves Jeni. But is that enough reason to get married, especially when you’re not sure your girlfriend is over her ex, and one of you is not out to your family. Once the United Kingdom approved civil partnerships in 2005, same-sex couples had to ask themselves: “Do I want to make a commitment? Do we want to make a big splash? If so, what sort of splash? Shall it be the pink limousines, or shall we walk? Shall we invite my mother? (If she says no, it will make me feel really awful and spoil the day.) Do I want to be formally tied to another person?” All this and a fourposter bed! Reynolds has directed The Twilight of the Golds, Beautiful Thing and Wrinkles, among others for Diversionary. Funny, touching, timely and ingenious. Underwritten by Joann Clark. Reynolds has directed eight productions for Diversionary, including The Twilight of the Golds, Beautiful Thing and Lot’s Daughters.
SPEECH and DEBATE. March 25-April 11, 2010.
By Steven
Karam. Directed by Jason Southerland.
Sex. Secrets. Performance-art blogs and blackmail. A
typical day when you're a teenager in Salem, Oregon. Three teenage
misfits discover they are linked by a sex scandal that’s rocked
their town. When one of them sets out to expose the truth, secrets
become currency, the stakes get higher, and the trio’s connection
grows deeper in this searching, fiercely funny dark comedy with music. "…savvy
comedy…bristling with vitality, wicked humor, terrific dialogue
and a direct pipeline into the zeitgeist of contemporary youth…Karam
has a keen ear for how teens talk, move and think, how they view each
other and the adult world…and uses both the advantages and perils
of cyberspace to make amusing, original points…" —Variety.
Written by Karam when he was 25 (he’s 28 now), he took the transcript of an online chat between the former mayor of Spokane, Washington and a gay teenager as the basis for this fiercely funny and edgy new play. The play received a GLAAD Media nomination upon its premiere. Jason Southerland, now Artistic Director of Next Theatre in Chicago, co-directed the MOXIE/Diversionary musical play Pulp!
MOSCOW. May 6-30, 2010.
Book and
lyrics by Nick Salamone. Music by Maury R. McIntyre. Director
to be announced.
Trapped in limbo, three gay men stage a musical production of Chekhov's The
Three Sisters. A compelling fusion of music, emotion, melancholy
and lust. “…a timely tribute to the redemptive powers of
art, a reminder that even the most apparently hopeless lives can be
transformed through the unifying fellowship of the theater. – The L.A. Times
Moscow was first produced in Los Angeles in 1998 and went on to win the top honor at that year's Edinburgh Festival. The men are: Jon, a scholarly playwright who has lost many loved ones to AIDS and has retreated into cerebral celibacy; Luke, a sexually needy male hustler who lives solely for the next fleshly encounter; and Matt, a shy virgin, who struggles to balance the conflicting urges of love and lust. Trapped, uncertain if they are alive or dead, the men soon become emotionally embroiled. Naturally, romance is rocky in this limbo. Unlike the tormented trio in No Exit, the characters in Moscow rally, recoup and bond.
Queer Theatre Program
Diversionary’s
Queer Theatre program gives voice to the stories of LGBT people, and is supported
by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation New Connections Fund. The
program honors the ideas, the energy and commitment people have made to write
LGBT stories. More than 70 new plays with LGBT themes get submitted
to the program each year.
DANCE/THEATRE. April
22-25, 2010. Inspired by Theatre/Created through Dance. Peter
G. Kalivas, project artistic director, engages local choreographers
to bring past Diversionary productions to life through new dance pieces. Underwritten
by California Institute for Contemporary Arts.
SEXTET. Date
TBA. A Queer Opera in Six Scenes. Composed by Nicolas Reveles. Directed
by J. Sherwood Montgomery. What do Walt Whitman, the rapture, and a gay
bath house all have in common? Those are among the unusual subjects
explored in Sextet, shedding light
on various aspects of gay desire: for community, for power, for acceptance,
for family, for sex and for love. Reveles is The Geisel Director
of Education and Outreach for the San Diego Opera.
LET A HUNDRED FLOWERS BLOOM. By
David Zellnik. Date
TBA. Set in New York in 1996, this comedy is about (variously): disability,
gay porn, the pharmaceutical revolutions of the 90s, Chairman Mao, and the
rise and fall of post-AIDS euphoria. At turns funny and serious,
part comic fantasy, part love story, the play explores how to construct
a life, a sex life, and a friendship after ten years of believing you
would die very soon.
THE ZERO HOUR by Madeleine George. Date TBA. O and Rebecca want love to be all they need, but the fact that Rebecca has not yet come out to her mother is threatening their happiness. Meanwhile, Rebecca’s classroom teachings of the Holocaust are seeping into her evening subway rides, in this tour-de-force with two actresses playing all the roles. Developed at PlayLabs, New Dramatists, New York Theatre Workshop and O’Neill Playwrights Conference.
The Year Ahead
Mainstage productions will have three to five week runs,
with 16 or more performances per run. Each show will preview on Thursday and Friday
night, with openings on Saturday nights. Performance schedule for
the year is Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm, Sunday
at 2:00 and 7:00pm, and selected Monday’s and Wednesday’s
at 7:30pm.
Discounted six-show subscription packages ranging from $98
to $216 are now available through May 31 (prices go up on June 1). The early
bird discounts include a package with a 45% discount. There are
no handling/service charges for tickets purchased through Diversionary’s
box office.
Single tickets go on sale six weeks before the opening date of each show. Group sales for any show during the season can be arranged now by calling the box office. More information about all the shows and season subscriptions are available through the Box Office at 619.220.0097 or at www.diversionary.org.
- END -
Diversionary’s mission is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily.
Financial support for Diversionary Theatre is provided in part by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.
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