Author: Alfredo Casuso

Media contact:  DP&A, Inc. / David Perry (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com 

Friday, September 16 “Our Night: A Community Cabaret” at Castro Theatre
Highlights Local LGBTQ Artists

Headprint House – a queer creative space and community with the mission of spotlighting local LGBTQ+ artists, performers and creators – produces first of planned events with
LGBT Center’s Queer Vibes Partnership

8 August 2022 – San Francisco. On Friday, September 16, Another Planet Entertainment, stewards of the landmark and iconic LGBTQ space, the Castro Theatre, kick off a new partnership with local queer cultural group, Headprint House: Our Night, A Community Cabaret. Tickets range from $20 – $75 and may be purchased online at the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/headprint-house-and-the-castro-theatre-present-our-night-tickets-348468076397

The evening will benefit beauty, health & wellness programming specifically for the trans community of San Francisco, in partnership with the SF LGBT Center. The evening will commence at 6:30pm with a VIP pre-show party. Doors will open for general admission at 7pm, with showtime at 8pm.  

“Another Planet Entertainment is kicking off this continuing series of events, supporting local LGBTQ+ organizations and artists, in a place beloved by the whole community, the Castro Theatre,” said Mary Conde, Vice President for Another Planet who is in charge of the overall Castro Theatre Project. “Headprint House has created meaningful relationships with local performers and artists through their own events and experiences. We’re honored to partner with them to help create this opportunity at the Castro.”

 The lineup for “Our Night: A Community Cabaret” includes:

“I want to thank Another Planet Entertainment for providing the iconic Castro for this incredible night, and working with us to produce future events,” said Jessie Sunday of Headprint House. “The Castro Theatre will highlight an incredible evening of Drag Kings, Queens, Burlesque, Fashion and Artists. Plus, an artist pop-up market will kick off the night, spotlighting local creators in the theatre’s mezzanine. Sip complimentary cocktails and shop small to support our community!”

Sponsors for “Our Night: A Community Cabaret” include: 

• Barb, a local LGBTQ owned company and community that creates and provides styling products for folks with short hair.
• Equator Coffee: the famed award-winning LGBTQ fairtrade Bay Area coffee company
• June Shine: an advocate and ally of LGBTQ experiences in partnership with Headprint House

Taking over management of the LGBT and film landmark Castro Theatre earlier this year, Another Planet has quickly put in place a series of signature events, including the annual Frameline Festival, which returned to the Castro for the first time since the onset of the COVID pandemic, June 13 – 26. On May 22, Another Planet sponsored the annual screening of the Academy Award winning documentary “The Times of Harvey Milk” and the debut of “The Ruth Brinker Story” chronicling the life and legacy of the Project Open Hand founder. On May 15, Another Planet returned another community favorite, “The Sound of Music Sing-a-Long” to the venue, with future sing-a-longs to part of the schedule.  June 3 – 12 saw a special celebration of films from each of the Castro Theatre’s 10 decades.  Later in the year, community favorites such as Peaches Christ and the annual “Home for the Holidays” Concert with Donna Sachet and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus are planned.

Another Planet Entertainment is partnering with Bay Properties, Inc., owners of the Castro Theatre, on an evolution and preservation of San Francisco’s world-renowned entertainment and LGBTQ community landmark. With a long-standing history of working to preserve and improve historic buildings such as the Fox Theater in Oakland, the Greek Theatre in Berkeley and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, Another Planet seeks to enhance the Castro Theatre by implementing significant improvements to the sound, lighting, production, HVAC and the theatre’s trademark marquee, among other facets of the building: all of this, always, with an eye to honoring its unique place in the lives of the Castro and celebrating its communities and residents.

 media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

Dezart Performs Nominated for 15 Desert Star Awards 

Winners Announced By The Desert Theatre League October 16
in Live Ceremony at Sun City Palm Desert

www.dezartperforms.org

3 August 2022 – Palm Springs, CA: Getting ready for its landmark 15^th season, the celebrated Dezart Performs (www.dezartperforms.org) has secured 15 nominations for the 36^th annual “Desert Star Awards” including the categories of Outstanding Production of a Drama (Professional) for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. themed THE MOUNTAINTOP and the company’s first ever musical, GIRLFRIEND, nominated for Outstanding Production of a Musical (Professional). Michael Shaw has been nominated for The Michael Cruickshank Award for Outstanding Director of a Drama (Professional) along with Deborah Harmon for Outstanding Director of a Comedy (Professional). Awards for outstanding lead actors include Shante Deloach, Cortez Johnson (THE MOUNTAINTOP) and Joel Bryant (EVERY BRILLIANT THING). Additional nominations include outstanding lighting design, set design, sound design, costume design, hair and makeup design and props and special effects.

The winners of the 36th annual Desert Theatre League “Desert Stars” Awards will be announced October 16, 2022 in a live-and-in person ceremony at Sun City Palm Desert, the first such in-person event since 2019.  

“Programming our first moving-on-from COVID season was an emotional experience,” said Dezart Performs Founding Artistic Director Michael Shaw. “Juggling the pandemic-related protocols for audience, cast and crew made it even more of a challenge. So, these nominations are even more humbling and appreciated than ever.”

The complete list of “Desert Star Awards” nominations for Dezart Performs are as follows:

Outstanding Production Musical – Professional
GIRLFRIEND 

Outstanding Production of a Drama – Professional
THE MOUNTAINTOP 

The Michael Cruickshank Award for Outstanding Director of a Drama – Professional
Michael Shaw – THE MOUNTAINTOP 

Outstanding Director of a Comedy – Professional
Deborah Harmon – EVERY BRILLIANT THING

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama – Professional
Cortez Johnson – THE MOUNTAINTOP

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama
Shante Deloach – THE MOUNTAINTOP 

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy – Professional
Joel Bryant – EVERY BRILLIANT THING 

Outstanding Set Design – Professional
Thomas L. Valach – THE MOUNTAINTOP 

Outstanding Sound Design – Professional
Clark Dugger – EVERY BRILLIANT THING 
Clark Dugger – THE MOUNTAINTOP

Outstanding Lighting Design – Professional
Joel Howden – GIRLFRIEND
Derrick McDaniel – THE MOUNTAINTOP 
Outstanding Costume Design – Professional
Frank Cazares – THE MOUNTAINTOP 

The Ron Hamm Award for Outstanding Hair and Makeup Design – Professional
Lynda Shaeps – THE MOUNTAINTOP

Outstanding Props and Special Effects
Greg Thorneycroft – THE MOUNTAINTOP 

Details about the upcoming 15^th Season for Dezart Performs follow:

A drama with music, CHOIR BOY by Tarell Alvin McCraney (October 28 – November 6, 2022) is a moving story of sexuality, race, hope, gospel music, and a young gay man finding his voice. This coming-of-age story follows a group of young Black students at Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys, a highly respected institution dedicated to helping its students grow into “strong, ethical Black men.” But what happens when young student Pharus does not fit the mold for a typical “Drew man.” Pharus is different from his peers, and his effeminate nature constantly sets him apart. Though he may be the leader and most talented member of Drew’s renowned gospel choir, he struggles to gain their acceptance and respect.Content Advisory: This play contains nudity.

In the dark comedy A BRIGHT NEW BOISE (January 13 – 22, 2023) by Samuel D. Hunter, we find ourselves in the bleak, corporate break room of a craft store in Idaho. Will, who has fled his rural hometown after a scandal at his Evangelical church, comes to the Hobby Lobby, not only for employment, but also to rekindle a relationship with Alex, his brooding teenage son, whom he gave up for adoption several years ago. Alex works there along with Leroy, his adopted brother and protector, and Anna, a hapless young woman who reads bland fiction but hopes for dramatic endings. As their manager, foul-mouthed Pauline, tries ceaselessly to find order (and profit) in the chaos of small business, these lost souls of the Hobby Lobby confront an unyielding world through the beige-tinted impossibility of modern faith.

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT THE MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER OF NEW YORK CITY (March 3 – 12, 2023)— despite the title — is a comedy by Halley Feiffer. A foul-mouthed twenty-something comedian and a middle-aged man embroiled in a nasty divorce are brought together unexpectedly when their cancer-stricken mothers become roommates in the hospital. Together, this unlikely duo must negotiate some of life’s biggest challenges…while making some of the world’s most inappropriate jokes. Can these two very lost people learn to laugh through their pain and lean on each other, when all they really want to do is run away? Content Advisory: This production contains profanity, sexual language, and simulated sex.

THE GARBOLOGISTS (April 14 – 23, 2023), the new comedy-drama by Lindsay Joelle, chronicles a white conservative New York City sanitation worker and a Black Ivy-educated single mother, thrown together in the cab of a NYC garbage truck, working for the Dept. of Sanitation. They spend their shifts bickering, one-upping each other, and practicing the secret art of mongo: hunting for treasure in the trash. But as their lives become increasingly entwined, they discover some things are easier to toss than others. Honoring our essential workers, THE GARBOLOGISTS is a hopeful story about finding common ground in uncommon times.

New season subscriptions will be available starting August 16; individual show tickets go on sale September 13. 

All performances take place at the Pearl McManus Theater (at the historic Palm Springs Woman’s Club) 314 S Cahuilla Road, Downtown Palm Springs. Ticket prices are $39 – $50. Beginning August 16, subscription sales will be available online at www.dezartperforms.org, or by calling (760) 322-0179. Showtimes are Fridays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 2pm and 7:30pm; Sundays at 2pm.

15th Dezart Performs’ Season Listing

CHOIR BOY

October 28 – November 6, 2022

Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney

Drama with music

2019 Tony nominee for Best Play 

2019 Drama Desk winner for Outstanding Music in a Play

“… the choral music is rich and rousing.” – New York Stage Review

“[CHOIR BOY] registers with potency, examining its themes with a mixture of poignancy and humor…it soars.” – The New York Post

“CHOIR BOY is a drama so infused with emotion that it can’t help breaking into song.” 

– Hartford Courant

—————

A BRIGHT NEW BOISE

 January 13 – 22, 2023

Written by Samuel D. Hunter

Dark comedy

2011 Obie Award winner for Playwriting

2011 Drama Desk nominee for Outstanding Play

“[Samuel D. Hunter] is one of the finest playwrights at work today.” – The Wall Street Journal 

“… the playwright brings humanity and humility to his repressed characters as they struggle to connect and find a means of self-expression.” – Theatermania

“Hunter’s sense of place is richer and more peculiar than any other American playwright working today.” – The New York Times

—————

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT THE MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER OF NEW YORK CITY

March 3 – 12, 2023

Written by Halley Feiffer

Comedy 

“[A FUNNY THING HAPPENED…is] a play that is as deeply felt as its name is long. – The New York Times 

“The play is as defiantly unconventional as its title, but it is also satisfying in traditional ways.” – The Los Angeles Times

“Feiffer again demonstrates a talent for crafting caustically sharp comic dialogue.” – The Hollywood Reporter

—————

THE GARBOLOGISTS

April 14 – 23, 2023

Written by Lindsay Joelle

New comedy/drama

“THE GARBOLOGISTS takes us on a ride of sadness, joy, anger, disbelief, and understanding.” –Grid Magazine

“Lindsay Joelle’s finely crafted play is laced with wit and wisdom.” – Broadway World

“[THE GARBOLOGISTS] is delightfully intimate, surprising, and profound, filled with sometimes unexpected laughter and even tears..” – onStage Pittsburgh

Dezart Performs, one of the Coachella Valley’s preeminent theatre companies, recognizes that the performing arts enrich the life and culture of a community, promote greater understanding and provoke insightful discussion. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit theatre company, its mission is to provide an artistic home for bold and cutting–edge plays, creating an atmosphere of artistic growth for actors, writers, and directors who uniquely contribute to the diverse theatrical environment in the Coachella Valley.

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“Upon This Rock” upon Blue Bar Orvieto! Behind that door across from Anthony’s always bustling café is where it all started.

In winter 2014, Alfredo and I came to Orvieto, Italy sight unseen following two challenging years full of sorrow after the loss of our “logical family” as Armistead Maupin coined the phrase: Tom Dross, Otis & Felipe, and Anthony not to mention the notorious and debilitating case of Lynne Spaulding’s senseless and criminally careless death at SF General Hospital.

We were exhausted.

Enter a serendipitous email from our friends Tony & Kip:

“Do you know anyone who would like to do a house swap for three months? We have a little place in a small town in Italy.”

“Us.”

“Don’t you want to know where?”

“Three months. Small town. Italy. We’re in.”

When we searched the address on Google Street View the first thing we saw was the azul neon of “Blue Bar” across from our friends’ front door. 68 steps up behind that portal began my fictional tale of Orvieto, itself inspired by true events: Etruscans, Romans, Medici, Mussolini, Popes, partisans, World War II and immigrants fleeing war torn toos. And, of ourse, the tragic suicide of the beloved local deacon, Luca Siedita, to whom “Rock” is dedicated, figures most prominently.

Thank you Orvieto and the Orvietani: muses all.
— David Eugene Perry