Love! Valour! Compassion!
By Terrence McNally
Directed by Thomas McClurg
The celebrated drama by Terrance McNally is a touching portrayal of eight gay men who spend summer holidays together to relax, exchange some great dialogue and face their mortality over the three principal weekends of summer: Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. Their host is choreographer Gregory (Rob Connor), lord of an enormous three-story country house by a lake in upstate New York.
Gregory's blind-from-birth lover, Bobby (Jason Whittle), co-hosts the affair. The guests include Cristopher Tibbets as John Jeckyll, a bitter composer from England who likes to stand apart from the others. Hot-tempered and brooding, Tibbets plays not only the heckling Jeckyll but also, in a sense, Hyde: his own sunny, sweet-natured, terminally ill twin brother, James, who is as pleasant as John is repulsive.
On all three visits, Jeckyll brings with him his young, handsome boyfriend, Ramon (Mark Adler Wohlers), a dancer who is obsessed with pleasure – not commitment! Ramon, the newcomer, does not hold back his exhibitionist tendencies and reveals himself fully! The ensemble also features the very-married pair of 14 years, Arthur and Perry (Erik Weinke and Darrell Budic) and Buzz (Jason Best), a campy, Broadway musical-comedy aficionado who is also suffering from AIDS. Buzz presents many of the show's highlights, including a serendipitous relationship.
The play revolves around themes anyone can identify with: loneliness, jealousy, need, and generosity. McNally explores friendships, love, and sexuality; and examines the vast questions of life and death and the soul of human interaction. He does so with humor and insight.
Produced by StageQ in the Drury at the Bartell Community Theatre, 113 East Mifflin, Madison, Wisconsin.
Performances: July 5-27, 2002
Thursdays (July 11, 18, 25) at 7:30pm, Fridays (July 5, 12, 19, 26) at 8pm, and Saturdays (July 6, 13, 20, 27) at 8pm.
The Thursday, July 11th, performance will benefit the New Harvest Foundation, one of Madison's primary fund-raising organizations for GLBT concerns and interests.
Tickets are $15 for all shows and may be purchased online at www.StageQ.com or by calling StageQ reservations at (608) 204-0306.
Due to content this play is for mature audiences only.
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Thomas McClurg (Producer of The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and StageQ's Artistic Director) directs the Tony Award winning play. He creates a touching record of human life. "The real issues presented in this play do not depend on sexuality but on character, a common trait of StageQ productions," McClurg states. Jennifer Quale and Steve Noll serve as Assistant Producers. The other production team members are David Lauritzen for costumes and Dan Jackson for choreography, while Aaron Clarke and Mark Penner handle lighting and sound design, respectively. Tony Sheehan is Stage Manager.