Do you miss being able to attend live theater in the aftermath of coronavirus?
Playbill is offering virtual readings of Pride Plays to celebrate Pride Month in June.
A different play with LGBTQIA+ themes will stream on Playbill.com every Friday at 7 p.m.
The online theater’s campaign benefits the initiative Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
It was supposed to launch last week with “Brave Smiles…Another Lesbian Tragedy” by The Five Lesbian Brothers (Maureen Angelos, Babs Davy, Dominique Dibbell, Peg Healey, Lisa Kron), but it was rescheduled to June 22 to support Black Lives Matter.
Instead, the first play will be “One in Two” this Friday. Inspired by playwright Donja R. Love’s 10th anniversary of being HIV positive, the show explores being black and queer.
June 19 will stream “Masculinity Max” written by MJ Kaufman and directed by Will Davis. The comedy follows a trans guy who celebrates his transition at a Super Bowl party.
June 26 will stream “The Men From the Boys” about a group of friends gathering in a New York City apartment after a funeral. It’s written by Mart Crowley, who passed away in March after winning a Tony for Best Revival of a Play for “The Boys in the Band.”
The festival wraps June 28 with a Pride Spectacular musical celebration featuring John Cameron Mitchell, Michael R. Jackson, Mj Rodriguez, Brandon Victor Dixon, Caitlin Kinnunen, Jenn Colella, Matt Gould & Griffin Matthews, Matt Roudin, Miriam Shor, Lauren Patten, Celia Rose Gooding, Shakina Nayfack, Eden Espinosa and Cheyenne Jackson.
It’s hosted by Michael Urie, who curates the festival with Doug Nevin and Nick Mayo.
In addition to the four weekly public livestreams, the festival will also develop new works from rising playwrights through private virtual readings not presented to the public.
This includes Ted Malawer’s “Everything Beautiful Happens at Night,” Rodney Hicks’ “Just Press Save,” Ryan J. Haddad’s “Good Time Charlie,” Azure D. Osborne-Lee’s “Crooked Parts,” Omar Hantash’s “Roof,” Garrett David Kim’s “Are You There Truman?,” Sophie Sagan-Gutherz’s “Marked Green at Birth, Marked Female at Birth,” Audrey Lang’s “You Have to Promise,” Preston Max Allen’s “Modern Gentleman,” Carmen LoBue’s “Will You…Hold My Hair Back” and Hayley St. James’ “For Leonora, or, Companions.”
