There likely aren’t many Americans familiar with the UK’s pantomime (often shortened to panto) musical comedy tradition, but PrideArts in Uptown is aiming to change that—at least for Chicago audiences. Panto performances have traditionally been geared towards the whole family in the UK, but not so much at PrideArts. Last year the theater scored a […]
Tag: Jay Españo
Posted inTheater Review
Members only
“If the Internet taught me anything,” says Logan, a shaggy-haired, newly-out incoming college freshman played by Ben Ballmer, “it was that gay people are awesome.” He’s blessed in that everyone in his life, from his childhood best friend (Sophie Murk) to his new Diversity House residence hall roommates, accepts him for his true self; the […]
Posted inTheater Review
Mixtape romance
The titular girlfriend in the local premiere of the two-person musical (book by Todd Almond, music and lyrics by Matthew Sweet) kicking off PrideArts’s 2022-23 season never appears. Referred to only fleetingly, she is nevertheless both presence and absence throughout the story of two young gay men who fall in love after their high school […]
Posted inTheater Review
The celluloid closet
The Chicago premiere of British playwright Chris Woodley’s Tommy on Top, now playing at Pride Arts Center, is a witty farce that elevates crucial questions about representation and authenticity in contemporary media. The show is centered on Tommy Miller (Ryan Cason), a closeted actor who’s just been nominated for his first Academy Award. He’s the […]
Posted inTheater Review
Amnesia wreaks havoc with a gay relationship in 4000 Days
If your partner met you today—instead of whoever you were on the first date—would they still fall in love? Peter Quilter’s queer 2016 dramedy makes literal an anxiety that looms over long-term couples, then dangles a sinister but merciful proposition: if you had a chance to walk away with a clean emotional slate, would you […]
Posted inTheater Review
The Things I Could Never Tell Steven is a musical portrait of an enigma
After a year-and-a-half shutdown, the storefront theater formerly known as Pride Films and Plays is back open for business in Buena Park. Returning to live performance, the LGBT-focused company now called PrideArts has not only a new name but a new artistic director, a reconfigured black-box space with new seats and upgraded air-conditioning, and a […]
Posted inArts & Culture
PrideArts hires Jay Españo as artistic director
Jay Españo brings international perspective as the new AD for PrideArts; plus Leaders for a New Chicago awards and a new fund in honor of the late Malcolm Ewen