Theater Previews By Neil Cohen

Defying inequality with Wicked talent
Tempe cast to perform for July 13 Marriage Equality U.S.A. benefit

One of the best things about when big shows like Wicked and Phantom of the Opera play Gammage for more than the usual weeklong stop is that the cast sometimes puts on a one-night cabaret. The actors donate their one night off that week to sing, dance and perform a special program to benefit a cause near and dear to their (and our) hearts.

On July 13, get ready for a Wicked night of entertainment to benefit Marriage Equality USA. Defying Inequality sounds like it was created just for Arizona, home of the homophobic, legislature-spawned Proposition 102, but the truth is that the great men and women of Wicked have performed the show in other venues across the country to support our equal rights. After the heartbreaking passage of anti-gay legislation in California, Arizona, Arkansas and Florida, the four U.S. casts of Wicked banded together to perform simultaneous evenings of music and laughter on Jan. 12, 2009. Regardless of their sexual orientation, they joined forces to show that people won’t stand by while civil rights are outlawed or rescinded. As important a project as it is, Defying Inequality is also a heck of a lot of fun.

You may hear “Popular” sung by the sublime Katie Rose Clarke to KiKi Vermont, you may hear a heartfelt ballad that has special meaning to a member of the cast and you are sure to see the performers let down their hair and break away from their Tuesday to Sunday routine. You may even hear a secret. “You know what? That f***ing wand never works!,” Clarke announced, delighting a crowd in Louisville.

Defying Inequality is the perfect way to flip off the right wing and put your money behind the long fight ahead for equality. Civil rights battles were never this fun before, so don’t you dare miss it. Don’t forget — there’s a reason Elphaba became the Wicked Witch of the West, and you do not want to get on her bad side!

Get ready to get bare
New play examines closeted gay Catholic students putting on a production of Romeo & Juliet

If you loved Were the World Mine, but wished it were just more Catholic, a new theater troupe has come to your rescue. Aperio Productions, the brainchild of young actor Judson deVries, is presenting the Phoenix premiere of Jon Hartmere, Jr. and Damon Intrabartolo’s pop opera, bare. It’s the story of a group of Catholic school students and the way their lives intertwine as they put on Romeo & Juliet.

Peter and Jason are closeted lovers, but Peter wants more from their secret relationship than Jason, the class valedictorian and all-around golden child, is willing to give. Peter is haunted by nightmares where he is outed and rejected, but finds unexpected support from Sister Chantelle, the nun directing the play. Jason, in the meantime, begins an ill-fated affair with the class bad girl, Ivy, in an attempt to live a “normal life.” Jealousy and heartache mirroring plot points in Romeo & Juliet occur, set to a rock score that had to have informed Spring Awakening, another show about teens struggling with sexuality.

The show is filled with lovely, touching and sometimes-heartbreaking songs like “A Quiet Night at Home,” sung by Nadia, Jason’s sharp-witted twin sister, who ponders her life as an overweight girl ignored by the boy she likes. James Snyder, who starred as the title role in Crybaby, and Matt Doyle, adorable star of Spring Awakening and the upcoming Bye Bye Birdie revival, played the star-crossed lovers on a terrific 3 CD set that immortalized the show.

Mark Austin will direct the new production, with musical direction by Gregg Temple. If you enjoy hip, youthful shows like Rent, Spring Awakening and Hair, you’re sure to enjoy seeing Aperio’s young cast bare their souls on stage.

Plaid to see you again!
Forever Plaid celebrates 20 years of afterlife harmony

A sweet musical about a quartet of clean-cut kids cut down in the prime of their ’50s lives, Forever Plaid was one of the first shows to open the Viad Playhouse in the Park, and starred then-Valley favorites like Hal Adams and Matthew McDougall. Partnered with the female counterpart, The Taffetas, the shows were runaway hits for Phoenix Theatre.

The show tells the tongue-in-cheek tale of an unlucky musical foursome who died, only to be brought back for one-night-only to entertain you as only good, clean American boys of the ’50s can! Fast-forward 20 years or so, and a really special reunion is planned, and you can share in the fun at five Valley movie theaters: AMC Ahwatukee 24 and AMC Desert Ridge 18 in Phoenix, AMC Westgate 20 in Glendale, Regal Sonora Village 10 in Scottsdale, or as a last resort, the Cinemark 16 in Mesa (Most GLBT people stay away from it due to their implicit support of Prop. 8).

Get in on the fun as the original cast members arrive on the red carpet in a live broadcast from Los Angeles. It’s followed by a specially taped 20th Anniversary performance of Forever Plaid. A live performance by “The Plaids” — Daniel Reichard, David Engel, Larry Raben and Stan Chandler —of musical numbers never before staged during the play’s Off-Broadway run comes next, and finally, enjoy the first-ever live, coast-to-coast in-theater sing-a-long with “The Plaids.” Couldn’t you just burst your plaid cummerbund? It won’t take three coins in a fountain to make this Mystery Date come true! Get out your poodle skirt and cat’s eye glasses and prepare for a night with the Plaids.

Vital Statistics
Defying Inequality, a benefit for Marriage Equality U.S.A., featuring the cast of Wicked,
7:30 p.m., Monday, July 13,
at the Cherry Lounge & Pit in Tempe.
Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, and Off Chute Too or Unique Urban Boutique in Phoenix, or online at www.firstgiving.com/defyinginequalityaz.

bare, by Aperio Productions
runs July 16-Aug. 9
at Playhouse on the Park in the Viad Center on Central Avenue,
north of McDowell.
Tickets: $20-24.
Info: 602-254-2151 or www.aperioproductions.org.

Forever Plaid celebrates 20 years of afterlife harmony
at various Valley Theatres
at 6 p.m. on July 9.
For more information, visit Forever Plaid.

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