THEATRE

The very best of theatre including All Her Faces: A Portrait of Dusty Springfield; A Womb With a View; GAYFEST NYC; An Octopus Love Story; and EXPOSED: Experiments in Love, Sex, Death & Art.

Dusty Springfield’s fluid sexuality may still be a subject of controversy, but no one disputes her importance in the pop music canon. All Her Faces: A Portrait of Dusty Springfield, at La MaMa June 1–3 and 8–10, unveils the emotional truth underlying Springfield, her music and the magic that attracted legions of fans for decades. When a young man, Jesse, discovers his father’s collection of Dusty Springfield 45s, he puts down his iPod and he and his dad embark on a journey that will bring them closer to Springfield than either one could have imagined. Selections include Dusty’s hits "You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me," "I Only Want To Be With You," "Son of a Preacher Man" and many lesser-known songs.

May 22–June 3 at CAP21/THE SHOP, A Womb With a View explores a year in the life of a lesbian’s journey through the process of alternative insemination. The play traces this woman’s misadventures —from collecting donor samples in her living room, to having her partner (a NYC police officer) inject her with fertility drugs, to her day-to-day job as a 4th grade music teacher in a Brooklyn private school. This primal rush to beat the biological clock is not your ordinary view of conception! Debra Barsha writes and stars in this inventive, uproarious piece filled with storytelling and song.

GAYFEST NYC
, a festival of new gay-themed plays and musicals, runs May 9–June 2 at the TGB Arts Center. The month-long event is the country’s premier festival of new works by LGBT authors. It spotlights gay issues and provides scholarships for the Harvey Milk High School. This year’s Main Stage selections are Revolution, a docudrama depicting events leading up to the gay liberation movement ignited by the Stonewall Riots in June of 1969; Competing Narratives, a compelling story of three lives re-examined; and A Kiss from Alexander, an over-the-top gay musical that portrays Alexander the Great as a royal party animal. A series of staged readings is also scheduled.
 
What if falling in love with the wrong person was the best thing you’ve ever done? Kids with Guns presents the world premiere of An Octopus Love Story, May 2–20 at Center Stage. Jane and Danny, two drifting New Yorkers, identify themselves as gay—until their friendship catches their hearts off guard. A political protest against the ban on same-sex marriage ignites an unlikely and heartbreaking romance in this compelling dramedy.

Move over Yoko and John, Sonny and Cher, Siegfried and Roy, and Gertrude and Alice. Annie and Beth are here! EXPOSED: Experiments in Love, Sex, Death & Art, at Collective Unconscious now through May 12, is a unique love story created in response to the violence of war and the anti-gay marriage movement. Porn star-turned-performance artist and sex scholar Annie Sprinkle, in collaboration with Elizabeth Stephens, examines issues of artificial insemination, famous breasts having breast cancer, queer relationships and much more.


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