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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2001)
4gjaaft auft • jane 1,2001 ___ THEATER ............V............ T heatergoers are getting a bonus this sum mer: four edgy plays from triangle productions! Don Horn projects passion and excitem ent as he discusses the upcoming shows and the state o f gay theater in general. T h e Sum m er Pride Series features works he says his gay patrons ly want to see.” Horn always is striving for bal ance in his productions— two of the shows in the series are male- oriented, and two are for the gals. The (Bad) Boy Next Door and Naked Boys Singing! come first; ButchJFemme Chronicles and The Dyke and the Pom Star play later in the summer. Reflecting on the state of gay theater in the United States, Horn wonders if it’s become too homogenized now that gay culture has become so ubiquitous in today’s society. Noting the popularity of Ellen and Will & Grace, he says gay theater is just not unique anymore. “Nudity’s become blasé, gay has become blasé,” Horn says. “Every play you read has a gay character.” Horn suggests one direction that will help gay theater keep its edge: Bring it into the realm o f “let’s talk about it— let’s do the social problems that we have again.” To illustrate his point, The (Bad) Boy Next Door pushes some o f the gay community’s Bad boys triangle productions! presents a Summer Pride Series of plays by R ic h a r d B ray hottest buttons. Barebacking, prostitution and pom — issues often swept under the car pet— are subjects writer and performer Tony Valenzuela boldly examines. Horn has strong feelings about the responsibility of theater to provoke and ask these questions and equally strong opinions about his role in this process. “1 have to be responsible for what I put on stage; that’s one of the reasons we’re doing it.” In this case, despite his personal beliefs, Horn wants to present opinions that provoke thought and discussion. And he says this kind of theater can make a difference: If even one person leaves the theater learn ing about safe sex, something real has been accomplished. Because of the subject mat ter, a discussion will immedi ately follow the play, and Cascade A ID S Project will have an information table set up in the lobby each night. Horn thinks this is particularly impor tant considering the subject mat ter o f The (Bad) Boy Next Door. Drawn from a talk he gave at an A ID S conference, Valenzuela says that his play is trying to “demonstrate a new narrative on A ID S for people who grew up with the disease” and that he is trying to “focus on my genera tional experience.” Most o f the attention around The (Bad) Boy Next Door inevitably has focused on the barebacking issue. Valenzuela does not advocate barebacking but says, “There are individual circumstances when it’s defendable, and that’s a very important distinction.” He does advocate H IV disclosure but says, “ People ultimately need to make their own decisions and be responsible for their own health.” Obviously proud of his play and the discus sion it provokes, Valenzuela says, “I’d like to encourage people to come out and see it and make their own decisions.” econd in the Sum m er Pride Series is Naked Boys Singing! Different in tone from The (B ad) Boy N ext Door, this is a 16-song m usical covering a wide range o f em otions and projecting m uch more depth T he (B a d ) B oy N ext D o o r plays June 7 to 9 at Theater! Theatre!, 3430 S .E . Belmont St. Tickets are $17-$19 from 503-239-5919 or Fastixx. N aked B oys S in g in g ! plays June 14 to July 21. Tickets are $23-$25. Torn Valenzuela offer* his provocative, Mention This Ad & Receive t r a n s it io n s New Clients Only 503/291 - 1 7 1 7 4704 SW Scholls Ferry Road Located in Raleigh Hills Next to Western Pet Supply ju st out p ro u d ly p u b lis h e s a n n o u n c e m e n ts a b o u t y o u r life t r a n s it io n s . Announcements should be 200 words or less, typed and double-spaced. Please include your phone number for verification, just out reserves the right to edit for liability concerns, style and length. Photos are welcome. Your First Visit Arbor PET CLINIC than seven n aked guys singing on stage m ight imply. Dan Johnson and M ark Brown are two of the cast members; both are particularly excited about this production and unusually relaxed considering their lack o f attire in an intimate theater setting during most o f the show. Johnson, an investment banker, acted in college and appeared locally in Hello, Dolly! He says he geared up for this sort o f performance by doing a little m odeling for the A rt Institute o f Portland. Already a triathlete, he did little extra training for this role. Johnson says his friends, family and partner have been hugely supportive of this endeavor. His parents will be in the audience opening night, although he acknowledges his “mom has some reservations.” Johnson thinks the audience will be som e what surprised and chal lenged by Naked Boys Singing! “They think they’re going to see one thing, but the show is so much more.” Brown is equally excited about this musi cal, preparing for the past three months at the gym and losing 25 pounds. A t 38, he is also the oldest cast member and doesn’t really “con sider himself a ‘boy.’ ” Brown has 20 years of theater background, and this isn’t his first nude role— he appeared in a production o f H air six years ago, although he laughs and says the stage was “much darker.” Echoing Johnson’s surprise at the depth o f the play, Brown says: “ It’s not about the nudity so much. It takes you places you’re not expecting to go,” adding that Naked Boys Singing! “has a huge heart.” J H P O B o x 1 4 4 0 0 , P o rtla n d . OR 9 7 2 9 3 ju sto u t@ ju sto u t.c o m F ax: (5 0 3 ) 2 3 6 1 2 5 7 90.7 FM Portland • 91*7 Coiumfria Gorje 100.7 Widamette Valiev 7K“ Q u eer , Q ueer W orld • 9:30 am T his W ay O ut • 6 pm T uesdays independent ¿irtener-Sf»onrored Community Radio T hursday
