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,
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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
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