It was 20 years ago when Michael Kearns first performed his one-man show, intimacies, and he wasn't sure that he was going to be around much longer.Kearns not only came out professionally as a gay actor in the 1970s, but had publicly disclosed his HIV-positive status in the late 1980s. Although he was working regularly in Hollywood, Kearns didn't know how much longer he'd be alive.
"Who'd have thought it? I mean when I did this show the first time, I didn't think I'd be alive after the next two to three years," said Kearns, who built a career in Hollywood with important credits on shows like Cheers, Murder She Wrote and Beverly Hills 90210. "So to have lived 20 years and be able to have the energy to travel around the country and do shows, that's like 'Wow!'"
At the age of 59, Kearns is humbled and amazed to be able to do an intimacies anniversary tour in six cities ( and is pretty sure more towns will be added to the itinerary soon ) . Yet Kearns is aware that his upcoming single performance of intimacies at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater ( where it is part of a larger Queer "Fresh Squeezed" series ) is a lot less than from his month-long run at the long-gone Halsted Theatre Center in 1989.
"There was a period when AIDS was kind of sexy; it was on everyone's agenda in terms of World AIDS Day and going to benefits and wearing ribbons and being supportive and on the bandwagon," Kearns said. "Those days are over and now I think that it's misconstrued as something of the past that we don't have to think or worry about."
As someone who has benefited from breakthrough HIV medications and therapies, Kearns is grateful about the many strides have been made in terms of giving people longer lives.
"But the drugs are not miracles, nor should they be called that," said Kearns, commenting about the litany of side effects the HIV-drug therapies cause. "And there is still a large amount of seroconversion within the LGTB community. So I think that 20 years later—any spotlight that I can put on the subject again is critical and I'm happy to be alive to do it."
Kearns was originally moved to write and perform in intimacies as a response to the types of people affected by HIV who were excluded from the media.
"The story of the gay white male seemed to be the predominant story that was being depicted not only in the theater but in the news and People Magazine and TV talk shows," said Kearns. "Of my six characters ( in intimacies ) , one is a gay white male, but the rest are of various colors and stripes. This particular piece was borne out of that desire to see a more fair and all-encompassing representation of HIV/AIDS which didn't exist in 1989."
Though Kearns had plenty of hindsight to alter and change his work, he opted not to change a word and to keep intimacies as it was.
"I've had 20 years of living and those two decades have resulted in what I think is a performance that is far more textured, far deeper, far more complicated than it was," Kearns said. "Even though they're my words and I'm using the same text, it's going through a different vessel."
As for changes in Hollywood in terms of growing acceptance of openly gay actors, Kearns himself isn't entirely convinced.
"There's a big difference between deciding to come out and being pushed out," said Kearns, contrasting his own situation of coming out on his own volition in the 1970s versus actors like Neil Patrick Harris and T.R. Knight, who came out recently due to tabloid pressures.
"I am glad those guys are out and coming to the table and being loud and proud about it, but it's a different phenomenon," Kearns said. "There's a big difference about coming out when your career is ahead of you—not when you have already made millions of dollars."
But what Kearns notices most about Hollywood nowadays is how discriminatory it is toward aging actors.
"In Hollywood, you're not considered sexual if you're over 40—with very few exceptions," Kearns said with a laugh. "I did a commercial recently when I wasn't identified as gay or heterosexual—just old."
Though the so-called "AIDS plays" might not be as big of a fashionable draw as they were 20 years or so, Kearns feels secure about presenting intimacies as it was and is today.
"I think that people come to see my show because of the HIV aspect, but also because of my activism," Kearns said. "And also because I have a little bit of a reputation as somebody who puts on a good show."
Michael Kearns' intimacies plays one night only as part of the Fresh Squeezed series at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22. Tickets are $25-$30; call 773-871-3000 or visit www.victorygardens.org .
Also at the Biograph…
The producers of the critically acclaimed off-off-Broadway show Yank! are in town to drum up investors for a planned off-Broadway run of the World War II gay romantic musical at The York Theatre Company.
Authors and brothers David and Joe Zellnik will be on hand to perform songs from the show and give an overview of the project at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. With the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy still being enforced, the producers and creative team of Yank! feel their show is very timely and needs to be heard by a larger audience.
Visit www.yankthemusical.com or call 773-871-3000.
Of New York interest
The long-running Chicago-area interactive comedy Flanagan's Wake has just started previews in New York at the new off-Broadway Theatre at Sweet Caroline's. Here's hoping for a long run.
Also New York-bound is Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble member Eric Simonson's play Lombardi, about the legendary Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi. Producers are aiming for a fall 2010 Broadway berth for this biographical drama that first premiered in 2007 at Madison Repertory Theatre in Wisconsin.
Closer to home, general ticket sales for the Chicago production of the 10-time Tony Award-winning Billy Elliot The Musical go on sale 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20. Call 800-775-2000 or visit www.broadwayinchicago.com for more information.
Please pass along theater news and other tidbits to scottishplayscott@yahoo.com and Andrew@WindyCityMediaGroup.com .
