Hey, all you Gleeks! Yeah, I'm talking to all of you Glee fans who clamored to the TV set each week to hear those twentysomething high school "kids" warble out remixed versions of pop and Broadway standards.
If you truly love Glee ( and aren't already nonplussed at the irony about such a LGTBQ-friendly show appearing on right-wing media magnate Rupert Murdoch's FOX network ) , then show your support of real-life LGTBQ singers by attending a Pride concert in your own community this month.
Now in order to deflect any hurled claims about journalistic conflicts of interest, I must disclose that I've sung with both the Windy City Gay Chorus and the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus on and off through the years. I'm not just pimping column space for my choral brethren. I want to emphasize the important place that choruses have had in providing an artistic outlet for members of the LGTBQ community.
The Windy City Gay Chorus is Chicago's oldest gay chorus, and it operates with its sister chorus Aria: Windy City Women's Ensemble under the umbrella nonprofit organization of Windy City Performing Arts. Under the new artistic directorship of Stephen C. Edwards, Windy City Performing Arts celebrates Pride Month with 5 and 8 p.m. performances of the concert Summer Lovin' Saturday, June 19, at the Center on Halsted's Hoover-Leppen Theatre.
As expected, there are summer-themed excerpts from musicals like Grease! and Hair. But interspersed between the songs are personal stories from chorus members about coming out experiences and finding his or her own place in not only the LGTBQ community, but the world at large. For more information, visit www.windycitysings.org .
Fresh off their performance at Milwaukee's Pride Fest, the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus does even more traveling for its Pride concert Summer Camp. Just like last year, CGMC is reaching out to Chicago Western Suburbs by performing at the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook ( and with all of the construction on the Eisenhower Expressway, many a suburban gay and lesbian will be singing "Hallelujah" no doubt ) .
In addition to those two suburban shows at 3 and 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 20, Summer Camp also plays three shows in Boystown at a new venue, Nettlehorst Auditorium, 3252 N. Broadway, June 25-26. Given how the word "camp" has multiple definitions ( especially in the gay community ) , you can expect plenty of humor to come into play in this musical revue headed by artistic director Patrick Sinozich. Visit www.cgmc.org for more information.
The Artemis Singers, Chicago's lesbian feminist chorus, will host the Sister Singers Network 2010 Choral Festival from July 1-4 at the Lakeshore Campus of Loyola University. It's expected that this soon-to-be 30-year-old chorus will shower some sisterly affection to visiting feminist choruses ranging from Washington's The Righteous Mothers to Amasong from Champaign-Urbana.
If choral music isn't your thing ( a nice way of suggesting that you're too self-centered to chorally blend with a group ) , then be sure not to miss the 8th Annual Windy City Gay Idol. The final round is 3 p.m. Saturday, June 19, at Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted, with a $10 cover. Visit www.windycitymediagroup.com for more information.
Keeping Bailiwick lit
It used to be that a gay play wasn't a proper gay play without the expected gratuitous full male nudity. For many years, Bailiwick Repertory Theatre regularly offered plenty of man parts in its long-running revue Naked Boys Singing.
Now just in time for Pride Month, the revamped and renamed Bailiwick Chicago is once again offering full male nudity with the Midwest premiere of Joe DiPietro's Fucking Men. This modern-day drama inspired by Arthur Schnitzler's 1900 La Ronde looks at relationship issues in the gay community by following a cast of 10 men who end up linked with each other partner by partner.
While performances of Fucking Men begin June 18 at Theatre Building Chicago ( recently rechristened Stage 773 under new ownership ) , Bailiwick Chicago is also readying another summer production with another gay connection: Elton John and Tim Rice's 2000 Broadway musical Aida, which begins performances July 1 at American Theater Company. For more information on both shows, visit www.bailiwickchicago.com .
Still filled with Pride
David Zak may have stepped down as Bailiwick Repertory Theatre's artistic director in 2009, but he's still active in theater via the new company Pride Films and Plays.
Zak will direct a staged reading of Richard Greenburg's 2003 Tony Award-winning gay baseball play Take Me Out at 7 p.m. Sunday, June 20, at Stage 773 ( the final offering in a series of readings titled Five Decades of Great Gay Plays ) .
Zak is also spearheading a competition called "The Great Gay Screenplay Contest." There are cash prizes and semifinalist plays are to be read by such luminaries as Bruce Vilanch, Billy Cogar, Windy City Times columnist Billy Masters and many more.
But you better hurry to get your screenplay submitted, since the entry deadline is July 31. For more information, visit www.pridefilmsandplays.com .
Please send theater news and other related tidbits to scottishplayscott@yahoo.com and Andrew@windycitymediagroup.com .