Chicago preview of "Upstairs: The Musical," based on "The UpStairs Lounge Arson," the award-winning history by Clayton Delery, is set to run Oct. 27 to Nov. 12. The play is by Wayne Self and is co-produced and co-directed by Gary Trick and Eric Coleman.
UpStairs is a work of fiction, but the events that inspired it are all too real. On Sunday, June 24, 1973, the fourth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in New York, a gay bar known as the Upstairs Lounge in the "Gay Triangle" area of the French Quarter of New Orleans was set ablaze by an arsonist. Wooden stairs leading to the bar's only entrance were doused in lighter fluid and set alight. Twenty-nine people perished in the fire itself, and another three succumbed to their injuries afterward, bringing the death toll to 32. It remains the deadliest attack on an LGBTQ population in US history until recently.
The original play was first previewed in New Orleans LA in 2013 to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the UpStairs Lounge Fire.Play Dates October 27 to November 12.
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm / Sundays at 2:00pm
November 16 to November 19
Thursday and Saturday at 7:30pm / Sunday at 2:00pm
November 25 and November 26, 2017
Saturday at 3:00pm and 7:30pm / Sunday at 2:00pm
Doors will open one hour before for music, dancing, and meeting of the Cast in Character, special playlist created for this production by ME TV-FM 87.7. Tickets are on sale at: Brownpapertickets.com pr 1-800-838-3006 or on upstairsthemusicalchicago.com .
Pride Arts Center 4139 N. Broadway Chicago, IL 60613.
Wheelchair accessible. Adults only due to content and partial nudity.
YouTube sizzle real: www.youtube.com/watch .
Upstairsthemusicalchicago.com