Whether you are in the mood to laugh or cry, Chicago theaters are offering incredible entertainment options to help us celebrate Pride Month. Read below to discover some of Windy City Times’s favorite theater and film options for the month of June.
Theater
The complexity involved with being a 20th Century homosexual surely played a part in famed composer Stephen Sondheim’s provocative understanding of the nature of humanity itself. These grand nuances will most definitely be on display in Marriott Theatre’s upcoming take on Sondheim’s very popular A Little Night Music, which runs from June 17-Aug. 9.
Andy Warhol, one of the world’s truly original gay icons, is getting his due in June with Andy Warhol Presents the Cocaine Play, now showing through July 6 at Jackalope Theatre Company. Described as a “100% fake show about 100% real people,” a description that would be sure to delight the artistic master himself, the Cocaine Play also brilliantly uses color-blind casting – resulting in what is sure to be a one of kind evening for all.
Referenced in everything from Resident Evil to Mickey Mouse cartoons, Alice in Wonderland is given a very gay makeover in Annoyance Theatre’s Blue Dress, running from June 6-June 26. There, everyone’s favorite blonde traveler enters into a lesbian relationship with Dorothy of Oz, giving the phrase “horse of a different color” a very Sapphic reimagining.
The stage adaptation of Annie Proulx’s groundbreaking short story Brokeback Mountain runs until June 28 at Chicago Shakespeare. Promising to hit at audience’s emotions in the same way that the multiple Academy Award winning film did, more specifics about this one-of-kind commentary on the emotional tolls of closeted cowboys in love can be found at www.chicagoshakes.com.
Is there a better way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hell in a Handbag, Chicago’s own theatrical mecca for queer outrageousness and sophisticated camp, than with another entry in their mega-popular Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes parody series? Written by acclaimed Artistic Director David Cerda, The Cheese Pyramid, running through June 21, details what happens when Blanche (Grant Drager), Dorothy (Cerda) and Sophia (Kelly Bolton) help Rose (Ed Jones) deal with a surprising surplus of the titular product. Broad conspiracies, puppetry and the stage debut of Cerda’s cute-as-hell, real life dog also play into the mix here, making for a much needed night of laughter and fun.
Iceboy!, the Goodman’s world-premiere musical comedy, starring Emmy Award-winners Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, is having a Pride Night celebration on June 26. Fans of Mullally’s outrageous Karen on the revolutionary Will and Grace are sure to want to check out this one of a kind event.
Exploring how technology has changed the shape of gay relationships, Guillem Clua’s Smiley will run its North American English premiere through June 21 at Open Space Arts. Directed by Jack Dugan Carpenter and featuring performers Seth Kobs and Aydan Lopez in the leading roles, Clua’s work here has been compared to the classic rom-coms of Nora Ephron and has had multiple runs throughout southwestern Europe.
If you’re in the mood for a sightseeing trip to Aurora…and some male eye candy, Paramount Theatre’s current production of South Pacific has handsome sailors aplenty in its talented line-up of singers and dancers. Known for such songs as Some Enchanted Evening and I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair, the show’s themes of racism and cultural understanding also seem especially pertinent right now. It runs through June 14.
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, every gay man on the Red Line had an Anne Rice novel creased, eagerly, between their sweaty palms. Of course, the Sapphic allure of the sexily undead was well established with 1936’s Dracula’s Daughter, as well, making Lookingglass Theater’s Untitled Vampire Play a natural for the month that we celebrate the queer community, as a whole. In keeping with that, there will be a special Pride Day celebration for the show on Saturday, June 27. Featuring drag performances and a special post-panel discussion, this seems to be the perfect gothic offering for imaginative queers who want an alternative to the boisterous weekend bar scene.
Film
For those who love old school celluloid coding, the legendary Music Box Theatre has curated a film series based around the subtle yet distinct lavender elements found in the cinema of Alfred Hitchcock. Fond of His Mother: Queer-Coded Hitchcock, including showings of Rebecca and Psycho, runs from June 6-June 27 at this iconic Lakeview movie palace.
Landmark Theatre’s Retro Replay Pride Series continues to run throughout June at the Century Mall. You can catch features like Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Moonlight and But I’m a Cheerleader for only $6.
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