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Just a couple of songs into the first act of this year's incarnation of Broadway Our Way -- Uptown Players annual fundraiser -- I found myself thinking, "Gee, it's a shame that Uptown Players has gotten such a reputation as the gay theater, as if that's all they can do."
Not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you -- it's just that since I moved back to Dallas a couple of years ago, Uptown has consistently put on some of the best theater I've seen. Period. Sure, the shows often have gay themes, and I'm straight, and so what? Good theater is good theater. I just found myself wishing that they could get their message to a broader audience ...
But then, during "I Know Things Now" from Into the Woods, sung nicely by Kevin Moore, out came the ... er, let's just say "sex toys" and leave it at that. I'm pretty liberal, pretty open-minded, and I suddenly felt like I'd wandered into a theater with a red light whirling atop the stage. Likewise during John de Los Santos' dance to "Call From the Vatican" from Nine. He's a glorious dancer, but the emphasis here was on skin, not what the skin was doing.
Well, there went my hopes for a "broader audience," completely gone up in the potpourri-scented smoke of some of the most clichéd of gay clichés. Urgh. With singers and dancers as good as this, can't you just let them sing and dance? When you've got people like M. Denise Lee, Amy Stevenson, Natalie King, Arianna Movassagh, Jeff Kinman and the utterly sublime Darius Anthony Robinson on stage, must you resort to hammy goofiness? Director/writer Andi Allen -- who, it must be said, did a take on Sarah Palin that nearly rivaled Tina Fey's -- just went a bit over the edge this time, I'm afraid.
"Jubilantly tacky" is one thing. "In your face lewd" is quite another, and I have higher hopes for Uptown than that.
Read Lawson Taitte's review here.
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Broadway Our Way has always been a bit outrageous, but this went farther than I remember before.
As for appealing to wider audiences, Uptown Players used to do that in a big way, with its area premiere of Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party and its lovely revival of Hair. Both shows have gay themes in their subplots, but obviously appeal to both gays and straights. The 2008 season, on the other hand, was pretty much all gay, all the way. The 2009 one seems to have a bit more variety, but I don't know some of the material
Of course, Uptown doesn't particularly need to broaden its appeal, with so many sold-out houses and its wide community support. But I agree that it could if it wanted to.
Thought you guys would like to know how we are doing. We also have less than 25 tickets left now for Broadway Our Way. SO GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY!!
Oh….and yall don’t forget we did Aida, Red Scare on Sunset, Ruthless, The Life, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Tick Tick Boom, Valley Of the Dolls, The Who’s Tommy, The Wild Party, Down South, Hair, Legends , (a hit with the straight older crowd).
We are not all Gay…People just assume because our audience is majority gay because they feel WELCOMED at Uptown…
There was nothing “gay” about legends but two guys in a dress and it was a HUGE success and our second grossing play last year. So that’s at least 12 shows more mainstream over a 6 year span. ….Averaging two a year and half of each season.
This year Trials and Tribulation and Altar Boys are more mainstream…
I think we have done a good job of playing to a non gay crowd and we have our eyes on the ball and as you can see these are all plays/musicals that played to a non-gay crowd and a 20 percent increase in subscribers every year since 2001.
Thanks for the review and blog it has made the phone RING~~~ Woo HOO!!
Have a good week!
Craig
Joy - I couldn't agree with you more! I have been going to productions at Uptown Players for the last four years, and they consistently produce excellent theater. For the last three years, my husband and I have been attending the fundraising performance and have considered it one of the highlights of our theater-going experience every year. But, this year's production was a major disappointment, primarily for the reasons you and Lawson have put forward. I enjoy a good joke and the fun involved in changing genders roles, but the show this year descended into raunch and titillation one too many times for me, and I was left with a bad taste in my mouth - for want of a better word! We will continue to attend selected Uptown Player productions, but I just wanted to go on the record here that for this straight person at least, it went too far towards ignoring my "comfort zone!"
I thought the fundraiser was great. I go to laugh. I love the fact that DALLAS has somewhere cool to go for theater. It’s a performance for adults who are comfortable with their sexuality – straight or gay. If I wanted to see the same old thing, I would go somewhere else.
I’ve heard the same sorts of things said about the Vagina Monologues, and I thought that was an excellent performance as well.
The first show I saw at Uptown Players was Down South, and I've been hooked ever since. I still think about Valhalla and Pageant. Those were some of the funniest performances I've ever seen. I don't mind having my "comfort zone" challenged. Please don't change a thing.