Final McNally Readings Held At Mary's Attic 9/19, 9/26

The final staged readings in our series The Great Plays of Terrence McNally will be held at Mary's Attic this Sunday and next. Make sure to purchase your tickets today!

Love! Valour! Compassion! is this Sunday, September 19, and Corpus Christi is September 26. Mary's Attic is at 5400 NortH Clark in Andersonville, and showtime is 6 p.m.

The final reading - The Ritz - will be October 24 at Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont, at 7 p.m.

At a lakeside vacation house eight friends spend the three major holiday weekends of one summer together for Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day in Love! Valour! Compassion!

The house belongs to Gregory, an aging Broadway choreographer and his blind twenty-something lover, Bobby. Guests include business consultants Arthur and longtime partner Perry, costumer and musical theater fanatic Buzz, John Jeckyll, a sour Englishman, his twin brother James, and John's lover Ramon.

Infidelity, flirtations, soul-searching, AIDS, truth-telling and skinny-dipping mix monumental questions about life and death with a wacky dress rehearsal for Swan Lake performed in drag. Love! Valour! Compassion! premiered in 1994.

The cast includes David Besky, Eric Casady, Jonathan Helvey, Michael Lasswell, Brian Rooney, Patrick Rybarczyk and John Zinn.

Michael Lasswell directs. Our Celebrity Host is State Representative Harry Osterman.

For tickets go to www.brownpapertickets.com.

The most controversial and talked about play of the 1998 theatrical season - Corpus Christi - begins: "We are going to tell you an old and familiar story."

But from that point on, nothing feels quite familiar again as McNally tells a story about Joshua, a gay man coming of age in Corpus Christi, Texas, that parallels the story of Jesus' birth, disciples, death, and resurrection in a remarkable and unforgettable evening that deals with love, faith, marriage and more.

Patrick Rybarczyk directs a cast which includes Jake Szczepaniak, John Highberger, Patrick Gannon, Jonathan Helvey, Lee Wichman, Scott Merchant, Steven Anderson, Spencer Davis, Tyler Dean, Justin LeClaire, Eric Casady, Nick Inzeo, and Frank Sawa.

Celebrity Host is Fausto Fernos.

For tickets go to www.brownpapertickets.com.

For The Ritz, John Nasca directs an exciting cast featuring Alexandra Billings, Michael McAssey, David Cerda, Ed Jones, Michelle McKenzie-Voigt, Michael Barr, Charles Berglund, Patrick Cannon, Eric Casady, Marie Clawson, Jonas Grey, Michael Hampton, Jonathan Helvey, Albert Huber, Nick Inzeo, Michael Korte, David Lipschultz, Jason Nykiel, Jeffrey Patrick Olson, Chad Ryan and Kevin Webb.

Celebrity Host is Honey West.

At the Ritz, the rates are low, the decor is rococo, and the clientele is congenial. Gaetano Proclo reasons this all-male bathhouse is the perfect place to hide from his murder-minded brother-in-law Carmine.

But what Gaetano and his fellow bathhouse patrons get is an exercise in wild, manic mayhem as he eludes "chubby chaser" Paul B. Price, entertainer Googie Gomez, and his wife Vivian. He also encounters The Ritz' gatekeeper Abe, habitué Chris, go-go-boys Tiger and Duff, detective Michael Brick, and his wife Vivian. The Ritz premiered in 1975.

For tickets go to www.brownpapertickets.com

Tickets for all events are at
Brown Paper Tickets, 1 800 838 3006
www.brownpapertickets.com
The Great Gay Play Contest

We are searching for the best gay new GLBT play of the year! The Great Gay Play Contest is accepting entries through October 31. We will have 15 semi-finalists announced by the end of the year, and five finalists performed as staged readings in the Great Gay Play Fest at Center on Halsted the first week of March, 2011.

We hope this will become an annual event that will benefit theater companies and audiences everywhere.

Find contest rules and submission materials here.
About Pride Films and Plays

Pride Films and Plays is dedicated to comprehending the history of great gay writing and fostering its excellence in new works for the stage and screen.

Pride Films and Plays, based in Chicago, links an international network of writers with professionals working in film and theater.

Through readings, contests, classes, screenings and full Theater Productions, Pride Films and Plays engages artists and audiences in the full developmental process needed to make great artistic experiences.

www.pridefilmsandplays.com

Pride Films and Plays
David Zak
Executive Director

John Nasca
Patrick Rybarczyk
Artistic Associates

Elayne LeTraunik
Grant Writer

Alysa Turner
Sponsorship Director

3023 N Clark 327
Chicago, IL 60657