Lori Cannon

Celebrate PRIDE 2022 with Evolution Theatre - Central Ohio's LGBTQIA Theatre Company as they present the area premiere of Birds of a Feather by Marc Acito. On the surface, it's about two male penguins who partnered, adopted an egg, hatched and raised a chick together. But in reality, it's about so much more!

Hell in a Handbag Productions is pleased to bring back its annual Hams4Hams fundraiser during the company's two holiday productions. Since launching the initiative in 2012, Handbag has raised over $40,000 for Groceryland, which provides food and nutritional counseling for those impacted by HIV and AIDS in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood and on the North Side. Groceryland was started by the longtime Chicago LGBTQ+ advocate and activist Lori Cannon, who started feeding people during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s through Open Hand/Chicago.

Set in 2016, the ghosts of two ex Civil War soldiers, Alex (the Yank) and Web (the Confederate), are still inhabiting the old, dilapidated farm house on their abandoned turkey farm in Central Ohio. These men have lived through much of gay history and have had wonderful adventures and a great romance. Their quasi-existence is interrupted by the sudden arrival of a man and woman dragging into their home a sixteen year old lesbian, entrusted to their care by her parents with the hope that they can “pray away the gay” and turn her into a 'happy heterosexual'. Should Alex and Web get involved even if it means their permanent disappearance after over 150 years? Of course the answer is yes. Based on true events and real people, The Turkey Men, is filled with humor, romance, and pathos. Previews on October 16th & 17th, performances from Oct. 18th thru the 26th 2019 at the Columbus Performing Arts Center, 549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. For tickets or more information, visit: http://evolutiontheatre.org/

A mixture of love, politics and art in a star-spangled comedy set in Washington, D.C., 1990. When Veronica, a self-absorbed movie star in mid-life (think Liz Taylor) agrees to co-star in a play with her favorite ex-husband (think Richard Burton), both egos and calories get burned. The director (who is young, female and attractive) gets a better performance from Veronica's ex-husband off-stage than on. Meanwhile, Veronica's gay assistant falls in love with an old pal, a controversial photographic artist who has just been denounced by Veronica's current flame, a powerful United States senator. When conflicts build between those she adores, the fervently apolitical Veronica is forced to take a position on the one subject she cares about – love. Veronica's position written by Rich Orloff is directed by Jack Petersen. Featuring: Lori Cannon as Veronica, Robert Needham as Harvey, Mark Phillips Schwamberger as Alan, Krista Lively Stauffer as Mallory, Christopher Storer as Ezekiel, and David Allen Vargo as Philip. Performances are July 18th thru July 28th at the Columbus Performing Arts Center, 549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. For tickets or more information, visit: http:evolutiontheatre.org

On Wednesday May 11th, 2018 Evolution Theatre Company hosted a staged reading of Charles Busch's The Lady In Question to benefit their 2018 Season. A freewheeling satire of patriotic 1940s thrillers. A glamorous concert pianist is challenged when a handsome American professor engages her aid in rescuing his mother from a Nazi prison. The reading was be held in the Schottenstein Property Group Pavilion of the Columbus Museum of Art.

It's 1950, and new colors are being added to the Red Scare. Two U.S. State Department employees have been tasked with identifying sexual deviants within their ranks. The problem: They are both gay, and have married each other's partners as a carefully constructed cover. Inspired by the true story of the earliest stirrings of the gay rights movement, madcap classic sitcom-style laughs give way to provocative drama as two "All-American" couples are forced to stare down the closet door. Performances are August 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, September 1, 2 at 8 PM; August 27 at 2 PM. Columbus Performing Arts Center, Van Fleet Theatre, 549 Franklin Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. For tickets or more information, visit: http://evolutiontheatre.org/ or by calling 614-233-1124.

More than 200 members of the Chicago theatre community signed a recommendation that the 2017 Non-Equity Special Jeff Award be bestowed on David Cerda, the co-founder and Artistic Director of Hell in a Handbag Productions for his theatrical and charitable contributions.

The story of seventeen year old Cal and his quest to prove the secret sexual history of Mr. Lincoln. Along the way there is convincing evidence, time travel, a road trip to the nation's capital, budding high-school romance, a crazy Mary Todd and sex in a stove-pipe hat.

Featuring a lively cast of characters thrust into comedic situations, Christopher Durang's "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike" is a lighthearted exploration of familial bonds and hometown roots.

Hilarity runs wild in this 2013 Tony® Award winner for Best Play as movie star Masha supports her middle-aged, single siblings whose academician parents were Chekov enthusiasts.