THE FAG FOLLIES to Offer Priority Access for NYC Musical
Life Jacket Theatre Co. will present the musical based on the true story of prisoners and their annual show.
Life Jacket Theatre Company is developing THE GORGEOUS NOTHINGS, a world premiere musical inspired by true events. The show unlocks the doors of the 'Fag Ward,' a secret wing of the Men's Penitentiary in 1930s New York, where inmates were imprisoned for homosexuality. With a score drawn from the Great American Songbook, the musical weaves six inmates' stories into high-camp numbers from the ward's annual Christmas pageant — 'The Fag Follies' — to expose a hidden world that was never supposed to have existed.
The musical is set for its world premiere at PAC NYC, running February 16, 2027 through March 20, 2027.
Development History
Development Workshops: Baryshnikov Arts (May 5-16, 2025; December 1-19, 2025), Abrons Arts Center & ART/NY (December 6, 2024).
Staged Readings: New York Live Arts (February 12, 2024), New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (December 12, 2022).
Concerts: Joe's Pub (June 27, 2024 & February 17, 2020), Playbill (June 20-27, 2020).
Residencies: Baryshnikov Arts Center (2025), Millay Arts (2025), Blue Mountain Center (2025), Yaddo (2023), Drama League (2020-2022), Graduate Hotel on Roosevelt Island (2021-2022), Tectonic Theater Project (2020), SPACE on Ryder Farm (2019).
The work was developed, in part, with support from the National Endowment of the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (in partnership with the City Council), Baryshnikov Arts Center, Making Gay History, Drama League, ART/NY's New York City Small Theatres Fund (in conjunction with the Howard Gilman Foundation), ART/NY's Creative Space Grant (in conjunction with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation), Actors' Equity Foundation, John Golden Fund, Puffin Foundation, Indie Theater Fund, LGBTQ+ History Association, Off-Broadway Angels, Glasser Foundation, and Embrey Foundation.
Creative Team
Creator & Writer: Travis Lee Russ
Director & Choreographer: Danny Mefford
Scenic Designer: David Zinn
Costume Designer: David Reynoso
Lighting Designer: Isabella Byrd
Sound Designer: Megumi Katayama
Prop Designer: Andy Diaz
Arrangements: Dan Schlosberg, Alejandro Senior
Orchestrations: Dan Schlosberg
Developmental Music Consultant: Thomas Hodges
Casting: Life Jacket Theatre Company, Dale Brown, CSA
Marketing Creative Director: Jeremy Kotin
Producers: PAC NYC, Life Jacket Theatre Company
Executive Producer: Kevin Jennings (CEO, Lambda Legal)
General Manager: Hillel Friedman, Evan Bernardin Productions
Producing Partners: Making Gay History Podcast, Baryshnikov Arts, NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project
Special Event Co-Hosts: Joe Harper, Kevin Jennings, Mark Stephanz, Patrick Hinds, Steve Tipton, Tom Viola
Researchers: Travis Lee Russ (Lead Researcher), Emma Dorfman (Assistant Research Dramaturg), Ale Campillo, Kyle Cherry, Andrew Dawson, Angela Dohrmann, Anthony Dvarskas, Brian Joseph Ferree, Colby Frederick, Dylan Gurrera, Ashley Hamilton, Thomas Hodges, Daniel Hurewitz, Jessica Kahkoska, Matt Kelly, Ashley Marinaccio, Derek McNally, Aisling Murphy, Carrie O'Dell, Nicholas Orvis, Kasha Pazdar, Daniel Rattner, Amy Marie Seidel, Zach Shultz, Lauren Sullivan, Roniel Tessler, Gareth Tidball, Linnea Valdivia, Harry Waller, Rachel Whorton, Emma Wilk, Levi Seth Wilson
