The Black, Queer Theater Collective HOUSE OF LE BLANC Takes On Ball Culture In LE BLANC
By: A.A. Cristi Jun. 14, 2018
As NYC Pride approaches, emerging Brooklyn based playwright and actor Qwalee Summers along with The PIT Theater have announced that they will present LE BLANC, a new non-linear full length play written by Qwalee Summers that explores race and sexuality alongside our American judicial, health care, and law enforcement systems from a black, All American, queer perspective. The production incorporates elements of music, art distillation, light design, and dance and will run a limited engagement, Friday, June 22 through August 6 at the Pit Loft, 154 West 29 Street in Manhattan. More info at www.houseofleblanc.com
LE BLANC was a selection for the Negro Ensemble Company's emerging playwright festival and did a brief residency with The Muse in Brooklyn. Most recently, it had very successful preview performances at La Mama Theatre and BRIC Arts Media in Brooklyn. LE BLANC uses the American foster care/adoption, child welfare, and adult judicial system as a backdrop to tell the rags to riches, demise, and redemption of a fictional world famous dancer and choreographer. Through a series of interviews both spoken and acted out, LE BLANC explores the life of Wellington - from his humble beginnings as a motherless child in the foster care/adoption system of California, to his sexy exploits as a serial monogamist with a diverse selection of male and female lovers, all the way through his unconventional outlook and relationship with HIV/AIDS, and right into his underground rise to notoriety on the NYC gay ballroom scene as a member of the "House Of Le Blanc". What lies beyond his rise to mainstream success as a commercial dancer will be sure to shock as audiences witness his evolution.
Ball culture, the house system, the ballroom community and similar terms describe an underground LGBTQ subculture in the United States in which people "walk" (i.e., compete) for trophies and prizes at events known as balls. Some who walk also dance; others compete in drag categories, designed to emulate other genders and social classes. Most participants in ball culture belong to groups known as "houses." These competitions and the art of Voguing has become increasingly recognizable due to the popularity of films like "Paris Is Burning", Madonna's iconic song and video "Vogue", and recent TV projects like Ryan Murphy's "Pose" and Viceland's "My House."
Playwright and director, Qwalee Summers is originally from Atlanta, GA. He attended both Valdosta and GA State University before moving to New York to pursue film and theatre production. In 2009, 2010, & 2012, Qwalee produced successful Off-Off Broadway staged readings of his script "Colours". On the film/television side of things he has written, directed, & produced two critically acclaimed seasons of "SubUrban Underground TV" for BRIC ARTS MEDIA and has a feature film by the name of "Shades Of Queer" debuting in 2018.
Come and join The House! Life is a ball...
More info at www.houseofleblanc.com
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