Out Front Theatre Company Announces Tremendous 2018-2019 Season

Out Front Theatre Company, the only theater in the Southeast dedicated to telling stories of the LGBTQIA+ experience and community, announced today its third season of imaginative, inspiring and inclusive productions. The expanded 2018-2019 season lineup will feature five productions and will include everything from full-scale musicals to intimate dramas to campy comedies.

The View UpStairs, in its Southeastern premiere production, will open Out Front's season, October 25 - November 10, 2018. With book, music and lyrics by Max Vernon, The View UpStairs tells the story of Wes, a young fashion designer from 2018, who buys an abandoned building in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Upon entering the space, he finds himself transported to the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant '70s gay bar. As this forgotten community comes to life, Wes embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-exploration that spans two generations of queer history. This smash Off-Broadway hit features a gritty, glam rock score and a tight-knit ensemble of unforgettable characters. The View UpStairs asks what has been gained and lost in the fight for equality, and how the past can help guide all of us through an uncertain future.

A first for Out Front Theatre Company, a holiday production will be added to the season lineup. To kick off the tradition, the theater will stage the world premiere of The Ethel Merman Disco Christmas Spectacular which imagines what Ethel Merman's unaired 1979 Christmas television special would be like. Taking place on stage at the iconic Studio 54, the same year that the Queen of Broadway released her now famous disco record, the show is filled with classic Christmas songs set to a dance floor beat and punctuated by such stars as Andy Warhol, Donna Summer, Truman Capote and more! Running December 6 - 22, 2018, The Ethel Merman Disco Christmas Spectacular is written by Out Front's Founder and Producing Artistic Director Paul Conroy and features dance arrangements by Out Front's resident Music Director Nicholas Silvestri.

To ring in 2019, Out Front will present the Southeastern premiere of Chay Yew's Porcelain from February 7 - 23, 2019. John is a 19-year-old gay Chinese-British man in London who works for his immigrant father's restaurant. Due to his performance on his "A level" exams, he's been accepted for an upcoming term at Cambridge University. John is restless, lonely and unsure of his identity, so he takes temporary solace in hooking up with strange men in public bathrooms. Porcelain is a suspenseful examination of an alienated young man's life filled with mystery and murder.

The Pulitzer and Tony Award winning I Am My Own Wife is based on a true story inspired by interviews conducted by the playwright over several years. The production tells the fascinating tale of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a real-life German transvestite who managed to survive both the Nazi onslaught and the repressive East German Communist regime. Running March 14 - 30, 2019, this one-person show is a true tour-de-force for both the performer and audiences. Recognized for its original production, the New York Times called Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife, "both moving and intellectually absorbing."

Concluding the 2018-2019 season will be The Secretaries by The Five Lesbian Brothers. In the guise of satiric exploitation-horror, The Secretaries takes an unflinching look at the warping cultural expectations of femininity. Pretty Patty Johnson is thrilled to join the secretarial pool at the Cooney Lumber Mill under the iron-fisted leadership of sultry office manager Susan Curtis. But she soon begins to feel that all is not right-the enforced diet of Slim-Fast shakes, the strange clicking language between the girls, the monthly disappearance of a lumberjack. By the time Patty discovers murder is part of these office killers' skill set, it's too late to turn back! The concluding show to Out Front's season will play May 2 - 18, 2018.

"Over the past two seasons we have learned a lot about ourselves and the LGBTQIA+ community of Atlanta," says Founder and Producing Artistic Director Paul Conroy. "We are overjoyed from the support we have received from our patrons as well as local businesses and organizations, and we are going to keep telling the stories they want to hear. With our upcoming season, we wanted to make sure we were as inclusive as we could be. While challenging ourselves as artists, our goal is always to entertain audiences and make them think about themselves and the world around them."

All performances of the upcoming season will run Thursday - Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. New this season, each show will include one Monday evening performance at 8 p.m. Out Front Theatre Company is located at 999 Brady Ave., Ste. 10, Atlanta, Georgia 30318.

Please refer to outfronttheatre.com for exact show dates and times. Tickets may be purchased by calling 404-448-2755 or by visiting outfronttheatre.com. Ticket prices are $15 for children, $20 for students and seniors and $25 for adults.

For more information please visit www.outfronttheatre.com.