Deerfield High School Theatre to be the First High School To Perform MAKING GAY HISTORY

Deerfield High School Theatre in Deerfield, Illinois, has announced that they will be the first high school in the world to produce Making Gay History: Before Stonewall, created by Joe Salvatore, adapted from Eric Marcus's Making Gay History. The production will feature performers from the advanced acting classes and designers from the technical theatre design class.

Many believe that the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement in the U.S. began with the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York
City's Greenwich Village. But a rich history of activism, organizing, and resistance preceded those pivotal riots.
Making Gay History: Before Stonewall weaves together the voices of twenty pioneers who blazed a trail for LGBTQ+
equality in the decades following World War II and whose brave and inspiring work helped to catalyze the Stonewall moment.

Drawing from interviews conducted by Eric Marcus-chronicled in Making History, Making Gay History, and subsequent podcast episodes-Making Gay History: Before Stonewall takes us back in time to the earliest days of the movement to tell the largely hidden stories of the people who helped a despised minority take its rightful place in society as full and equal citizens.

Directed by theatre program director, Britnee Kenyon, Making Gay History: Before Stonewall is an example of verbatim documentary theater, in which real people, rather than fictional characters, are investigated and performed. The interview excerpts on which the play's script is based are performed verbatim, incorporating the original speakers' stutters, stumbles, pauses, misspeaks, "uhms," "uhs," and so forth. Given the current circumstances of our remote environment, Making Gay History: Before Stonewall will be streamed on ShowTix4U on Friday, November 13th, and Saturday, November 14th, at 7:30pm. On Monday, November 16th at 6:00pm, audiences can engage with the cast and crew on a Zoom talkback (link provided upon ticket purchase). Tickets and more information can be found on their website.

www.deerfieldhstheatre.org

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Orchestrations - Top 3

1. Ethan Popp, The Rescues - The Lost Boys

30.5% of votes

2. Lux Pyramid - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

14.8% of votes

3. Anders Eljas, Brian Usifer - Chess

12.1% of votes

Vote Now! View Live Stats