Pride Films and Plays to Stage Chicago Premieres of CASA VALENTINA and AFTERGLOW

Pride Films and Plays has secured rights to two of the most-sought-after New York hits of recent seasons, and will stage both in 2019, according to a statement issued today by company Executive Director David G. Zak. S. Asher Gelman's AFTERGLOW, a drama exploring a gay male polyamorous relationship, completed a 14-month run at New York's Davenport Theatre just this past August. The Pride Films and Plays Chicago premiere of AFTERGLOW will open in March and run through early May. In July, Pride Films and Plays will open CASA VALENTINA, Harvey Fierstein's drama set in a resort catering to heterosexual men who enjoy cross-dressing as women. CASA VALENTINA, which premiered on Broadway in 2014 as a production of the nonprofit Manhattan Theatre Club, was nominated for that season's Tony Award for Best Play. Zak said, "We're proud to be the company chosen to introduce these two thought-provoking and very human dramas to Chicago audiences and to add them to our previously announced 2019 productions of I KNOW MY OWN HEART, SOUTHERN COMFORT and DESIRE IN A TINIER HOUSE."

AFTERGLOW is a raw 90-minute play exploring the emotional, intellectual, and physical connections between three men and the broader implications within their relationships. Josh and Alex, a married couple in an open relationship, invite Darius to share their bed one night. When a new intimate connection begins to form, all three men must come to terms with their individual definitions of love, loyalty, and trust as futures are questioned, relationships are shaken, and commitments are challenged. Cast, director and design team to be announced.

CASA VALENTINA is set in 1962, in an inconspicuous bungalow colony in New York's Catskill Mountains that caters to a very special clientele: heterosexual men who delight in dressing and acting as women. These white-collar professionals discreetly escape their families to spend their weekends safely inhabiting their chosen female alter-egos. But given the opportunity to share their secret lives with the world, the members of this sorority must decide whether the freedom gained by openness is worth the risk of personal ruin. Based on real events and infused with Fierstein's trademark wit, this moving, insightful, and delightfully entertaining work offers a glimpse into the lives of a group of "self-made women" as they search for acceptance and happiness in their very own Garden of Eden. Cast, director and design team to be announced.

AFTERGLOW and CASA VALENTINA will be produced in addition to all the other previously announced projects of the company. AFTERGLOW will follow the company's January/February production of Emma Donoghue's I KNOW MY OWN HEART and will play in the Pride Arts Center's 55-seat venue The Buena from March 22 - May 5, 2019. For the first four weeks of its run, it will play concurrently with the company's production of the musical SOUTHERN COMFORT, which will be performed in the PAC's 85-seat Broadway from February 28 - April 7. CASA VALENTINA will begin previews on July 11, shortly after the company's 2018-19 season closer, the world premiere of DESIRE IN A TINIER HOUSE, closes on June 29. CASA VALENTINA will be staged in the Broadway.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

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