Island City Stage Announces 10th Anniversary 2021-2022 Season

Island City Stage is reaching a milestone in its upcoming 2021-2022 season as it celebrates its 10th Anniversary.

"When ICS first began via a partnership with David Gordon and Empire Stage a decade ago, I honestly couldn't have imagined we'd be where we are today," said Artistic Director Andy Rogow. "After only three seasons, we were able to move into a larger theater, we received two Carbonell Awards for Best Production of a play, and we were able to hire a full time Managing Director."

"The enthusiastic support we've received from audience members and donors and the willingness of actors and designers to sacrifice time and money to work with us over the years has been overwhelming. Our audience has grown with us, allowing us to produce many new and often challenging plays that explore the full range of the LGBT+ experience; from serious subjects like racism, rape, gay marriage and sex addiction to lighter fare, including dressed in Joan Crawford outfits and Altar Boyz saving our souls with music."

"We've actually become the largest producer of non-musical plays in Broward County, with over 100 performances per year and a subscriber base of more than 500. Even through the last season, by far our most challenging, our patrons and artists stepped up to assure we could continue our work for another ten years and beyond."

With that backdrop, they have announced another inspiring, challenging and enjoyable season for 2021 and 2022. The new season begins with a revival of the very first play they produced and continues their tradition of presenting a combination of new work and classics, hilarious comedy and cathartic drama.

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WAY by Tom Jacobson

Directed by Michael Leeds

October 1 - October 31, 2021

To kick off our 10th season celebration we're revisiting the play that started it all. The Twentieth Century Way not only still resonates today, but it serves to remind us of everything that we've always been about at Island City Stage - telling socially relevant stories that explore LGBT+ issues and history, with theatrical flair. This play is the true story of two actors who hired themselves out to the Long Beach Police Department in 1914 to entrap "social vagrants".

ARMATURE by Andrew Kramer - A World Premiere Production

Directed by Michael Leeds

January 27 - February 27, 2022

Racism, homophobia, eroticism and self-hatred seethe through this world premiere play. A "burning" is the undercurrent of this searing story in which the Armature Bar is at the epicenter of stories that connect two sexy, troubled gay men and a Black family whose matriarch is running for political office. Uniquely combining mystery and poetry, the challenging themes of this world premiere production are exactly what we love to explore in our new works.

SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER by Tennessee Williams

Directed by Andy Rogow

March 17 - April 17

Tennessee Williams was one of the true titans of live theater over the past century and Suddenly Last Summer is without question one of his most memorable works. Evoking themes of aging and beauty, hypocrisy, greed, sexual repression and cannibalism, the play is also the one that the author himself considered his most poetic. On a hot, steamy afternoon you'll find Violet Venable and her niece, Catherine waging battle in a war that will cement the legacy of Violet's son, Sebastian. Was he a brilliant artist, devoted son or sexual predator? Island City Stage is extremely excited and proud to be producing our first Tennessee Williams classic.

THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP by Charles Ludlam

Directed by Andy Rogow

June 9 - July 10, 2022

Vampire attacks, werewolf sightings, and the resurrection of an Eqyptian Princess all make an appearance in this hilarious send-up of gothic romance and horror films in which two actors and lightning-fast costume changes are the stars of the show. Charles Ludlam and The Ridiculous Theatrical Company were pioneers, now legends in LGBT+ theater, elevating camp to an art form and paving the way for companies like Island City Stage. Our 10th Anniversary is the perfect time to present their best known and most produced work.

ONE IN TWO by Donja R. Love

Director TBD

August 4 - September 4, 2022

Three actors sit in an ethereal waiting room. At each performance the audience chooses which actor must portray the lead character in this uncompromising story of a Black man diagnosed with HIV. But whose story is it, really, as one of every two Black gay men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime? How have these men been treated by the LGBT+ and Black communities? Through humor and pathos Donja R. Love has written a deeply personal call to action and created an unflinching portrait of being Black and gay in America today.

All performances will be at Island City Stage, 2304 N Dixie Hwy in Wilton Manors. For more information and to reserve tickets go to www.islandcitystage.org or call 954-928-9800.