ACT UP 40th Fundraiser: WHAT HAPPENS TO BOYS IN CHELSEA at Judson Memorial Church

Ryan F. Casey is performing their autobiographical solo play, WHAT HAPPENS TO BOYS IN CHELSEA, as a fundraising event for ACT UP's (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) 40th Anniversary.

ACT UP — the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power — is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals, united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis.

During the height of the AIDS crisis, ACT UP had their first meeting in March 1987 at New York’s LGBTQ+ Center. Inherited from past social movements, ACT UP push forward the understanding of nonviolent civil disobedience as an instrumental tool in American Democracy.

Eric Sawyer— Founding ACT UP Member, Co-founder of Housing Works, HealthGAP, and UNAIDS Civil Society Advisor— will be giving opening remarks and calling upon language used by fellow founding ACT UP members during the early years of ACT UP.

Ryan has performed WHAT HAPPENS TO BOYS IN CHELSEA on off-Broadway stages, at cabaret venues, and in the streets of New York. Credits include: Theatre Row, The Triad Theater, Club Cumming, The Stonewall Inn, and the NYC AIDS Memorial at St. Vincent's Triangle.

The play is a work of political theater; calling to dismantle the New York City Police Department's Freedom of Information Law Unit.

In 2006 New York, Foster Lawrence sets out on the town for a night out with friends. He ends up in a stranger's home. And then splattered, clinging to his life, on the New York City asphalt. Ten years later Foster sets out on the town once more- to find out what happened that night. We follow Foster navigate the New York City terrain and New York City Police Department as he begins to understand his trajectory juxtaposed to queer history, societal constructs - and as per the NYPD - What Happens To Boys In Chelsea.

“It's impossible to imagine the impact of their movement clashing with and elevating the words of the text. Ryan is riveting! The story still stuns even though I'd read it. I understand the power of the material. The claim of the choreopoem is earned, I'd say.” - Sydne Mahone, Original Dramaturg on For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf

The performance runs 50 minutes and will be followed by a Question and Answer session.

The Q+A is intended to have the energies of an ACT UP Monday Night General Meeting.

You can access more information about the play on Ryan's website. www.ryanfostercasey.com

More information about how to get involved with ACT UP New York on ACT UP's website. www.actupny.com

And more information about Judson Memorial Church on Judson's website. www.judson.org

Tickets are suggested donation: $10-$40.

All profits will be donated to ACT UP New York.

ACT UP! FIGHT BACK! FIGHT AIDS!