Dan Butler Directs THE NORMAL HEART in Randolph, VT 12/1

Actor and director Dan Butler, probably best known as the sportscaster Bulldog on NBC's "Frasier," is a Vermonter making a difference for World AIDS Day this year. This Newbury resident has organized both Equity and non-Equity actors throughout the region for a benefit staged reading of Larry Kramer's Tony Award-winning play The Normal Heart on December 1 at 7:00 PM, at Chandler Music Hall in Randolph (VT).

In observance of World AIDS Day, Chandler Pride is presenting this performance as a chance for Vermonters to reflect on the lives of people with HIV/AIDS as well as to honor those we have lost to the disease.

Mr. Butler's accomplished cast features Lisa Harrow of Woodstock, who starred in Wit at Northern Stage and Off-Broadway, and Alan Gelfant of Norwich, frequently seen in productions of the Parish Players, based in Thetford. Also performing will be EBen Brown of Canaan (NH), Michael Fisher of South Burlington, Spencer Morrissey of Morrisville, Alex Nicosia of Middlebury, Bill Pelton of Montpelier, and Richard Waterhouse of Newbury, as well as Mr. Butler himself. Audience members will have a chance to greet the director and actors and comment about the production at a reception following the reading.

All proceeds from the staged reading will go to Vermont CARES, which serves Vermont north of Brattleboro, and the HIV/HCV Resource Center (formerly known as ACoRN), which serves the four Upper Valley counties. Representatives from both organizations will be available at Chandler on December 1st to answer questions about HIV/AIDS and its presence today in Vermont and the Upper Valley.

Premiered in 1985, The Normal Heart is a keystone of theatre dealing with AIDS in America. It has won multiple Tony Awards and is widely recognized for its ferocity, honesty, rage, and beauty. The play chronicles the early years of the spread of HIV, especially the complicated emotions and conversations about love, sex, and death in the face of a disease that at the time was little understood and had little prospect for cure or treatment. About the play, critic Rex Reed commented, "No one interested in the future of the human race can afford to miss The Normal Heart."

Director Dan Butler has this to say about the play's impact and why he chose it at this time to honor Vermonters affected by HIV/AIDS: "The Normal Heart stunned me when I first saw it in New York City in 1985, and there are issues in it regarding national health care and coming out which are as potently current now as they were then. Though the face of AIDS seems to have changed, no longer as life-and-death as it was then, Larry Kramer continues to remind us that the dying continues worldwide on a massive, unreported scale, and that denial and apathy and ignorance and fear are as alive as ever. This play is a chronicle of a certain terrifying, paralyzing time of crisis when brave people discovered the courage and resolve to take care of their own, and I think it's also a wake-up call that we're all on our own."

This is Chandler Pride's second offering this year to address gay and lesbian issues and concerns, with the aim of building bridges of understanding between gay and lesbian community members and their families and friends. The Summer Pride at Chandler Festival was inaugurated last July with well-received staged readings of the ground-breaking play The Boys in the Band and two new works. Planning has begun for the second annual Summer Pride Festival in July of 2012.

The Normal Heart is being produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc, New York City.

Admission to the staged reading on December 1 is by donation. Group reservations are required and can be made by calling the Chandler Box Office at 802-728-6464 between 3:00 and 6:00 PM weekdays. Individual reservations are encouraged. Audience members should be aware that the play contains mature content. Historic Chandler is at 71-73 Main St, Randolph, VT 05060.

This production is sponsored by the Samara Foundation and Vermont Public Radio. Chandler is physically accessible.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos

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