Houston RATS?

[NashGay@aol.com]

BIENVENUE THEATRE   proudly presents…..
JUNIOR BLUES 
and 
SENIORITIS
(Parts III and IV of the Off-Broadway Bound Holy Cross Quadrilogy)
Written and performed by
Rob Nash
When:   Special Opening Night Performance, Wednesday, January 12, 8:00 PM.  
Continuing through January 30, Thurs. - Sat, 8:00; Sun. 6:00.
Where:  BIENVENUE (formerly "Curtains", also formerly, "Cleo's") 
3722 Washington Ave.  Between Yale and Waugh/Heights
Tickets:    713-426-2626.  $18-$20, $15 Students.
        General Admission.  Limited Seating.  Advanced purchase recommended.

In each installment of the "Holy Cross Quadrilogy" the characters only age 
one year while the time around them changes significantly. "Freshman Year 
Sucks!" takes place in 1981, "Sophomore Slump" in 1992, "Junior Blues" in 
2013, and "Senioritis" in 1954.  It's theatre. We can do this. "In high 
school, we all want to be unique and still belong.  By skipping around in 
time, I hope to show the timelessness of high school rites of passage and the 
universal desire for individuality and community," says Nash.  (And, no, you 
don't have to have seen "Frosh" and "Soph" to fully enjoy "Junior" and 
"Senior."  Each play is self-contained.)
    In "Junior Blues," it's 2013!  Do you know where your teenager is?!   The 
country is at war!  Johnny wants to avenge his brother Richard's death in the 
desert by enlisting Norman Normal to help build a bomb in an ill-conceived, 
half-baked act of civil disobedience.  Ben meets rock idol, Sick Blood, in an 
online 3-D holographic chat room and becomes another ship, passed in the 
night, in a head on crash course with heartbreak.  George, his dad and his 
step-mother-to-be, Julie Rose, are thrown into family chaos when a visitor 
from Mr. Daly's past shows up at the wedding.
    After intermission-aw, gee, don't get sore, just set your clocks back to 
1954.  "Senioritis" is an aliment that strikes many adolescents in their last 
year of secondary school.  Feelings of boredom toward high school coupled 
with feelings of anxiety toward the world beyond high school contribute to an 
inner climate of apathy, ambivalence and ennui.  Now, try going through that 
in the middle of the Eisenhower administration.  
    The mid-50s provide an engaging turn in a saga which has, until now, only 
skipped forward in time.  When you revert to before the social revolution of 
the 60s (and the pop psychological revolution of the 70s, 80s and 90s), the 
old school "rules" dictated that many things, (especially secrets), were 
handled quite differently.  (They were kept).  How does the 50s influence 
Ben's and Mr. Smith's homosexuality? What happens when Johnny ponders 
marrying girlfriend, Maria, a Latina?  What happens to George's and Julie 
Rose's secret-their son, who everyone assumes is Mr. Daly's?
    Should Johnny, the restless proto-Beatnik, go smoke reefer and write 
poetry in New York or stay in Houston, marry Maria and teach high school?  
Will George actually enlist in the Army to find some structure in his life of 
underachievement?  Should Ben deal with his homosexuality and move to some 
Pre-Stonewall haven for queers (New York?  San Francisco?  Paris?) or heed 
the call of the cloth and go into the seminary?  All these questions and more 
will be answered or avoided in "Senioritis." 
    After  "Freshman" and "Sophomore" enjoyed a critical and audience success 
last Summer at STAGES Repertory Theatre, Nash and director, Jeff Calhoun (of 
Broadway's "Grease" and "Annie Get Your Gun") participated in a week of 
development at Dartmouth University with the New York Theatre Workshop 
(Creators of "Rent!") where the verdict was unanimous:  "Don't take any of 
the plays to NYC, until all are ready to be presented in rep, in an epic solo 
theatrical event:  "Frosh" and "Soph" one night, and "Junior" and "Senior" 
the next.  So, because of pressing time considerations (Plans to mount the 
full Quadrilogy off-Broadway by Spring 2000 are underway) and because of 
scheduling constraints at STAGES, Bienvenue Theatre graciously stepped in to 
provide a home for "Junior Blues" and "Senioritis" this January.
    Not standup, not monologue, not performance art, Nash describes his work 
as "serial ensemble theatre performed solo."  His previous works include "12 
Steps To A More Dysfunctional You," "12 Steps To A More Dysfunctional 
Christmas" and "12 Steps To A More Dysfunctional Family," which have enjoyed 
sold out houses and critically acclaimed runs across the country.  Nash has 
also been seen on VH1 "Stand-up Spotlight with Rosie O'Donnell" and Comedy 
Central's "Out There in Hollywood."