RAT Queer Cafe 2000

[Bobby Mrozek <bby@earthlink.net>]

[Baltimore] Theatre project presents, Q U E E R  C A F E  2000
Theatre that celebrates and reflects the lives of the Gay and Lesbian
Community.   As part of Juneıs GLBT Pride Celebration, Pussycat Theatre 
Company presents the World premiere of four short plays in QUEER CAFE 
2000. Theatre Project, June 8 - 24.  Performances are Thursdays
through Saturdays at 8PM. Tickets are $15 for all performances. Theatre
Project is located at 45 West Preston Street, and for reservations call
(410) 752.8558.  

For the fourth year, PussyCat Theatre Company and Artistic Director
Susan Lev bring Queer theatre to the stage at Baltimoreıs Theatre
Project.  QUEER CAFE 2000  explores ³the future² and features the World
Premieres of ³Nine Rooms Worth² by James Magruder, ³The End of Human
Frailty² by John C. Russell, ³Promenade² by Sarah Schulman, and ³Jesseıs
Head² by Michael Slade.  <http://www.PussycatTheatreCo.com>

Pussycat Theatre Companyıs Artistic Director Susan Lev directs all four
plays for this production. Susan was the Artistic Director of the Noe
Street Theatre in San Francisco where she premiered many new
playwrights. This marks Susanıs fourth year as Producer and Director of
the Queer Cafe series, and she continues to fulfill the promise of the
Pussycat Theatre Company, ³to bring to Baltimore audiences the freshest
voices writing for the theatre today²

And donıt miss these Special Events:

Thursday, June 8thOpening Night Reception, immediately following the                
performance at Theatre Project, sponsored by The Baltimore Alternative.

Friday, June 9th ³The Future of Queer Theatre²  Talkback with some of 
the Playwrights and special guests, immediately following the 
performance at Theatre Project.

Saturday, June 17th, Radiant Pigs, Performing live, immediately after 
the performance, at Theatre Project.

-MORE-

Returning performers for QUEER CAFE 2000 are Robb Bauer, (Penelope and
the Sterile Field and Too Much of Me, both previous QC productions by
James Magruder) Michael Willis, (Ten Memories of My Mother in the Order
I Think of Them) and Jacob Zahnizer (Penelope and the Sterile Field).
New faces include Megan Anderson, (from 5th of July at Everyman),
Julianne Franz, Josh Singer, Rohaizad Suaidi, and Lisa Walsh (from The
Country Wife at The Washington Shakespeare Theatre).

Rounding out the cast of folks who are lending their talents and skills
to this yearıs production are: Ljiljana Jovanovic, who will be composing
Music and performing live; Stuart Stein who is creating original Digital
Video for Queer Café 2000; Danielle Nekimken, Scenic Design; and Craig
C. Young, Lighting Design.

About the Playswrights and the Plays
        
"Nine Rooms Worth" by James Magruder.  
Love fades. A mortgage is forever. On the verge of 40, Jack decides to 
slide into adulthood under the wire by buying a house with his boyfriend 
Toby. The only obstacles are himself, himself, and himself. A World 
Premiere comedy of built-ins and closing costs from the author of 
previous Queer Cafes PENELOPE & THE STERILE FIELD and TOO MUCH OF ME.

James Magruder has translated or adapted several works for the stage.
His translation of  Marivauxıs The Triumph of Love , and its subsequent
Broadway musical version, for = which he wrote the libretto. both
premiered at Center Stage. His own produced plays include Bonds and
Options, Nesteggs for Armageddon, Penelope and the Sterile Field, and
Too Much of Me.

³The End of Human Frailty´by John C. Russell
Itıs sometime in the Future. And Orin wakes knowing that something
incomprehensible is about to happen.  Transcendent.  Orin wakes,
remembering beauty and for the first time on Earth ­ there is no
darkness, pain or suffering.  And nothing is impossible!

John C. Russell is most well known for STUPID KIDS.  Produced
Off-Broadway and directed by Michael Mayer.  He collaborated with
visual/theater artist Janie Geiser as writer/co-director of A GUN, A
BOOK, A PHOTOGRAPH, A NAME, commissioned and produced by Downtown Art
Co. in New York, in April 1993. Mr. Russell, a founding member of the
New Works Project, had his plays presented at BACA Downtown and The
Public Theater. Other works by Russell were produced or read at Company
One Theater in Hartford, CT, Downtown Art Co., and Three Dollar Bill in
New York.

"Jesse's Head" by Michael Slade
It's 2052 and Jesse Helms has just been re-elected to an unprecedented
fourteenth term as North Carolina's senior senator.  But election night
veers off into the absurd when a trio of activists begin to activate
their "final solution."

Michael Sladeıs work has been seen in New York, Los Angeles, at various
regional theatre in the United States and at the Edinburgh Festival. New
York productions include: Thanksgiving, And a Child Shall Lead, Best
American, and In Memory of Karl Marx. Mr. Slade has contributed the book
to nine musicals produce by Theatreworks/USA. His award winning
childrenıs novel The Horses of Central Park received national critical
acclaim. He also wrote the script for ³Charles Shulz: A Charlie Brown
Life² for the A&E series, Biography for Kids. Mr. Slade is a 1997
Writers Guild Award nominee for his work on NBCıs Another World. He
currently writes for ABCıs One Life to Live.

"Promenade" by Sarah Schulman
Promenade was inspired by Irene Fornes' play of the same name. I used
her motif of an unexpected action, and the rest wrote itself.  The
second scene is one I've used in three plays and two novels, I'm
obsessed with it for some reason and can never use it up.

Sarah Schulman is the author of eight novels. She was a 1984 Fullbright
Fellow in Judaic Studies. For her public service she has received a
Stonewall Award for Contributions Improving the Lives of Gays and
Lesbians in the United States, and a Revson Fellowship for the Future of
New York City at Columbia University. From 1979-1994 Sarah made
theatrical work in the context of the Downtown arts movement. This
included pieces performed at The Pyramid Club, 8BC, Club Chandelier, The
King Tut Wah-Wah Hut, PS 122, Theater for a New City, La Mam, Westbeth,
Here!, The Performing Garage and other emblematic venues of that era.
She is currently developing two plays: The Child directed by Craig Lucas
and Carson McCullers (Sundance Theater Lab 2000). Sarah is also
collaborating on a musical ³Red, White, and Black² with lyricist Michael
Korie and composer Ricky Ian Gordon, based on her novel ³Shimmer².