Pride Films and Plays Announces 2019-20 Season

Pride Films and Plays Executive Director David Zak today announced the remaining productions in the company's 2019-20 season - an eclectic mix of LGBTQIA+ themed plays and musicals that will include world, US, and Chicago premieres as well as revivals.

Their season began earlier this month with the newly-revised version of the musical ALL THAT HE WAS by Larry Todd Cousineau and Cindy O'Connor, which opened to the press on Monday August 12 and has been extended through September 15; and the Chicago Premiere of CASA VALENTINA, Harvey Fierstein's drama inspired by real-life incidents at a resort catering to cross-dressing heterosexual men on holiday, directed by Michael D. Graham, which will open on August 26.

Previously announced was the heartwarming musical A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, created by the team that wrote RAGTIME and ANASTASIA: Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Terrence McNally. This production will be directed by Donterrio Johnson, with music direction by Jeff Award-winning Robert Ollis and will be performed on the Broadway stage, Pride Arts Center, from October 10 - November 10, 2019.

December will bring a new holiday musical penned by the ALL THAT HE WAS and FLIES! writing team of Cindy O'Connor and Larry Todd Cousineau. AMERICA'S BEST MISFIT TOY will imagine what later happened to the misfit toys rescued by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Donterrio Johnson will direct. AMERICA'S BEST MISFIT TOY will play on the Broadway stage, Pride Arts Center, from November 29 - January 12, 2020.

In January, Pride Films and Plays will join with The Arc Theatre for a co-production of STOP KISS by the American playwright Diana Son. It tells the story of two women, Sara and Callie, who are assaulted on the street after their first kiss. STOP KISS was first produced Off-Broadway in 1998 at The Public Theater in New York City. Kanomé Jones will direct the production to be performed on the Buena stage, Pride Arts Center, from January 16 to February 9, 2020.

STOP KISS will be followed in February with the U.S. Premiere of THE PASS, a play about homophobia in the world of British soccer that premiered in a 2014 London production that starred Russell Tovey. Donterrio Johnson will direct the production, which will play the Broadway stage, Pride Arts Center, in February and March 2020. Specific dates to be announced.

The season will conclude in April and May with the intergalactic gay extravaganza I PROMISED MYSELF TO LIVE FASTER, conceived and created by the Pig Iron Theatre Company of Philadelphia, with text by Gregory S. Moss. The play premiered at Philadelphia's FringeArts Festival in 2015 and was included in that same year in the 39th Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays in Louisville, Kentucky. JD Caudill, director of Pride Films and Plays's production of SOUTHERN COMFORT, will direct the production, set to play the Broadway stage, Pride Arts Center, in April and May 2020. Specific dates to be announced.

Another highlight of the season, in addition to the slate of full staged plays and musicals is the annual LEZFEST - the company's annual a presentation and celebration of queer female and non-binary performance artists. To meet popular demand for this always-sold-out event, this year's LEZFEST will be performed twice, with performances scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday October 22nd and 23rd at 7:30PM. The soon-to-be-announced lineup of performers will include singers, stand-up comedy, poetry reading, and burlesque.

Beyond LEZFEST and STOP KISS, additional female-centric program are in development for the spring and summer schedules.

A full slate of production for summer 2020 is in planning stages and will be announced later.

Executive Director David G. Zak has announced the addition of Donterrio Johnson, Michael D. Graham, Topher Leon, JD Caudill and Larry Todd Cousineau as Artistic Associates of Pride Films and Plays, joining Robert Ollis, who continues as an Artistic Associate.

For more information, visit www.pridefilmsandplays.com or call 1.800.737.0984.

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