Los Angeles LGBT Center Unveils New Performing Arts Season Lineup for 2023-2024
LOS ANGELES, September 13, 2023—The Los Angeles LGBT Center is thrilled to announce the five productions and nearly 15 special events that will comprise its 2023-24 performing arts season. The line-up includes reimagined classics, campy true crime comedy, and a musical from Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown—all co-produced with local theatre companies.
“After welcoming 6,000 patrons to the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center last season, we’re excited to announce our new lineup celebrating collaborations with 14 local arts organizations. Combined, the next season offers over 100 performances showcasing diverse queer stories and communities on center stage,” said Los Angeles LGBT Center Artistic Director Jonathan Muñoz-Proulx.
Performances began at the Davidson/Valentini Theatre last month with The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First Black Drag Queen, co-produced by Celebration Theatre and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. The show will run through Sept. 24, and will be followed by Lottie Plachett Took A Hatchet, co-produced with Outside In Theatre, on Sept. 29–Oct. 30.
Frozen Fluid, co-produced by Coeurage Ensemble and Los Angeles LGBT Center, will run Nov. 10–Dec. 17.
In 2024, the Davidson/Valentini Theatre will welcome two more productions: THREE, co-produced with Playwrights’ Arena, and Songs for a New World, also co-produced with Celebration Theatre.
The 200-seat Renberg Theatre will be host to an array of special events and one-night only programming, including an unapologetically queer Nöel Coward adaptation, a chamber music program with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Ángeles, and many more—plus, the returns of fan-favorites like The MisMatch Game and the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles.
Tickets range from free to $35 and are available at lalgbtcenter.org/events.
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DAVIDSON/VALENTINI THEATRE PRODUCTIONS
The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First Black Drag Queen
Running now–September 24, 2023
Co-Produced by Celebration Theatre and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Written & Performed by Les Kurkendaal-Barrett
Directed by Tom Trudgeon
Cultural Consultation by Brittney S. Wheeler
While under anesthetic euphoria, a Black gay artist named Les is visited by the effervescent spirit of William Dorsey Swann, AKA “The Queen.” Surviving antebellum enslavement, Swann rises from the ashes of racial oppression to become the first Queen of Drag and queer activist on record. During their journey, Swann guides a complacent Les through time, popping his Glinda-esque pink bubble of self-preservation and provoking him to challenge all-too-familiar modern-day monsters.
Lottie Plachett Took A Hatchet
September 29–October 30, 2023
Co-Produced by Outside In Theatre and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Written by Justin Elizabeth Sayre
Directed by Jessica Hanna
Justin Elizabeth Sayre, a fixture of the Downtown Cabaret Scene in New York, has written a hilarious, scintillatingly campy play full of axe murders, sexual depravity, and the installation of a toilet. Based on the infamous murder case of Lizzie Borden: Lottie, an unsuspecting spinster, stands accused of brutally murdering her father and stepmother. As the case unfolds, Lottie must confront the truth of what happened that fateful day and what, if any, part she had to play in it. But did Lottie Plachett actually take up a hatchet? Could a woman actually be capable of such a heinous crime? That’s for the audience and the jury to decide as this camp comedy unfolds.
Frozen Fluid
November 10–December 17, 2023
Co-Produced by Coeurage Ensemble and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Written by Fly Jamerson
Directed by Amanda McRaven
Somewhere in Mythic Antarctica, three scientists at a research facility live and conduct research out on the ice, continuously becoming and unbecoming themselves as they play out the creation of the world. Through a series of fables, Frozen Fluid chronicles the arrival of phytoplankton scientist Tay and the unraveling of the fantastic Antarctic world in which they find themself. Together, the scientists construct and deconstruct notions of gender, identity, religion, climate, and time itself.
THREE
February 15–March 18, 2024
Co-Produced by Playwrights’ Arena and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Written by Nick Salamone
Directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera
THREE is a meditation on Chekhov’s THREE SISTERS which explores Chekhov’s themes of longing, love, and the meaning of life. Set in a fictional army base town in the far north of the upper Midwest, THREE offers a snapshot of the Prozorov family and their loved ones on four different days in four different eras. We see our characters first on the day the town’s soldiers begin to return from World War II, and again on Halloween night in 1983, with Reagan in the White House and the AIDS epidemic finally beginning to permeate the national consciousness. Then, the day after the Oklahoma City bombing and, finally, in the not-too-distant future, when the country is recovering from the COVID crisis and mobilizing for conflict in Eurasia with another autocrat on the march. Each act’s historical events provide a new setting and a new context for Chekhov’s eternal concerns.
Songs for a New World
April 19–May 25, 2024
Co-Produced by Celebration Theatre and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Director TBD
It’s about one moment. It’s about hitting the wall and having to make a choice… or take a stand…or turn around and go back. These are the stories and characters of today, the Songs for a New World. The first musical from Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Bridges of Madison County), this moving collection of powerful songs examines life, love, and the choices that we make.
RENBERG THEATRE SEASON
The MisMatch Game: Hot August Night Edition
August 26, 2023
Co-Presented by Los Angeles LGBT Center
Created by Dennis Hensley
Beat the heat with an evening of R-rated game show madness, side-splitting celeb skewering, and air conditioning! Host Dennis Hensley and his panel of comic geniuses are back for ONE NIGHT ONLY to rescue you from the dog-days-of-summer doldrums. It’s not the heat. It’s the hilarity.
Circa: Queer Histories Festival
October 1–31, 2023
Co-Presented by ONE Archives Foundation and Los Angeles LGBT Center
ONE Archives Foundation & the Los Angeles LGBT Center present: Circa: Queer Histories Festival, a month-long programming series showcasing the trailblazing histories and vibrant cultural contributions of LGBTQ+ communities through the lens of present-day challenges and triumphs.
The Laramie Project: 25th Anniversary Reading
October 12, 2023
Co-Presented by The Group Rep and Los Angeles LGBT Center
By Moisés Kaufman and the Members of Tectonic Theater Project
Directed by Kathleen Delaney
In October 1998, Matthew Shephard, a college student at the U of Wyoming was kidnapped, beaten, tied to a fence, and left to die. His crime? Being gay. Kaufman, Fondakowski, and members of the Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half, conducting more than 200 interviews with the people of the town to construct a deeply moving theatrical experience that explores the depths to which humanity can sink and the heights of compassion to which we can ascend. We see a town caught in the crosshairs of a hate crime and media frenzy.
The Cowards
October 21, 2023
Co-Presented by After Hours Theatre Company and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Written by Ryan O’Connor
Directed by John Hill
The Cowards is Ryan O’Connor’s completely fresh adaptation of the classic play Hay Fever. In this unapologetically queer version, the four members of a dysfunctional chosen family unit (The Cowards) have each invited a surprise guest to their Provincetown, Massachusetts home for the weekend. What ensues is a biting, wicked comedy in which a batch of wildly unpleasant people make for uproarious entertainment.
The MisMatch Game: Ghouls Night Out Edition
October 29, 2023
Created by Dennis Hensley
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the Renberg…The MisMatch Game is back to scare, shock, and tickle you silly. Join host Dennis Hensley and a panel of LA’s sickest comic minds for a spooktacular night of jump scares, fright wigs, and R-rated game show insanity.
A Rainbow Navidad
December 1, 2023
Co-Presented by Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Directed by Carlos Samaniego
Enjoy the traditional holiday sounds of Mexico, Spain, and the USA with Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles. The first ever LGBTQ+ mariachi performs Christmas classics with holiday cheer and lots of sabor.
The MisMatch Game: I’ll Be Homo For Christmas Edition
December 3, 2023
Created by Dennis Hensley
Secure your spot on Santa’s Naughty List with a peppermint-scented evening of gleeful celebrity skewering and R-rated game show insanity. Join host Dennis Hensley and a panel of L.A.’s most uncorked comic minds as they bestow upon the world the gift of laughter, which is way better than frankincense and myrrh.
Holiday Harmonies
December 16, 2023
Co-Presented by Trans Chorus of Los Angeles and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Directed by Abdullah “Abby” Hall
For most transgender and nonbinary individuals, coming home for the holidays is not an option. So we celebrate with our created families, friends, and allies. Join TCLA for Holiday Harmonies, a night of songs bringing our community together socially, culturally, and lovingly in the spirit of goodwill to all during this holiday season.
CURRENT: [inti]mate
January 21, 2024
Co-Presented by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Curated by renowned composer inti figgis-vizueta, CURRENT: [inti]mate features a chamber program presented in collaboration with the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the Museum of Latin American Art. [inti]mate aims to create an inclusive and welcoming environment, where diverse communities come together in harmony, celebrating both queer and Latine musical cultures. Immerse yourself in boundary-pushing music from the Latin-American diaspora, including works by Pulitzer Prize-winner Tanía Leon, Anjelica Negrón, and Marcos Balter, as well as a world premiere by figgis-vizueta.
The MisMatch Game: Heartbreak Feels Good In A Place Like This Edition
February 10, 2024
Created by Dennis Hensley
Join host Dennis Hensley and a panel of L.A.s most love-starved comic minds for an evening of heart-centered celebrity skewering and R-rated game show insanity. Whether you’re pleasantly partnered, sexy and single, or a throuple looking for a fourth, The MisMatch Game is guaranteed to make you swoon.
Out Loud
March 2, 2024
Co-Presented by The Braid and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Stories and songs by a collection of writers from The Braid
Directed by Susan Morgenstern
The LGBTQIA+ community and its allies are filled with Jewish people and their unique experiences. Join us for a night of theater that explores the beauty, heartbreak, and homecoming of being queer and Jewish through a collection of powerful stories and songs you can’t miss.
Brown & Out: LGBT LatinXperience Plays
March 16, 2024
Co-Presented by TNH Productions/CASA 0101 and Los Angeles LGBT Center
A showcase of ten short plays from the Brown & Out LGBT LatinXperience Playwriters Workshop.
VOICES: For US by US
April 13, 2024
Co-Presented by Trans Chorus of Los Angeles and Los Angeles LGBT Center
Directed by Abdullah “Abby” Hall
It’s TCLA’s ninth season, and the time has come to celebrate the accomplishments of trans and nonbinary singers and composers. Join TCLA as they present VOICES: For US By US! A celebration of musical selections written, composed, and performed by trans and nonbinary artists. Featuring songs by artists Justin Tranter, Sam Smith, Shea Diamond, Ezra Michel, and more. Let us sing our songs, with our voices. It’s for US and by US.
The MisMatch Game: Taste the Rainbow Edition
June 29, 2023
Created by Dennis Hensley
The long-running comedy hit returns with an evening of Pride-themed game show insanity and questionable wig choices. Let your freak flag fly as host Dennis Hensley and a panel of L.A.s most twisted comedy minds declare, “We’re here! We’re queer! We’ve got fresh Sharpees!”