"TalkOut Mondays" begin March 1st at the critically acclaimed hit show "The Temperamentals" by Jon Marans that opens Off Broadway at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street) on Sunday, February 28th. Daryl Roth, Stacy Shane and Martian Entertainment are presenting the new American play. Previews begin Thursday, February 18th.
Thomas Jay Ryan (recently on Broadway "In The Next Room") portrays Harry Hay. Michael Urie (from TV's "Ugly Betty") is Rudi Gernreich. Arnie Burton (an original cast member of Broadway's "39 Steps") joins the cast in multiple roles. Rounding out the cast of five multiple talented actors are Matthew Schneck, and Sam Breslin Wright. The critically acclaimed hit show is directed by Jonathan Silverstein. The Set & Costume design is by Clint Ramos, lighting by Josh Bradford and Daniel Kluger is the sound designer. It was recently nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding New York Theater: Broadway & Off-Broadway. (2 hrs 10 mins including intermission)
Each week there will be a panel of distinguished guests* for TalkOut Mondays:
March 1 Larry Kramer (playwright, author, activist) & Paul Rudnick (playwright, author)
March 8 Derek & Romaine (Sirius "Out Q109" radio hosts) & "The Tempermentals" cast
March 15 Bill C Davis (Playwright "Mass Appeal", "Avow") & Tom Viola (activist, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids executive director) March 23 Charles Kaiser (author of The Gay Metropolis, the landmark history of gay life in America) & John Loughery (author of The Other Side of Silence which has a chapter about Hay and the events of the era) March 29 Elizabeth Ashley (actress) & Michael Wilson (director)
Future confirmed Guest/Panelists include: Marle Becker (gay activist, "Out FM" radio program); Charles Busch (actor, playwright); David Carter (author "Stonewall-The Riot That Sparked The Revolution" - and being made into a PBS special); Brian Hargrove (television executive, writer, producer); David Hyde Pierce (Tony, Emmy award-winning actor); Charles Kaiser (author of The Gay Metropolis, the landmark history of gay life in America); Frank Kameny (headed the D.C. Mattachine Society & was fired in 1957 as an astrophysicist for being gay. A public apology to Frank from the Obama administration was made this year in a public ceremony).; Tom Kirdahy (playwright); Judith Light (actress); Jim McGreevey (former Governor of New Jersey, he was the first and, to date, the only openly gay state governor in United States history); Terrence McNally (award-winning playwright); Daryl Roth (producer 6 Pulitzer Prize winning plays); David Rothenberg (political activist, Fortune Society, WBAI Radio) * subject to change
"The Temperamentals" tells the story of two men - the communist Harry Hay and the Viennese refugee and designer Rudi Gernreich - as they fall in love while building the first gay rights organization in the United States pre Stonewall. The play weaves together the personal and political to tell a relatively unknown chapter in gay history. It explores the love between two complex men, as their impossible dream of forming such an unheard of organization becomes a reality in this perilous, unpredictable world. It is an intimate portrayal of the men who created history and the epic struggles they overcame. The characters consist of the actual men who founded the Mattachine Society (Harry Hay, Rudi Gernreich, Chuck Rowland, Bob Hull, and Dale Jennings), as well as other prominent figures of the time in Hollywood and the film industry as well as the world of fashion. www.thetemperamentals.com
