GROUND-BREAKING
GAY REVUE AT CHIP DEFFAA INVITATIONAL
In his 16 years as an
entertainment critic for The New York Post, Chip Deffaa had seen countless
revues of songs by Stephen Sondheim, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin,
but never saw one revue of gay songs. So he decided to create one.
So Mr. Deffaa, Executive Producer of the theater festival bearing
his name, became the writer of "Mad About the Boy: Gay Songs from
the 1920s to the Present." The show is playing at Cafe Chashama (111
West 42nd Street, NYC - 212-206-1515 or http://www.smarttix.com/).
It plays Saturdays at 8:30 pm and Sundays at 9:30 pm, from September
21st through October 14th. Tickets are $15. (And 10% of the box office
goes to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.)
When Mr. Deffaa first
proposed doing this show in the festival, some skeptics wondered if
there even were enough gay-themed songs to fill an hour-long show.
But Chip has a collection of over 100,000 recordings, and knew that
there were more than enough gay-themed songs to create many shows.
In the show, he reaches back to a trailblazing 1920s song by legendary
blues singer Ma Rainey, "Prove it on Me." And comes right up to the
present with his favorite of all of Anthony Rapp's songs, the affectionate
and wonderfully open-hearted "Just Some Guy," sung sweetly and simply
by Matthew Helton. Chip admits that he wanted to present this show
for 16 years. The hard part was winnowing down material to create
a fast-paced breezy overview.
The cast, Deffaa feels,
is as strong as any of the 25 productions in his festival. It includes
the inimitable Baby Jane Dexter - a force of nature right there; balladeer
Keith Anderson - as fine a voice as you'll find in the city; he has
brought in KJ Henderson from Chicago to insinuate some blues and smolder
through Steven Kowalczyk's "Who Do You Do?" Also Brandon Cutrell,
who has won a loyal following in cabaret. Karen Oberlin brings the
show a Billy Strayhorn rarity never recorded or published. Kristy
Cates is going to win fans with her striking performance of "Lavender
Nights." Newcomer Matthew Helton is going to catch a lot of attention
- the voice, the spirit, the whole vibe is endearing. Patrick Rinn,
in his camp drag characterization of 'Rose,' brings the show an act
he originally prepared for Tommy Tune. And Adam Barta - the perfectly
cast star of the festival's hit drama, "Befriending Beau" - shows
us another side of himself. Kelly Briggs serves as director, and John
McMahon serves as musical director. The show runs just an hour.
Of the 25 productions
in the Chip Deffaa Invitational Theater Festival, four are gay-themed.
"Mad About the Boy" - the most innovative of the Festival's four gay-themed
shows - draws upon Deffaa's expertise as a show biz critic and historian.
The festival's other main
gay-themed shows are "Befriending Beau" - a new version of David Gaard's
cult classic about a teen in love with a fellow male student who may
or may not be gay; "Fairyland," the U.S. premiere of a British play
about a rent boy and his client; and "The Other Side of the Closet,"
the U.S. premiere of a Canadian play about teens and homophobia -
written for teens.
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