The award-winning Proud Mary Theatre Company, the Upstate’s alternative theatre, kicks off its second season with The Boys in the Band by Mart Crowley. Performances are October 26 through November 3 in Spartanburg and Greenville.
This event will be the Deep South premiere of the new, updated version of the classic American play that just ended a heralded Broadway run with an all-gay cast starring Jim Parsons (“Big Bang Theory”), Zachary Quinto (“Star Trek”), and Matt Bomer (“American Horror Story”). This ground-breaking work premiered Off-Broadway in April 1968 and ran for 1,001 performances.
Set in 1968 just before the Stonewall riots, The Boys in the Band features nine gay men at a birthday party in New York City where the insults flow as freely as the booze. It’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” meets “La Cage Aux Folles” as these friends play a vicious party game with devastating results.
The Boys in the Band is directed by John Fagan, Producing Artistic Director of the Upstate Shakespeare Festival, and stars Jon Kilpatrick, Brady Coyle-Smith, Kevin Ray Cohen, Charlie Hyatt, Brandon Mimnaugh, Benjamin Abrams, Holt McCarley, Luke Browder, and Zachary Urban.
“Proud Mary is thrilled to bring this important and seminal play about gay life in the 1960s to the Upstate stage for the very first time,” said artistic director Sandy Staggs. “And this will be completely immersive experience for our patrons who will all be guests at the birthday party and in the midst of the drama and sardonic comedy.”
SPARTANBURG DATES
October 26-28 – Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm, and Sunday at 3:00 pm
West Main Artists Co-Op, 578 West Main Street
GREENVILLE DATES
November 1-3 – Thursday through Saturday at 8:00 pm
Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1135 State Park Road
BENEFIT PERFORMANCE & RECEPTION FOR UPSTATE PRIDE
Thursday, November 1 at 7:00 pm
Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1135 State Park Road
Tickets are $15 at the door or at www.proudmarytheatre.com. WMAC and GUUF members receive a $5 discount.
The Boys in the Band is rated PG-13 for mature language and adult situations.