Pivot Arts
During Pride Month, Pivot Arts will be presenting The Memory Place, a unique multi-arts experience amplifying untold stories and hidden histories. As part of the performance, trans and non-binary writer and director, Lucky Stiff, performs their original work, and choreographer/dancer, Davon Suttles, presents a work about LGBTQ+ relations with religious organizations told through tap dance, gospel music, and mixed media. For more information and to reserve tickets, visit https://pivotarts.org/. The performance runs Thursdays thru Sundays June 1-11 only
https://chicagoplays.com/event/the-memory-place/
PrideArts
PrideArts will be hosting 2 events for this year’s Pride Parade. Playing through June 11 will be Tango written by Joel Tan. Tango tells the story of an elderly waitress at a Chinese restaurant in Singapore who refuses to serve a same-sex couple and their adoptive son because of her religious beliefs. When a video of her actions is shared online, this erupts into vitriol, heated debates and a protest rally that rocks the country. PrideArts will host an Industry Night for Tango on Wednesday June 7 at 730pm. 2 for 1 tickets are available at https://www.goelevent.com/pridearts/e/Tango. Use the code “penguin” to receive the discount. https://chicagoplays.com/event/tango/
Following Tango, join us on Sunday June 25th starting at 10am for our 2nd ANNUAL PRIDE PARADE EXTRAVAGANZA! For the bargain price of $25 you will get a curb-side viewing spot complete with a comfortable chair, a catered brunch, champagne, drag queens and other surprises. The best part is that you’ll have access to restrooms and air conditioning inside the PrideArts Center! Seating is limited. https://www.goelevent.com/pridearts/e/PrideParadeExtravaganza
FACETS
Pride Film Fest will celebrate the Pride month of June with three programs of short LGBT films from around the world and an in-person screening of the Argentine film HORSEPLAY at Chicago’s Facets on June 22. The festival website is at http://pridefilm.org/.
About Face Theatre
Will is a trans actor seeking to belong and feeling frustrated at not seeing their story reflected onstage. In their most desperate hour, they reach out for help. They hold a seance and summon the oldest and queerest playwright they can think of: William Shakespeare! Soon, the two become total besties, and together Will & Will reclaim the Bard’s old plays in all their original homoerotic, cross-dressing, gender-fluid glory. Now, Will invites you to an impromptu party to celebrate their new friendship. But to meet the guest of honor, we must perform the seance again, together. Gender Play, or what you Will promises a mystical evening of queer joy, laughter, tarot, and more than a little self-discovery. https://chicagoplays.com/event/gender-play-or-what-you-will/
Theo
From singer-songwriter and performance artist Stew comes Passing Strange, a daring musical that takes you on a journey across boundaries of place, identity and theatrical convention. Stew brings us the story of a young bohemian who charts a course for “the real” through sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Loaded with soulful lyrics and overflowing with passion, the show takes us from Black middle-class America to Amsterdam, Berlin and beyond on a journey towards personal and artistic authenticity. https://chicagoplays.com/event/passing-strange/
McAninch Arts Center
Pride Anthems – a vibrant musical journey from 1969-today. Join us as we celebrate Pride Month with a journey through the past 50 years of Pride Anthems. From Donna Summer and Queen to George Michael, Erasure, Madonna, Lady Gaga and much more, these essential songs take us from disco to the present day. The story of the fight for LGBTQ+ equality is linked to this music, which evokes the struggles, heartache, and liberation of queer lives then and now. Free – no tickets needed. https://www.atthemac.org/events/pride-anthems/
MAC Box Office 630-942-4000, themac@cod.edu
Date: Saturday, June 24 at 6pm
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
NOT AMERICAN (Friday and Saturday June 16 and 17 at 8pm and Sunday June 18 at 3pm) Benjamin Larose lays bare the desperate throes of a middle-aged artist who realizes he has not made it big.
STEPMOM At The Old Ethan Allen Space (Thursday June 22 at 8pm, Friday and Saturday June 23 & 24 with two shows each evening, 7pm and 9:30pm) STEPMOM comes to life on the Steppenwolf stage. Jeff Award Winner Rob Lindley breathes life into Oscar Winner Susan Sarandon while VHS collector and nostalgia queen Alex Grelle dawns a new day as Julia Roberts.
Queer Dance Freakout (Saturday, July 1 at 8pm)
Queer Dance Freakout is an interactive choose-your-own-adventure-spectacle, inspired by the Neo-Futurists’ Infinite Wrench.
Hell in a Handbag Productions
Hell in a Handbag Productions celebrates PRIDE with a look back at our past.
The Hell in a Handbag Pride Reading Series
Friday, June 23, The Drag by Mae West. Written in 1927, this is a witty, scandalous, and cautionary tale of the cost of living a double life.
A young woman who doesn’t quite connect with her husband. What could it be? A revolutionary and highly controversial play that asks the audience to sympathize with homosexual lifestyle because the poor creatures were born that way. Mae West said it long before Lady Gaga…
Saturday, June 24, Presenting Wanda Lust by Owen Keehnen.
Based on the life of Chicago’s very own Wanda Lust, the legendary Chicago drag queen from the 70’s that helped spread the message of sexual health in a pre-AIDS gay scene. Stay for a chat with Chicago gay playwright and historian, Owen Keehnen, as well as, Gary Chichester, a longtime LGBTQIA activist in Chicago. We’ll also have the Gerber-Hart Libary on hand to share Wanda Lust historical items! For tickets and info: https://buytickets.at/hellinahandbagproductions/920697