Torch Song Trilogy

The PEOPLE*S Theater of Chicago announces a unique collaboration with Season of Concern to present a special two night concert reading of Harvey Fierstein’s Tony Award winning play Torch Song Trilogy.  The performances are Monday, May 5 and Tuesday, May 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the Leather Archives and Museum, 6418 N Greenview Ave in Chicago.  A suggested donation of $30 per person will go partially to help Season of Concern’s remarkable fundraising efforts for people living with HIV and AIDS. 

Torch Song Trilogy consists of three individual plays, all combined into one hilarious, heart-tugging and provocative evening of theatre.  In the first play, The International Stud, we meet Arnold Beckoff, a flamboyant, big-hearted and fiercely independent female impersonator.  Arnold begins a relationship with Ed, a bisexual school teacher who is unsure which team he’s really playing for.  The second play, Fugue in a Nursery introduces us to Arnold’s new boyfriend Alan and Ed’s new girlfriend Laurel as the two couples spend a delightful weekend in the country ala Noel Coward.  And the final play, Widows and Children First brings Arnold face to face with his disapproving and equally strong-willed mother as he also attempts to adopt a gay teenager. 

The evening celebrates the universal longing for love and respect, which resonates to audiences of all lifestyles and sexual orientations.  Torch Song Trilogy premiered Off Broadway before moving to Broadway in 1982, where it won Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Actor (Harvey Fierstein).  It was the first and most successful commercial work to deal with gay principal characters.  The play was also made into a successful, although heavily edited film by New Line Cinema in 1988.  Fierstein recreated his original role of Arnold opposite Ann Bancroft and Matthew Broderick, the latter having made his stage debut in the original Off-Broadway show.  The Chicago production of Torch Song Trilogy draws on the talents of a diverse A-list cast.  Madrid St. Angelo, Stephen Rader and Renee Matthews star, under the direction of Joe Stead. 

Season of Concern is the Chicagoland theatre community's fundraising effort, providing compassionate care to those in our community who are experiencing the effects of catastrophic illness.  This effort supports the fight against HIV and AIDS by contributing to programs that provide direct care (personal financial support, housing care, meals, medications, legal assistance, and other services) to members of the Chicago and Midwestern theatre community; and by addressing emergency needs expressed by theatre community members in their struggles against other life-threatening illnesses. Season Of Concern focuses primarily on fundraising and then re-distributes donations to local care organizations.  SOC also serves as an information center for those in the theater community who are seeking treatment or support through an illness or injury.

Reservations for Torch Song Trilogy may be made by calling Season of Concern at 312-332-0518.