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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Dan Kirsch, Executive/Artistic Director
Diversionary Theatre announces 2008-2009
season of six plays “We always like to give our audience a couple of surprises,” said Dan Kirsch, Executive & Artistic Director of Diversionary Theatre, as he announced the 2008-2009 season. “In addition to producing the West Coast Premiere of two new musicals, we’ll also produce Jean Paul Sartre’s classic fantasy No Exit. We’ll work with local choreographers to create a new event, Dance/Theatre, creating new dance works inspired by past Diversionary productions. And we’ll celebrate Harvey Milk, an early hero of the gay community, with a new play by local playwright Patricia Loughrey. “We’re very proud of our unique mission – to tell lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) stories,” continued Kirsch. “Other than No Exit, which was written in 1944, all of the other shows on our season have premiered since 2005. We hope the community will come share our past and our future as we celebrate another new season of great theatre.” The six-show season includes the new musical Yank!; Jean Paul Sartre’s classic fantasy No Exit, directed by Esther Emery; a new send-up of A Christmas Carol, Scrooge in Rouge – A British Music Hall Christmas Carol, directed by Rayme Sciaroni; the comedy As Much As You Can, directed by Antonio T.J. Johnson, in collaboration with San Diego Black Ensemble Theatre; Carol Lynn Pearson’s drama Facing East; and Douglas Carter Beane’s biting comedy The Little Dog Laughed, directed by Robert Barry Fleming. Diversionary will also produce two special world premiere events as part of their Queer Theatre project: Dance/Theatre, where six local choreographers create new dance works inspired by a past Diversionary production, with Peter G. Kalivas as artistic director of the project; and Dear Harvey, a new work by Patricia Loughrey and directed by Dan Kirsch that celebrates Harvey Milk. The plays Book and lyrics by David Zellnik, music by Joseph Zellnik. Igor Goldin will direct as well as recreate Jeffry Denman's original choreography, with musical direction by Amy Dalton; in association with The Gallery Players (www.galleryplayers.com). Featuring Tom Zohar, with Michael Ahmad, Zachary Bryant, Jacob Caltrider, Rocky DeHaro, Eric Dowdy, Tom Doyle, Juston Harlin, Tony Houck, Sven Salumaa and John Whitley. An official event of San Diego LGBT Pride. Some WWII buddy stories didn’t make it into the history books. A love song to Hollywood's "it takes one of every kind" platoon flicks and to 1940s Broadway, Yank! tells the story of a war reporter named Stu and an army private named Mitch who fall in love and struggle to survive in a time and place where the odds are stacked against them. Suffused with period songs (swing, big band, boogie-woogie), Yank! explores what stories get told in wartime, and how WWII became the great catalyst in bringing gay men and women together. “Yank! overlays a modern gay sensibility on a typical wartime crew to illustrate the sheer hell, internal and external, gay soldiers endured….More-complex emotions than many musicals allow are present.” - Back Stage. Visit www.yankthemusical.com for more background and history of the show. NO EXIT. September 11-October 5. The classic fantasy by Jean Paul Sartre, adapted from the French by Paul Bowles. Directed by Esther Emery. Hell is other people. Two women and one man are locked up together for eternity in one hideous room in hell. The windows are bricked up; there are no mirrors; the electric lights can never be turned off; and there is no exit. The irony of this hell is that its torture is not of the rack and fire, but of the burning humiliation of each soul as it is stripped of its pretenses by the cruel curiosity of the damned. In January, the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle named Emery the inaugural recipient of the Jack O'Brien Excellence in Directing Award. SCROOGE IN ROUGE - An English Music Hall Christmas Carol. West Coast Premiere! November 20-December 21. Book by
Ricky Graham and Jeffrey Roberson. Music & Lyrics by Jefferson Turner. Directed
by Rayme Sciaroni, with costumes by Jennifer Brawn Gittings. Three
actors play 23 roles in the gayest Christmas show you’ll see this year! A
new quick-change, cross-dressing version of the Dickens classic,
set in a Victorian music hall. “The clever pleasures of Scrooge in Rouge are
abundant, varied, risque and virtually nonstop. It is uproarious entertainment;
a brilliantly constructed funhouse that works on so many levels… It plays giddy
games of gender, identity, reality and theatricality, all within the framework
of the music hall… There's a wonderfully unnecessary seaside number, for no
reason other than it was obligatory music hall fare. And there is a new
Tiny Tim every night! – The Times Picayune (from the world premiere in
New Orleans last Christmas season). By Paul Oakley Stovall. Directed by Antonio T.J. Johnson. In collaboration with San Diego Black Ensemble Theatre. Finding the funny in family conflict when a black gay man brings home his white lover. When Jesse returns home to Chicago for his brother's wedding, he surprises his family by bringing along his Swedish boyfriend. Jesse's three siblings have varying reactions to the couple: his half-sister is supportive and anxious for the family to fully accept them as a couple; his younger brother is resistant to welcoming a white man into their African-American family; and his deeply religious sister thinks that Jesse is betraying the memory of their deceased parents by "choosing" what she considers a sinful, unnatural lifestyle. Through card games, language lessons, and literature, they all strive to live, love, and give as much as they can. Johnson is Executive Director of San Diego Black Ensemble Theatre, and as an actor, recently played the lead role in the Cygnet Theatre/SDBET production of August Wilson’s Fences. FACING EAST. March 19-April 5 By Carol Lynn Pearson. Director to be announced. The suicide of their gay son forces a Mormon couple to confront the limits of their spiritual teachings. As an upstanding Mormon couple reel from the suicide of their gay son, they are stuck between their faith and their new reality when they encounter their son's partner for the first time. Although centered on Mormon characters, the play is for anyone of any faith, anyone with a family, anyone who has felt the pain of loss, anyone with hope for change. The premiere of the play in Salt Lake City in 2006 coincided with the 20th anniversary of Pearson’s seminal book Goodbye, I Love You, the story of her life with her gay husband Gerald, their 12-year Mormon temple marriage, four children, divorce, ongoing friendship, and his death from AIDS in her home, where she cared for him. Last summer the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: “Pearson has never remarried. "That has been a disappointment in my life," she said. There's also been grief along with joy, bafflement and a strange sense of wonder in the lives of her children. As for her oldest, Pearson drew a deep breath before relating this chapter. Like her mother, Emily married a gay man and subsequently divorced him. That man is Steven Fales, creator of the widely traveled solo show Confessions of a Mormon Boy. (Fales performed the show at Diversionary during the summer of 2005.) Emily, hewing to her mother's past, is now writing a book about her life with a gay Mormon husband.” THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED. May 7-31 By Douglas Carter Beane. Directed by Robert Barry Fleming. A biting, contemporary comedy about the price of Hollywood celebrity. This comedy follows the adventures a movie star who could hit big if it weren’t for one teensy-weensy problem – his agent can’t seem to keep him in the closet! Trying to help him navigate Hollywood’s choppy waters, the devilish agent is doing all she can to keep the star away from the cute call boy who’s caught his eye and the call boy’s girlfriend (wait, the call boy has a girlfriend?). Will there be a happy ending as the final credits roll? “Theatergoers have cause to rejoice. Devastatingly funny, with dizzy, irresistible writing that brings down the house.” – NY Times Fleming won a 2008 Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Featured Performance by a Male in a Musical for his performance in Ain’t Misbehavin’ at the San Diego Rep. He is an Assistant Professor and Theatre Director Designate of the Theatre Arts Program at the University of San Diego. Special Events Under Diversionary’s Queer Theatre banner, two new projects will have their world premiere. Queer Theatre gives voice to the stories of LGBT people, and is supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation New Connections Fund. DANCE/THEATRE. February 5-8, 2009. Inspired by Theatre/Created through Dance. Peter G. Kalivas will be artistic director for this new project that brings past Diversionary productions to life through new dance pieces, created by local choreographers, including Javier Velasco (San Diego Ballet) and Deven P. Brawley (D'Shire Dance). DEAR HARVEY. By Patricia Loughrey. April 23-25, 2009. Directed by Dan Kirsch. In 1978, Harvey Milk challenged the gay community to fight for our rights. Thirty years later we celebrate his courage. Loughrey will ask the community to participate in this project by writing a letter to Harvey Milk, expressing the gratitude for the freedoms we celebrate today because of his work and vision. Queer
Theatre – Taking Center Stage. Diversionary’s play development
program will continue during the year with a playwriting class led by Patricia
Loughrey, and readings of two or three new plays. The program honors
the ideas, the energy and commitment people have made to write LGBT stories. More
than 70 new plays with LGBT themes get submitted to the program each year. The Year AheadProductions will have three to six week runs,
with 16 or more performances per run. Each show will preview on Thursday and Friday night,
with openings on Saturday nights. Performance schedule for
the year is Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm, Sunday
at 2:00 and 7:00pm, and selected Monday’s and Wednesday’s at 7:30pm. Diversionary’s mission is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily. Major support for Diversionary Theatre is provided by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture. The Advocate || First Person || Backstage.com May 24, 2007 Their friends described Barbara Ramsey as having ‘a passion for life and adventure,’ and ‘life was a constant amazement’ for Sherry Henderson. Both women served in the Navy, met when it was not possible to reveal your sexual orientation, shared 15 years together, and both died of cancer – Sherry in December 2001 and Barbara in April 2005. Their friend Deva Claridge said that Diversionary Theatre was extremely important to Barbara in her coming out process. An unexpected phone call last December notified Diversionary that the Henderson/Ramsey estate had left $100,682 to the Theatre. “We are awed by this generous gift,” said Ruth Howell, President of the Theatre’s Board of Trustees. “Barbara and Sherry were long-time subscribers, and their gift to Diversionary will give many others the opportunity to continue to celebrate LGBT culture and history through the ongoing productions of the Theatre.” Born in Oswego, Illionis, Sherry K. Henderson was the third woman to earn the wings of a Naval Flight Surgeon and the first woman to receive the Surgeon General’s award in recognition of demonstrated excellence and leadership, cooperation, flight aptitude and scholastic achievement. In November 1994, Sherry earmarked on her ‘second career,’ working for six years as a full-time clinician at Student Health Services at San Diego State University. She loved and was loved by the students and staff, and considered this position the happiest and fulfilling of all her medical experiences. A native of Walsh, Colorado, Barbara L. Ramsey had a large group of friends that she considered her chosen family, who miss her lust for life, quick wit and loving support. Barbara served for 20 years with distinction as a Navy nurse, retiring as a Commander after various assignments worldwide. After the Navy, she became active in the San Diego community, most recently as a patient Advocate on the Sharp Health Care Board to develop a new cancer center. A life-long adventurer, she developed a passionate love of baseball, the mountains, desert, theater, cinema, cycling and hiking. She was a voracious reader and also loved listening to KPBS radio. Diversionary is proud to celebrate the lives and accomplishments of Barbara and Sherry during the run of the play Bunbury. Following the Sunday, June 3 matinee, their friends will gather at Diversionary for a reception to celebrate the joy Barbara and Sherry brought to their lives. In honor of their gift, Diversionary is offering complimentary tickets to active or retired military women for the Sunday, June 3 matinee. Please call the box office at 619-220-0097 for details. Diversionary Theatre was started in 1986. The mission of the theatre is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily. “This gift and others like it allow Diversionary to continue our mission of celebrating LGBT lives through new and classic plays,” said Dan Kirsch, Diversionary’s Executive and Artistic Director. “The funds are board restricted, with the objective of building an operating reserve of six months. Thank you, Barbara and Sherry, for the great start to our goal.” May 1, 2007 Diversionary Theatre announces 2007-2008 season of six plays Diversionary commissions new family-friendly musical to premiere in January 2008 Imagine the perfect date. A perfect relationship. The perfect parents. A perfect faith. Imagine you were ten again and your Mom and Mama just made you the perfect pancakes! It’s time to use your imagination! Diversionary has a whole new season of comedy, drama and music – a classic from Harvey Fierstein, a passion play by Terrence McNally, and three plays and musicals where Diversionary will stage the second full production. Diversionary has also commissioned a new musical for families. The Daddy Machine will have it’s world premiere in January 2008, written by Patricia Loughery with music and lyrics by Rayme Sciaroni, both local artists. “Sometimes an innocent comment by a patron begins a whole new way of looking at our audience and community,” said Dan Kirsch, executive and artistic director. “One night more than a year ago, a patron asked why Diversionary didn’t do a show that he could bring his 3-year-old to. Today we proudly announce that Diversionary has commissioned Patricia and Rayme to help us create a whole new genre of LGBT family theatre. “We’re very proud of our unique mission – to tell lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) stories,” continued Kirsch. “Whether you’re coming for a heartfelt laugh or a thought-provoking moment, we hope the community will come share our past and our future as we celebrate another new season of great theatre.” The six-show season includes “The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical;” “The Busy World is Hushed,” Harvey Fierstein’s “Torch Song Trilogy,” which will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Tony Award-winning Broadway production; “The Daddy Machine,” commissioned by Diversionary; “Bluebonnet Court,” a co-production with Moxie Theatre; and Terrence McNally’s “Corpus Christi.” Diversionary will also do a workshop of David Sexton’s new project, “Manhunt-The Musical;” present a special weekend run of Steven Fales new cabaret show, “Mormon American Princess;” and continue their new play reading program, Queer Theatre-Taking Center Stage, in February 2008. The plays The Break Up Notebook: The Lesbian Musical. Co-Produced by Rose Marcario. Book by Patricia Cotter, music and lyrics by Lori Scarlett. July 12-August 12. Directed by Peter Schneider, musical direction by G. Scott Lacy, choreography by Christine Kellogg, and featuring Beth Malone as Helen, with Melissa Fernandes, Jeannine Marquie, Chrissy Burns, Mei-Ling Downey, Molly Lahr, and Tori Roze. A hilarious, touching and sexy musical comedy for anyone who has ever had a broken heart and lived to tell about it! Helen Hill is 33, completely adorable, slightly neurotic and has just been dumped by her long term girlfriend. With the support of her best gay boyfriend and her butch femme gal pals, Helen jumps back into the dating pool…two-stepping twelve-steppers, anxiety prone lawyers, a dominatrix, dental dams, grrrl bands, rebound dates, hot girl-on-girl action, and maybe… the girl of her dreams. Scoring a stunning upset victory in last year’s theatre award season, the show was honored with Los Angeles’ highest theatre honor, the 2006 Ovation Award for World Premiere Musical and recently received the 2006 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Score. An official event of San Diego LGBT Pride. The Busy World is Hushed by Keith Bunin. October 4-28. A complex look at why religion, faith and the human heart can’t always be reconciled. An engaging drama about conflicts of family and faith. A tale of a loving mother, a troubled son and the man who may be able to heal the breach between them. “…intricacies of faith—as well as issues of sexuality, love and loss—are addressed in this provocative and moving new play…a refreshing take on the overlap between religion and homosexuality.” - Theatermania.com. Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy. November 15-December 16. Directed by G. Scott Lacy. A riotously funny and poignant story of an aging drag queen and his attempts to connect with someone…anyone!! A Theatrical Event! Diversionary celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Broadway production. At the height of the post-Stonewall clone era, Harvey Fierstein challenged both gay and straight audiences to champion an effeminate gay man's longings for love and family. His creation, Arnold Beckoff, was a fully realized character who had an active sex life, a tragic love story, and a gay teenage foster son. The play won Fierstein two Tony Awards, for Best Play and Best Actor in Play. The family friendly world premiere of The Daddy Machine. Commissioned by Diversionary Theatre. Book by Patricia Loughrey. Music and lyrics by Rayme Sciaroni.. January 18-27. Co-directed by Siobhan Sullivan and Rayme Sciaroni. Two moms, two kids, one singing dog and 62 dads! It’s the first day of summer vacation – time for the special pancake breakfast at Stonewall’s house. But Mama lost a filling, Mom’s taking her to the dentist and the kids are home alone. Sue is happy to be left in charge, but when Harry accidentally invents a daddy-making machine, no one can contain the chaos. All Stonewall wanted was for someone to assemble his doghouse… was that too much to hope for? Audience participation. Fun for ages 4 and older. Based on the children’s book by Johnny Valentine. Bluebonnet Court by Zsa Zsa Gershick. March 20-April 13. A co-production with Moxie Theatre. Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg. Sex, civil rights and finding family in the most unusual places. In 1944, during World War II and the waning days of Hollywood's glamour era, a wisecracking New York reporter is on her way from Manhattan to Hollywood and a coveted spot as an MGM contract writer. When she’s waylaid on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, it’s more than her car that gets an overhaul. “The play offers real wit and disarming sensuality. With a …sweet summer romance, Bluebonnet Court is a mighty cozy place to spend the night.” – Los Angeles Times. Winner of the 2007 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Los Angeles Theatre, two NAACP awards and critical acclaim from Variety and The Advocate. Corpus Christi by Terrence McNally. May 8-June 1. Directed by Nic Arnzen. If Jesus were gay and grew up in 1950’s Texas… Terrence McNally's (Love! Valour! Compassion!) contemporary telling of the life of Jesus is presented in thoughtful, vividly human ways. Using the ages-old story, he shows the fight against cruelty, division, hatred and, above all, hypocrisy. Named one of the best plays of the year by Time magazine in 1998, McNally provides us with one of the most moving passion plays written, an affirmation of faith and a drama of power and scope. Arnzen recently directed a very successful production of the play in Los Angeles, which is touring to the Edinburgh Festival this summer. Special Events Manhunt – The Musical by David Sexton. September 6-16. A workshop production. Book and lyrics by David Sexton (It’s a Fabulous Life). Musical collaborators: Rick Leonard & Gerry Dieffenbach. Directed by Peter G. Kalivas. What’s YOUR screen name? Based on the popular website Manhunt.net, this workshop brings a whole new meaning to top, bottom or versatile! Adult content, laughs and guilty pleasures! Morman American Princess by Steven Fales. November 1-3. According to Steven (Confessions of a Mormon Boy), “God has seen me through excommunication, divorce, prostitution and drugs, now we’re working on narcissism—and it’s not going well.” More stand-up, more singing, more irreverent, and more political! Queer Theatre – Taking Center Stage. Diversionary’s new play development program continues in February 2008 with readings of two or three new plays. The program honors the ideas, the energy and commitment people have made to write LGBT stories. More than 60 new plays have been submitted to the program already this year.The Year AheadProductions will have four or five week runs, with 16 or more performances per run (Daddy Machine will have 10+ performances, to be determined). Each show will preview on Thursday and Friday night, with openings on Saturday nights. Performance schedule for the year is Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm, Sunday at 2:00 and 7:00pm, and selected Monday’s at 7:30pm. All performances of Torch Song Trilogy will start 1/2 hour earlier. Discounted six-show subscription packages ranging from $92 to $212 are now available through June 17 (prices go up on June 18). The early bird discounts include a package with a 45% discount. There is no handling/service charges for tickets purchased through Diversionary’s box office. Single tickets go on sale six weeks before the opening date of each show. Group sales for any show during the season can be arranged now by calling the box office. More information about all the shows and season subscriptions are available through the Box Office at 619.220.0097 or at their website at www.diversionary.org. Diversionary Theatre announces major gifts from Dr. Fritz Klein San Diego, August 22, 2006. At a Celebration of Life for Dr. Fritz Klein last night at Diversionary Theatre, the Board of Trustees of the Theatre announced three major gifts Dr. Klein left to Diversionary in his will. Through notification by Dr. Klein’s estate, Diversionary is the recipient of:
“We are incredibly honored that Fritz would care for Diversionary so deeply that he felt the need to have his gifts continue our mission for years to come,” said Ruth Howell, Vice President of the Board of Trustees. “His gifts are overwhelming, and the Board is putting appropriate policies into place to ensure the gifts provide for the Theatre for many years into the future.” According to Dan Kirsch, Executive and Artistic Director of Diversionary, the gifts will come in at different times once the estate is settled. “Fritz had been a major donor of Diversionary for a number of years, with an annual operating gift of $15,000 each year since 1998,” said Kirsch. “Upon arrival of the gift from Dr. Klein’s Charitable Remainder Trust (estimated gift is $50,000-$60,000) sometime this fall, $15,000 of the monies will be designated as Fritz’s annual operating gift for the current fiscal year, and the balance of the monies will be invested and used for annual operating gifts for an additional three years.” While the Charitable Remainder Trust monies help with current general operations, the new endowment fund will provide monies for future programs and operations. “The $250,000 gift is restricted to seeding a new endowment fund,” stated John Grah, Treasurer of the Board of Trustees. “Once a donor gives a restricted gift, we are required to use it only for that purpose. We will invest the gift, and each year take some of the earnings and move it into Board Restricted funds for programs and operations.” The final gift, the building at 4545 Park Boulevard, includes a mortgage of just over $400,000. “The Board is assessing the best use of this gift,” said Grah. “The building includes several private offices that produce rental income, and it is likely we will assume the mortgage and that the rental income will cover the mortgage. However, with ownership of the building comes the responsibility of upkeep, and we are creating a plan for a maintenance fund to take care of the facility.” Howell added, “We are in the process of carefully thinking through and deciding how best to proceed with and manage these incredible assets for our future. Regarding the property, when it is eventually transferred to Diversionary, we as a Board, as an organization, understand that we must receive it in the same spirit it was given: with careful thought and a responsible vision for what will best serve the Theatre and the community for many, many years.” Diversionary chose to announce the gifts now even though they will come in at separate times over the next year. “As you might expect with gifts of this magnitude, we are in the discovery process, and we’ve enlisted the help of many professionals to help get advice on best practices,” said Grah. “We wanted to share the news with the community early in the process because so many people cared both about Fritz and Diversionary, and as Fritz was both our landlord and a major donor, people were wondering if Diversionary was going to be okay.” At the Celebration of Life, Diversionary Theatre board member Mary Stockton talked about Dr. Klein’s gift as it relates to the future. “In the short time I knew Fritz, I learned that he planned his giving and wanted to use his gifts as an incentive for others to give,” said Stockton. “He knew that an endowment would do just that. He knew that whenever money was needed, instead of a one-time gift, a challenge in the form of a matching gift would encourage others to give, to think about the future. He updated his will. He had legal documents in place to ensure that his gifts would go where he wanted them to go. We thank him for his inspiration, and hope the community will rise to his challenge.” The closing of the Celebration of Life included the announcement of the Diversionary Theatre Fritz Klein Award. According to board president Carlos Legaspy, “We wanted to find a way to emulate the spirit of Fritz and those gifts by honoring others who give to the theatre through extraordinary gifts of financial support or contribute or volunteer important services. The award will be given in the future at the Board’s discretion and will honor those who give of their riches in the ways that Fritz gave to us.” Guests at the Celebration of Life event included Victoria Hamilton, Executive Director of the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture; Matthew Weeden, an actor who recently appeared in Diversionary productions of “The Twilight of the Golds” and “When Pigs Fly;” Chuck Zito, former Executive Director who flew in from New York for the event, and many leaders from the LGBT and arts communities. Dr. Fritz Klein, leader and pioneer of the bisexual movement, died on May 24 at the age of 73. Dr. Klein is best known for groundbreaking sex research and as a tireless activist for bisexual issues and the bisexual community. Early on, he realized that there was little knowledge about bisexuality and in 1974 he placed an ad in the Village Voice for a meeting that resulted in the creation in New York of the “Bisexual Forum.” In 1978 he wrote The Bisexual Option and also co-authored Man, His Body, His Sex. Dr. Klein moved to San Diego where he founded that city’s “Bisexual Forum” in 1982, wrote several books, and founded and became editor of The Journal of Bisexuality. In 1998, he founded the American Institute of Bisexuality and served as chairman of the board up until his death. Dr. Klein also served on the Diversionary Theatre Board of Trustees for the past six years. He is survived by his life partner, Tom Reise of San Diego. Diversionary Theatre was started in 1986. The mission of the theatre is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily. The annual operating budget for the 2006-2007 fiscal year is $456,000. Current member of the Board of Trustees are: Carlos Legaspy, President; Ruth M. Howell, Vice President; Bill McClain, Secretary; John A. Grah, Treasurer; Scott Aylward, Vicki Estrada, Jeri Feldman, Ken Riley, Shane A. Stahl, Mary Stockton and Jeffrey Wergeles. Jonathan Dunn-Rankin serves ex-officio. Diversionary staff members are: Dan Kirsch, Executive & Artistic Director; Bret Young, Managing Director and Travis Guss, Patron Services Manager. For more information about Diversionary Theatre, visit their website at www.diversionary.org or call 619.220.6830. May 30, 2006 A
Final Bow
Born Fred Klein, Dr. Klein is best known for his pioneering sex research and the development of the multi-dimensional Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, which measures the complexity and fluidity of sexual orientation. The Klein Grid, first published in 1978, expanded on the "zero to six" Kinsey scale. The Klein Grid measures actual sexual experiences, but also sexual attractions, fantasies, emotional preference, social preference, lifestyle and self-identification as they relate to a person's past, present and ideal future. Klein's research showed that these factors can change over time for an individual, and vary not just between but also within groups of straight, gay and bisexual people. He concluded that people generalize from their own experiences and feelings to assume, often wrongly, that other people must experience their own sexual orientations the same way. As a result, Klein concluded sexual orientations are too complex to be broken into simple, well-defined categories. Nonetheless, he was a tireless activist especially concerning bisexual issues and community. He was known all over the world for his groundbreaking research and writing, ranging from the academic publication of the Klein Grid in the Journal of Homosexuality in 1985 to popular books and articles concerning bisexuality, as well as a novel, Life, Sex and the Pursuit of Happiness published in 2005 by Harrington Park Press. Klein was born in Vienna, Austria in 1932. While still a small boy, he fled with his family to New York City to escape anti-Semitism and the impending war. He later studied medicine in Switzerland at Bern University and received an MBA from Columbia University. Dr. Klein was a board-certified psychiatrist for 30 years in New York and San Diego until his retirement. Early in his career, he realized that there was a void in knowledge about sexual orientation, specifically in the area of bisexuality. He placed an ad in the Village Voice for a meeting that resulted in the creation in New York of the "Bisexual Forum," which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. During this period he wrote The Bisexual Option, 1978, and co-authored: Man, His Body, His Sex (Doubleday & Co.) in 1978. After moving to San Diego , Dr. Klein founded the "Bisexual Forum" for that city in 1982, wrote several books, and founded and became Editor of The Journal of Bisexuality. Dr. Klein founded the American Institute of Bisexuality (AIB), a public benefit charity, in 1998 to encourage, support and assist research and education about bisexuality, and served as Chairman of the Board up until his death. He was known for being outspoken, controversial and compassionate, and for his love and support of theater and the arts. Though he had recently been diagnosed with cancer, his death from cardiac arrest was sudden and unexpected. He is survived by his life partner, Tom Reise of San Diego and two brothers, George and Seymour of New York City. He chose to donate his body to science. A celebration of his life is being planned. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to San Diego's Diversionary Theatre. AIB (also known as the Bisexual Foundation) encourages, supports and assists research and education about bisexuality, through programs likely to make a material difference and enhance public knowledge and awareness. April 26, 2006 Diversionary Theatre announces 2006-2007 season of six plays New play by South African playwright to have U.S. Premiere A singing pig. A sarcastic friend. A dancing angel. A sexy rent boy. A frightened puppet. A fictitious character. These six mini-descriptions represent Diversionary Theatre's 2006-2007 season of six plays and musicals. "We're very proud of our unique mission – to tell lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) stories,” said Dan Kirsch, executive and artistic director. "Whether you're coming for a night of entertainment or an insightful moment, we hope the community will come share our past and our future as we celebrate another season of great plays." The six plays include two musicals – Howard Crabtree's "When Pigs Fly"and a new gay Christmas musical – and works by familiar playwrights Nicky Silver and Paula Vogel. Through their new play development program, Queer Theatre – Taking Center Stage, Diversionary will present the United States premiere of a new play by South African playwright Ashraf Johaardien. Diversionary continues to work with top San Diego directors – Lisa Berger, David Brannen, Joey Landwehr, Rosina Reynolds and Rick Simas. The Plays Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly. Conceived by Howard Crabtree and Mark Waldrop; sketches and lyrics by Mark Waldrop; music by Dick Gallagher. July 21-August 13. Directed by Rick Simas; musical direction by Rayme Sciaroni. A side-splitting musical extravaganza! A fun-filled evening of great music, uproarious laughter, and high camp. The production was honored with two Drama Desk awards and two Outer Critics Circle awards during its long off-Broadway run. An official event of San Diego LGBT Pride. The Maiden’s Prayer by Nicky Silver (“Fit To Be Tied”). September 8-October 1. Directed by Joey Landwehr. Sibling jealousy, sexual escapism, and the ghost of an alcoholic past threaten to destroy the lives of five friends and lovers as they are forced to combat the differences between love, dependency and real estate in this dark comic drama. It’s a Fabulous Life. Book by David Sexton, Songs by Albert Evans & David Sexton, with additional music by Eric Alsford and Andrew Sargent. November 17-December 10. Directed by David Brannen. A gay holiday musical take on “It’s a Wonderful Life.” A young gay man wishes he hadn’t been born gay, and an angel grants his wish! Showboys, drag, dancing reindeer, and a gospel singing dyke! The United States premiere of Happy Endings Are Extra by Ashraf Johaardien. January 17-February 11. Directed by Rosina Reynolds (recently directed both “Beautiful Thing” and “The Twilight of the Golds” at Diversionary). A woman who loves a man who loves a rent boy. “A brave, funny, erotic, and honest work that deserves to be seen.” -LitNet. Part of Diversionary’s Queer Theatre-Taking Center Stage new play development program, underwritten in part by The James Irvine Foundation. South African playwright Johaardien will be in San Diego for the opening. The Long Christmas Ride Home: A puppet play with actors by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paula Vogel (“Baltimore Waltz,” “How I Learned to Drive”). March 23-April 15. Directed by Lisa Berger (recently directed “Looking for Normal” at Diversionary in May 2005). Past, present and future collide for a troubled family of five. Humorous and heart-wrenching, proving that magic can be found in the simplest breaths of life. Puppets by the Puppetry Center of San Diego. Bunbury by Tom Jacobson. May 18-June 10. A serious play for trivial people. An Oscar Wilde offstage character from “The Importance of Being Earnest” comes to life and inadvertently changes the ending of several classic plays, including “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and even “Waiting for Godot.” Queer Theatre – Taking Center Stage Diversionary’s new play development program, Queer Theatre – Taking Center Stage, will present the U.S. premiere of the aforementioned “Happy Endings Are Extra” as part of its regular season. In addition, two other major staged readings will take place in February 2007 with the playwrights present. This program is underwritten in part by The James Irvine Foundation as part of their New Connections Fund. Passing Ceremonies by Steve Willis. February 17-19. Directed by Dr. Floyd Gaffney. Harlem Renaissance artist Richard Bruce Nugent and modern-day poet Essex Hemphill meet between ‘earth life’ and ‘paradise’ and converse about what it meant to be black, gay and artists. The play will celebrate LGBT Black History month with Ebony Pride San Diego. Do Geese See God by J.D. Eames. February 24-26. Topher’s life is all about the words, until she’s hit by lightning and left with a speech impairment. Her recovery forces her to develop a new relationship with words and with her lovers and friends. Over 60 new LGBT plays were submitted to Diversionary this past year. Dramaturge Patty Loughrey read and organized Queer Theatre – Taking Center Stage into a coherent and potent program for Diversionary. The Theatre has also begun conversations with Family Matters about how to best start programming to serve the many LGBT families in our community. The Year Ahead: Mo`olelo Performing Arts Company will become a resident tenant in the next year, renting space in October for a three week run of their new production “Since Africa.” The year ahead will also bring collaboration with The LGBT Community Center’s Women’s Resource Center with the spoken word event OutSpoken this fall, and with the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego for the Trolley Follies of 2007, a gala cabaret to benefit both organizations, in March 2007. Productions will have four week runs, with 18 or more performances per run. The Theatre will continue to start Thursday night performances at 7:30pm. There is no handling/service charges for tickets purchased through Diversionary’s box office. Discounted six-show subscription packages ranging from $83 to $156 are now available through June 11 (prices go up on June 12). “Our ‘First Nighter’ subscription package really took off last year,” said Kirsch. “These subscribers come during the first two weeks of run, receiving a 33% discount, and it helps get word out on the street early in the run about the show.” Single tickets go on sale a month before the opening date of each show. Group sales for any show during the season can be arranged now by calling the box office. More information about all the shows and season subscriptions are available through the Box Office at 619.220.0097 or at their website at www.diversionary.org. - END - Diversionary’s mission is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily. Diversionary Theatre is supported in part by a grant from the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE As part of its 20th Anniversary Year celebration, Diversionary Theatre will present special events throughout the year. "We're very excited to bring back familiar faces and create new partnerships as part of our anniversary celebration," stated Dan Kirsch, executive director. Chuck Zito, Diversionary's former executive director (2002-2004) moved back to Manhattan after his time in San Diego to work on his first novel. "A Habit for Death," his first book in the Nicky D'Amico mystery series, will be published by Midnight Ink (a division of Llewellyn Press) in the Fall of 2006. "A Habit for Death" opens with the sudden demise of young Sister Sally. She collapses on stage at St. Gilbert's Summer Musical Theater during a rehearsal of "Convent of Fear." Luckily for St. Gilbert's, Nicky D'Amico, a young stage manager looking for a break from New York City's summer heat, is on the scene. He works to find out who done it – and to get closer to his favorite chorus boy! As executive
director of Diversionary, Zito was responsible for producing
shows like "Gross Indency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde," "M
Butterfly" and "Lot's Daughters."
On Tuesday and Wednesday, December 6 and 7, San Diego State University's Musical Theatre Program will grace Diversionary's stage with a concert version of the acclaimed musical "A Man of No Importance." Based on the 1994 film that starred Albert Finney, A Man of No Importance tells the poignant story of Alfie Byrne, a bus conductor living in 1960's Dublin. An ardent fan of Oscar Wilde, Alfie is determined to stage Wilde's play Salome at his church, despite the objections of church authorities. In the process of fighting for the play, Alfie is forced to confront his own sexuality. The show was
created by the "Ragtime" team: book by Terrence McNally,
lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. McNally
is best known in the LGBT community for the play "Love!
Valour! Compassion!" The SDSU production is directed by
Rick Simas. Tickets are $50 per person. A reception with Irish desserts will follow the concert. Proceeds will benefit both Diversionary Theatre and SDSU Musical Theatre Program.
Both events will be held at Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Boulevard, San Diego. Tickets are available only through the Diversionary box office at 619.220.0097. More information is available at their website at www.diversionary.org. October 12,
2005 Chuck Zito, Diversionary's former executive director (2002-2004) moved back to Manhattan after his time in San Diego to work on his first novel. "A Habit for Death," his first book in the Nicky D'Amico mystery series, will be published by Midnight Ink (a division of Llewellyn Press) in the Fall of 2006. "A Habit for Death" opens with the sudden demise of young Sister Sally. She collapses on stage at St. Gilbert's Summer Musical Theater during a rehearsal of "Convent of Fear." Luckily for St. Gilbert's, Nicky D'Amico, a young stage manager looking for a break from New York City's summer heat, is on the scene. He works to find out who done it – and to get closer to his favorite chorus boy! WHAT: A reading from "A Habit for Death" by Chuck Zito WHEN: Monday, November 14 at 7:30pm WHERE: Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92116 TICKETS:
Suggested donation: $20 October 12,
2005 San Diego State University's Musical Theatre Program will grace Diversionary's stage with a concert version of the acclaimed musical "A Man of No Importance." Based on the 1994 film that starred Albert Finney, A Man of No Importance tells the poignant story of Alfie Byrne, a bus conductor living in 1960's Dublin. An ardent fan of Oscar Wilde, Alfie is determined to stage Wilde's play Salome at his church, despite the objections of church authorities. In the process of fighting for the play, Alfie is forced to confront his own sexuality. The show was created by the "Ragtime" team: book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty. McNally is best known in the LGBT community for the play "Love! Valour! Compassion!" The SDSU production is directed by Rick Simas. WHAT: A concert version of the acclaimed musical "A Man of No Importance" WHEN: Tuesday and Wednesday, December 6 and 7 at 7:30pm WHERE: Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92116 TICKETS:
Tickets: $50.00. Proceeds to benefit both Diversionary Theatre
and SDSU Musical Theatre Program. October 2,
2005 "We are dedicated to becoming the largest producer of female playwrights in Southern California," says artistic director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg. "We want to expand the kinds of roles that women can play. We want to present more diverse and honest female images on stage. But that doesn't mean that we don't do male playwrights or have men onstage too." Turner Sonnenberg came to San Diego six years ago when her husband Jerry, a set designer, began his graduate studies at UCSD. After the birth of their first child, a son named for the great African-American playwright August Wilson, she won a Theatre Communications Group grant that supported two years of work as an associate artist at the San Diego Repetory Theatre. She was involved in casting, planning and coffee-fetching, and eventually co-directed the Rep's solid production of David Auburn's "Proof." Encouraged by Rep boss Sam Woodhouse and by her mentor and friend Deborah Salzer, founder of the Playwrights Project, she directed six of the Project's winning scripts at the Old Globe. She staged a moving production of Euripides'little-seen "Children of Heracles," a well-cast look at Diana Son's provocative "Stop Kiss," a strong, thematically revealing all-female "Othello" and a terrific production of David Linday-Abaire's quirky "Kimberly Akimbo." Featured in several of those shows for the tiny 6th@Penn and Women's Rep were the actors with whom she last year formed Moxie: Jo Anne Glover, Liv Kellgren and Jennifer Eve Kraus. Turner Sonnenberg appreciates men like Patch and Woodhouse, men who run theaters yet will acknowledge, when pressed, that men produce the work they're attracted to, that supports their world view – "and that usually means work written by men." So she and her cohorts decided, she says slyly, to do likewise. "I decided to do the work that I'm attracted to. And in my case that's work by women," she says. "We knew they were writing great plays and winning prizes so we wanted to give them the opportunities they often don't get." Moxie plans to headquarter its theater in Encinitas and, until the foundersfind a suitable space, will produce from Diversionary's resident theater. Alert to the needs of parents, Moxie is also offering a local first – childcare during some matinees. Kids with moms or dads watching a show will learn to create collages, make fresh lemonade and sing musical theater-style in a series of play workshops themed to each show. Reservations for the play tables are required. "Dog Act" previews at 8 p.m. Friday, opens at 8 p.m. Saturday and runs Thursdays through Sundays at Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd., University Heights. Information: (760) 634-3965 or www.moxietheatre.com. – ANNE MARIE WELSH September
11, 2005 Thank you, thank you, thank you! for the wonderful article on the evolution of Diversionary ("A place to call their own; A community sees itself on stage at Diversionary, celebrating 20 seasons as one of the oldest gay theater companies in the nation," Sept. 4). I served on the board of directors during the tough times of the late 1990s and was one of four who interviewed and hired Chuck Zito, which proved to be a turning point for the theater. Before Chuck, it was touch and go as to whether the doors could remain open. I've watched the theater evolve from a "drop trou" cute boy agenda to a legitimate contender for "Critics Choice" recognition, thanks to a dedicated board and Chuck. Dan Kirsch is a fine successor and has hit the ground running. I'm so happy for him that the first production of his tenure was the hit "Morman Boy." With all due respect to (Diversionary founder) Tom (Vegh) and (former artistic director) Gayle (Feldman), edgy is great, but it doesn't put bodies in the seats. If you have a few millionaire donors who are able to support the theater, you can get away with lots of "edgy." Diversionary doesn't have that option, at least not at this juncture. What most of our patrons want are well-cast plays that don't hit you over the head with the "gay experience." I think both Chuck and Dan recognize that fact, and I think the selections of the past several years bear that out. Peter Jarman Your piece on Diversionary Theatre was a welcome recognition of a remarkable, wonderful and valuable local theater. An important acknowledgment was missing, however, which I'm sure Tom Vegh and everyone at Diversionary would not want to leave uncorrected. Robert Nuismer was an integral part of the theater's early evolution, a fine actor in his own right and a marvelous man – who we sadly lost to AIDS far too early in his life. I had the privilege of working with him in the cast of "Bent," staged at the then "Bowery" theater. Welton Jones wrote of his performance at the time that he was "touching in his vulnerability, eloquent physically and refreshingly innocent of acting tricks." He is very much missed by us all, and belongs in any mention of Diversionary's development. Wilson
Adam Schooley Set the record straight on gay theater history Anne Marie Welsh's article on gay theater contains one error. The first gay play produced at the Caffe Cino "in which gay characters were portrayed as humans, not as villains, depressives or deviants" was not "The Madness of Lady Bright" (1964), but Doric Wilson's "Now She Dances!" (1961). Robert Patrick This is to correct some inadvertent misstatements in Anne Marie Welsh's article. Three years before Lanford Wilson's wonderful play, two plays of mine ("Now She Dances!" and "Pretty People" – both 1961) portrayed gay characters "as human, not as villains, depressives or deviants." Both plays were highly successful at the time. "Now She Dances!" may have been the first play Lanford saw at the Cino. It all happened so fast back in the early 1960s that to pick any one play to date the beginning of the post-Stonewall "gay theater" is a huge mistake and at best the accident of Cino calendar availability. It excludes some very important plays, notably Robert Patrick's brilliant "The Haunted Host." TOSOS (theater) never "folded." After a number of years of producing and directing, I decided to focus my energy again on my own playwriting and did not feel I, as the company's artistic director, should self-produce under the TOSOS banner. Also, I had been funding TOSOS from my tips as a bartender in the newly liberated gay bar scene, and as I had become a bit old to continue presenting myself as a "sex-object," I felt it prudent to retire. As it was pointless to expect to find funding in our community, I had to let TOSOS go dormant. The production and creative staff of TOSOS went on to help present my plays "The West Street Gang," "A Perfect Relationship," "Forever After" and "Street Theater." Mark Finley, Barry Childs and I revived TOSOS to major critical success in 2000 as TOSOS II. Sorry to pick-the-nits, but we have such a limited comprehension of our history, it is important that what little there is should be correct. Doric Wilson September
4, 2005 A community
sees itself reflected on stage at Diversionary, celebrating
20 seasons as one of the oldest gay theater companies in the
nation In Phyllis Nagy's "Girl Bar," a play that explores and explodes lesbian stereotypes, girl-bar regular Charlotte imagines a future in which George Bush, Anita Bryant and Nancy Reagan join hands with gay gals in worldwide solidarity. When that happens, she dreams, there'll be no need for a girl bar. And perhaps no need for a gay theater like Diversionary, which produced two of Nagy's defiantly dreamlike and original plays in 1997. But until then? "Until gay people can marry and have the same rights as everyone else, there will always be a need for a niche theater like Diversionary," said Gayle Feldman, who directed the Nagy works in 1997 while she headed the company. "I, for one, will never tire of seeing people like myself represented onstage and that's just not happening anyplace else." TV shows such as "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" have made gay style and a glossy version of gay culture popular with the masses. And playwrights such as Richard Greenberg now create gay characters in thoughtful, entertaining comedies embraced by middle-of-the-road regional theaters and even Broadway. Still, Diversionary is the city's only theater company committed to dramatizing stories of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. The company opens its 20th season Thursday with Paul Rudnick's madcap "Valhalla," marking an anniversary that makes it one of the oldest gay theater companies in the nation. While specialized companies devoted to women's issues (Women's Repertory) and African-American plays (San Diego Black Ensemble) have become defunct here and elsewhere, Diversionary founder Thomas Vegh agrees with Feldman that the Park Blvd. company may never become obsolete. "To me, the theater serves the community with craft and passion and substance, but it's also a museum of gay and lesbian culture that needs to be preserved and presented," said Vegh. "It's our history. And when a diverse audience mixes together in a dark room and they pretend together, they are experiencing an awareness of others that can't be had any place else." Current Diversionary head Dan Kirsch pointed to his recent co-production of "Confessions of a Mormon Boy" as an example of such diversification. The New York-bound solo show by writer-performer Steven Fales last month proved the theater's biggest hit since "M. Butterfly" of five years ago. "Mormon Boy" brought in "young and old, gay and straight people, even a lot of Mormons," said Kirsch. "A group of 10 Mormon women who said they were more 'liberal' than most" of their co-religionists came one night, Kirsch reported. They enjoyed the hilarious and moving show about a closeted Mormon husband and father whose "out" life included stints working for a gay escort service. Though he's still battling a small deficit, Kirsch said that such co-productions and collaborations are on his agenda. "We are stressing collaboration with other theaters as we plan to take small steps toward insuring our future for the next 10 years," he said. "The audience now includes confirmed theater-goers who are just looking for good work wherever they find it, then our loyal GLBT audience of subscribers who may not go to other theaters, and then that huge untapped gay market that may never have been to a play before." Evolving
'community' Diversionary was born against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic, but it evolved along with the political advances and setbacks for gay rights in the larger culture. The theater's history reflects those social changes and, artistically, also connects to the national development of gay theaters. When Harvey Fierstein's "Torch Song Trilogy" moved from the Glines, a tiny gay theater founded in 1976 in Manhattan, to Broadway and won best play and actor Tonys in 1984, the awards focused mainstream attention on a downtown breed of theater artists devoted to generating gay art for an increasingly "out," if imperilled community. That same year Tom Vegh first produced theater as part of an AIDS education effort at SDSU. With the AIDS epidemic overwhelming the gay community just as the first wave of "out" gay consciousness and demands for gay rights were flooding into mainstream culture, Vegh's production was titled "The AIDS Show." AIDS, in this case, was an acronym for Artists Involved in Death and Survival. That educational effort and his second show, Philip Real's "Lunch" and "Dessert" – the first about gay men, the other about two lesbians – were restaged as fundraisers for the "No on 64" campaign fighting a Lyndon LaRouche initiative that would have, among other anti-AIDS measures, quarantined people who tested positive for the virus. So when Vegh incorporated and chose his theater's name in 1986, Diversionary educated, entertained and raised funds. The remounts of "The AIDS Show" and the Real plays were staged on the dance floor of West Coast Production Company, a popular gay disco on Hancock Street near Old Town. "It had a sunken dance floor with rails on three sides. It was perfect for performance. It was also a test for me," Vegh said. "I knew that if this worked in this space with this material I'd forge ahead. Then, I would set out to do more shows, hire a cast and give it a go." Vegh reached out to the larger political community, involving Christine Kehoe, now a state senator (then the editor of the Gay Times), in post-performance discussions, as well as best-selling novelist Armistead Maupin and others. "That was the beginning of a long-term relationship with Christine," said Vegh, who resigned in 1989. Nationally, and here, the repertory of early gay theater companies tended to split into two categories: AIDS plays such as Larry Kramer's potent "The Normal Heart" and what one theater historian calls "cute boys in underpants" plays, that is, sex comedies with flashes of nudity that provided "an understandable respite from the grim realities of the former." As the AIDS-mortality rates began to drop, in part because of the educational activism of artists, the content of many gay-themed works began to shift. Such plays as Terrence McNally's "Love! Valor! Compassion!" stillvalidated the experience of GLBT audiences. But because of their quality and their widespread appeal to mainstream audiences, such dramas also educated straight society about a people and culture they had long ignored. Feldman, a no-bull activist and versatile actor, first worked with Diversionary as a stage director in 1994 during the company's initial season at its permanent home on Park Boulevard. She took over as its first (and still only) female artistic director in 1996. Key to her vision was her insistence upon a "fifty-fifty split" in the programming between works written by and representing gay men and those by and representing the experience of lesbians. Also high on her list of priorities: bringing Latino artists and audiences, and people of color, into the theater's mix. Kirsch, the administrator and producer now in his first year there, seems to be following in the measured footsteps of his predecessor, Chuck Zito. Zito did not direct or act; like Kirsch, he was a producer and during his four years (2001-2004) at Diversionary, he turned the theater away from both "cute naked boy shows" and experimental new work toward a more carefully-balanced and less edgy roster of plays. He also hired experienced directors for individual shows, and paid actors enough to ratchet up the quality and consistency of the performances. 'Go
farther' Scores of strong plays of both kinds – and some clunkers too – have been on the boards at Diversionary as it moved from the disco to a Balboa Park puppet theater to a community center in Golden Hill to its attractive permanent digs. (The other artistic directors were SDSU drama prof William Peterson in 1991-92, Robert Joseph from 1993 to 1996, and Wayne Tibbetts from 1998 to 2000.) Depending upon the times and the artistic director involved, the theater has tilted toward the ideological and educative, the flamboyant and sometimes frivolous, the artistically challenging and ambitious during the Feldman years, and the smoothly balanced middle of the gay-road during the halcyon Zito years. While "Go farther" might have been Vegh's motto; "Stay balanced" might well be Kirsch's. Aside from Vegh, said Feldman, one other man was "absolutely crucial to the existence of Diversionary": John Mitchell, who was managing director of the theater for many years, the company's treasurer and also a board member. "Without him, the theater wouldn't have this space. He was the visionary in terms of moving the space to a legitimate theater building. We just wouldn't be here without him. Period. "Writer-performer Steven Fales helped Diversionary to a popular hit with his "Confessions of a Mormon Boy," co-produced with the theater. Feldman, now a real estate agent who still acts in independent productions around town, recalls the early days when Robyn Samuels, an original member of the Hot Flashes comedy troupe, performed with Sheri Hopwood in "Dessert." "You had two women. My god, how revolutionary!" Feldman said, directing her goading remarks to Kirsch. "That was 50-50. And I'd like to see that again. And I don't. You're supposed to represent gays and lesbians." Kirsch pointed out that Diversionary now attempts to reach bisexuals and transgendered people as well. And he reminded her that "there were women in all the productions this year and we have so many female directors," naming Rosina Reynolds and Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, who will direct three of the new season's shows. "Female directors are great," said Feldman, "but we need the stories, not just a lesbian character now and again. This i | ||