A fun, full-length, family-friendly, gay-pride musical satire lampooning how banning LGBTQ books, Pride flags and drag story hours polarizes small-town America. Although the events inspiring this romp were unfair, illegal and violent, the fictional show I created is fun, goofy, gently mocking and poignant, with a definite point of view: Be who UR! Every small town has non-normative residents, and these people are important parts of the small town who don't deserve to be othered, ostracized or discriminated against.
A drag story hour -- simply a story hour in a library read by a man in drag -- is not a big deal, and certainly not sexy or dramatic. But the hate and violence its protests spark are a big deal, especially to those, youth especially, menaced and targeted as "perverts." But as one of our front-page headlines reads, we are "Meeting Hate With Humor." In the face of bigotry, we offer humanity, community and a place to come together to laugh at ourselves and offer some hope as a bridge between cultures.
Ten adult actors, 3-4 child actors who can jump rope, a director, music director, choreographer, stage manager, set constructors, sound and light technicians, all a mixture of straight and gay, will celebrate what was banned a year before, on a simple cabaret stage at a well-known theater with ample media attention and PR, one week after the local Pride festival directly behind the theater. We plan to table there and hopefully perform a number from our show.
I've gotten warm responses from all the Pride Fests I've gone to and Pride groups I've presented to, yielding multiple endorsements: people want to see this show happen. Even the head of the original Drag Story Hour organization and the original cancelled drag performer are eager to come. In these dark political times, this show offers, first, the absurd conflict, and then a hopeful resolution and way of seeing each other as, however odd we first might seem, normal.
Learn More: https://www.dragqueenstoryhourthemusical.org/