Orleans

March 7-8: New Recording of Gayland at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans

| Evan Hammond

Screen Shot 2015-03-01 at 3.53.55 PMAs we’ve developed Gayland 2.0, we have added many new songs, including the sweet “Life Is A Tiny Flicker” and the cool and sophisticated, “I Wanna See Your Cum Face.”

There will be a new audio recording of of the entire Gayland score this weekend at the lovely Esplanade Studios in New Orleans, where John Legend, Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson and many others have laid down tracks.

Session no. 1…..Sat., March 7, 12-4 p.m.
Session no. 2…..Sun., March 8, 1-5 p.m.

Esplanade Studios
2540 Esplanade Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70119

CAST
Boo:  Lesley DeMartin
Willow:  Maria Elise Thomas
Finn:  Jason Amos
Zack:  Dylan Tran
Brock:  Ivan Griffin
Gaige:  Cameron-Mitchell Ware
Zoe/Alto:  Ayanna Hampton
Baritone/Ensemble:  Scott King

With Piano By:  April Mok

Extra fun on closing night

| Evan Hammond

Sunday night, we played to a very full house, and the cast was in a playful mood with lots of ad libs. Probably the audience favorite was from Lesley De Martin, as she hurried her class offstage at the end of Mismatch Mercy Mission, “Come on, this is Fringe. We only have an hour!”

When it was over, we popped champagne, exchanged hugs, and posed for the group photo:

Gayland Cast and Crew

The “Gayland: The Musical,” cast, crew, and creators.

Left to right: Doug Therrien, Lori DeLeon, Spencer Doyle, Charles Kohlmeyer, Dilyara Shiderova, Dave Hurlbert, Scott King, Christopher St. John, Ivan Griffin, David Kaplinsky, Christopher Thompson, Kathleen Westfall, Chard Gonzalez, (second row) April Mok, Joe Furnari, Nick Shackleford, Brittany Scofeld, Lesley DeMartin. Not pictured: Swamp DeVille (sets) Veronica Russell (costumes)

Photo by Sandy Mustard, 11-24-13.

OffBeat.com features “Gayland” in “Top 12 Fringe Fest Shows Not To MIss”

| Evan Hammond

OffBeat

Read article on OffBeat.com

Always at the forefront of uninhibited, experimental arts and culture, New Orleans hosts one of the most comprehensive Fringe Festivals in the country next week from November 20-24 at more than two dozen DIY venues throughout the Bywater, Marigny and St. Claude Avenue neighborhoods. The sixth annual New Orleans Fringe Fest plays host to more than 77 intimate shows over the course of five days in the mediums of stage play, musical, comedy, spoken word, dance, puppetry, burlesque, acrobatics, installation art, and perhaps the most “New Orleans” of all performance arts — an official Fringe Fest Parade.

The “fringe” movement in theatre and performance art has been bubbling nationally for the past five years or more now. Even cities not known so much for their theatre or arts scenes now host an annual Fringe Fest. Given the nature of the city’s cultural heritage, it is no surprise that New Orleans has been a pioneer in the movement to encourage local and amateur artists to hone their crafts. It is also no wonder that the tgood-children-paradehrivingarts nexus that is the St. Claude Avenue corridor plays host to the New Orleans Fringe Fest. This weekend, nearly every street corner and every small cabaret or warehouse will be ablaze with color and movement, the roster now also including more visiting artists. Several Fringe Fest alumni have even gone on to tour their musical plays and comedy shows.

Just glancing at the festival schedule can be quite daunting, but OffBeat staff have assembled 12 shows we wouldn’t miss this year to help get you started. Some of the most New Orleans and Louisiana-centric shows have been selected for our Top 12 below.

TOP 12 FRINGE FEST 2013 SHOWS NOT TO MISS:

Gayland

Welcome to a world in which almost everyone is gay, evangelical lesbian conservatives hold power, and the marginalized ungays are agitating for the right to marry. “Gayland,” an audacious new musical comedy, shows you this world through the eyes of Willow, a rising star, who finds herself attracted to Zack and caught in the coils of forbidden ungay desire.

Marigny Opera House – 11/20 (7pm), 11/22 (7pm), 11/23 (9pm), 11/24 (11pm)

{Editor’s note: We were first on the list!}

Read article on OffBeat.com