The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me 20th Anniversary Benefit Program

Page 1

Gerald W. Lynch Theater

WWW.PLAYBILL.COM



Produced by

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Benefiting

Featuring

Brandon Cordeiro • Robin De Jesús • André De Shields David Drake • Claybourne Elder • Rory O’Malley Anthony Rapp • Chad Ryan • Donald C. Shorter Jr. Wesley Taylor • Aaron Tone • BD Wong Costume Designer

Production Manager

Gregory A. Poplyk

Christopher DeLuise

Lighting Designer

Production Stage Manager

Natasha Katz

David Sugarman Producers

Timothey Sullivan • Tom Viola Directed by

Robert La Fosse


May 20, 2013 Dear Friends, A little more than 20 years ago, we produced The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me at the Perry Street Theatre because David’s powerful work spoke to our hearts. What we didn’t realize was how the play so perfectly reflected the activist zeitgeist of that moment. The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me debuted at the crux of profound cultural change; 1992 was a landmark year in the battle for LGBT equality and preceded by only a few years the introduction of treatment that changed the course of the epidemic. In the intervening two decades, we have seen much progress. Yet HIV-related stigma has, sadly, increased. Fear of casual contagion has lessened, but other components of stigma, like marginalization, prejudgment and “othering” of people with HIV, has gotten worse. Today, people with HIV are increasingly defined through the prism of our potential to infect others, considered inherently dangerous “viral vectors” to be identified, tested, tagged, reported, listed, regulated, controlled and, in some circumstances, criminalized and incarcerated. Treatment is saving many lives and for that we are grateful. But the treatment for stigma isn’t found at a pharmacy. It is achieved through the empowerment of the stigmatized, educating the public and providing a path to justice for all. That’s the message David Drake so eloquently conveys in The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me and it is needed today more than ever. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and the Sero Project are fighting HIV-related stigma, discrimination and criminalization, and working to ensure that vital, life-affirming and lifesaving services are available to those who need them. We are proud to be leaders in the empowerment of people living with HIV/AIDS. Sincerely,

Sean Strub Tom Viola Executive Director Executive Director Sero Project Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS seroproject.com broadwaycares.org


Underwriter Support Patron Paul Boskind Linda Meredith, Sui Generis Health Anonymous

Sponsor Mark Mendelson Thomas Schumacher & Matthew White

Premium VIP Mike Greenly Michael P. Harrell Douglas Nieters & Bill Lagaret Daryl Roth Anthony Sweeney Andrew Tobias Henry van Ameringen Anthony Wood George Zuber & Anthony Snyder

VIP Sam Altman Daniel Bagert & Martin Massman Jeff Walsh

Special Thanks Abrons Arts Center Barnard College Edwin Bernard J. Stephen Brantley Lance Cruce

Rev. Mark Erson Scott Hess Scott Jordan Mark S. King James Krellenstein

Lou Liberatore Karen MacDonald Brandon Macsata Christopher Makos Bob Mueller

Hillary Needleman Frank Pizzoli David Remedios Dick Scanlon Cindy Stine

Connect with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS facebook.com/BCEFA

twitter.com/BCEFA

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instagram.com/BCEFA

youtube.com/BCEFAtv


May 20, 2013 When I joined ACT UP in 1990, not only did I take my first steps into activism, I also began to write. As an actor, these scribblings took the form of autobiographical monologues. Each was an attempt to bear witness to my feelings, issues I knew were integral to the AIDS crisis. Along the way, I realized I was also bearing witness to the evolution of my community. Over the next two years, as I developed the vignettes at benefit performances, including two for BC/EFA, The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me was born. By the time Sean Strub and Tom Viola produced it Off-Broadway in 1992 for a year-long run at the Perry Street Theater – where it went on to become one of the longest-running solo shows in New York theatre history – I knew that The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me was not only an authentic echo from my heart, but also an echo that resounded from the hearts of many others. It was my story. It was their story. It was our story. Last spring, when the 20th anniversary of the play’s debut approached, I was asked if I would consider doing the show again. I liked the idea. But just as what began as an expression of my feelings became a work that reflected the cultural zeitgeist of a community, I started thinking about a reconfigured version of the show with a cast, rather than as a solo performance. There have been nearly 100 productions worldwide (including French, Portuguese, Spanish and Greek translations), so I knew other actors could access the emotional, physical and psychological requirements to perform The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me. I became intrigued with the idea of seeing the play’s youthful warrior-like drive fully engaged in a contemporary context, while also paying tribute to its more seasoned aspects. Witnessing the intermingling of LGBT generations at the New York revivals of The Normal Heart and Angels in America, and at screenings of recent films about the history of AIDS activism was both heartening and inspiring. During those public moments of story-telling, I realized the best way to share The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me today is with a full cast conveying today’s passionate cries from our community’s heart while honoring the legacy of activism that brought us to this transformative moment in our history. And so it is with tremendous excitement that tonight we present my new adaptation of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me...For this one special night, seniors and twentysomethings (and all of us in-betweeners) will celebrate together the journey of hope, change and justice that is at the core of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me. With love and appreciation,

David Drake


Proud to once again be inspired by Larry Kramer.

Paul Boskind

Producer, Broadway Revival of The Normal Heart


A confused, unhappy boy in Beaufort, South Carolina, I fled to NYC and became a successful corporate exec ... then an early online journalist, author (CHRONICLE: The Human Side of AIDS), freelance speechwriter/speech coach and lyricist. Today, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. “Hooray” for me.

BUT ... without such heroes as Larry Kramer ... Vito Russo ... Randy Shilts ... and so many more with the courage I never had ... I’d be nowhere. In the closet. Not free to be myself.

Thank you, Larry Kramer and thank you, BC/EFA for bringing us this special evening.

With love and admiration - Mike Greenly

DJ TONY SMITH

“...a true musical pioneer” -- djsportal.com

e Co-Producer with Jim Papoulis “With You” (Summer, 2013) e SoulBeats Remixes of “I Will Carry You”

Tony Smith & Jim Papoulis - available now

e BILLBOARD Top 10 DJ

e Sirius Satellite Radio Show “STUDIO 54” - CHANNEL 54

First Broadcast: Thursdays 9PM ET Re-broadcast: Mondays 1AM & 2PM ET

e Available for Clubs & Private Events

www.tonysmithnyc.com

I WILL CARRY YOU

Available NOW -- iTunes, amazon, Beatport, etc.

Lyrics: Mike Greenly Music: Paul Guzzone Artist: Shara Strand Producers: Peter McLean & Keith Kemper Engineer: Rick Kwan Label: D1 Music - www.d1music.co Includes SoulBeats remixes by DJ Tony Smith & Jim Papoulis


Saluting Tom Viola and the brilliant BC/EFA team on this extraordinary night of theatre and the important work you do every day.

Thomas Schumacher & Matthew White


What we do together Makes a Difference $10 provides a healthy dinner $50 pays for gas to the health clinic $100 helps provide home care for someone struggling in their fight with AIDS

$250 covers anti-viral medications for a man $500

who’s lost his job and his health insurance pays overdue rent and keeps a single mom with AIDS and her children from becoming homeless

To learn more about Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ National Grants Program and the more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide we help fund, please visit broadwaycares.org/national_grants_program.


The Stories The Birthday Triptych

Brandon Cordeiro, David Drake, Chad Ryan

Owed to the Village People, part one Rory O’Malley

Why I Go to the Gym

Brandon Cordeiro, Robin De Jesús, David Drake, Claybourne Elder, Chad Ryan, Wesley Taylor, Aaron Tone

12” Single

David Drake, Donald C. Shorter Jr. Music by Steven Sandberg

Owed to the Village People, part two Rory O’Malley

A Thousand Points of Light

Brandon Cordeiro, André De Shields, David Drake, Anthony Rapp, Chad Ryan, BD Wong

“... and The Way We Were” David Drake

The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me will be performed without intermission.


Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Old Friends, New Passion! Thank you for all you do!

Douglas Nieters & Bill Lagaret

Congratulations on this important evening to my friends at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Sero Project. You’re so great, I could just kiss you.

Michael P. Harrell


Production Credits Stage Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff Brancato Associate Lighting Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jamie Roderick Hair and Make-Up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Michael Serapiglia Reception Coordinators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Frank Conway, Yvonne Ghareeb Press Representative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Susanne Tighe, Boneau/Bryan-Brown Program Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carol A. Ingram Ticketing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cat Domiano, Skip Lawing Poster Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aaron Waytkus based on the original by Robert Mueller Photograph of David Drake by Christopher Makos, 1992 Original Off-Broadway production directed by Chuck Brown and produced by Sean Strub and Tom Viola

Theatre Authority Acknowledgement We wish to express our gratitide to the performers’ unions – Actors’ Equity Association, American Guild of Musical Artists, American Guild of Variety Artists and SAG-AFTRA – through Theatre Authority Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the artists to appear in this program.

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project Sero Project is a network of people living with HIV who work to engage and empower others with HIV to combat HIV-related stigma, discrimination and criminalization. We do this through research, community education and training, coordination of a criminalization survivor’s network, grassroots mobilization and media advocacy. Over the past 18 months, our short film, HIV is Not a Crime (at seroproject.com), has brought the HIV criminalization crisis to the attention of people with HIV, advocates, policy leaders and government officials around the world. Sero’s 2012 survey of more than 2,000 people with HIV showed how HIV criminalization discourages HIV testing, disclosure and access to treatment. More than a quarter of respondents indicated that one or more people had told them they were afraid to get tested because of criminalization and more than 40 percent indicated they felt it could be reasonable for someone to avoid testing or treatment for fear of prosecution. In October 2012, Sero brought five criminalization survivors – and the mother and sister of a sixth – to speak before the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS about their experiences. Members of the council expressed shock and outrage; at their next meeting they passed a strong resolution calling for reform. Nick Rhoades had an undetectable viral load and used a condom, which his accuser acknowledges. An Iowa court sentenced him to 25 years in prison and lifetime sex offender registration. Robert Suttle was in a contentious relationship; when they broke up, his former partner pressed charges for non-disclosure. He served six months in a Louisiana prison and now is a registered sex offender, which is noted on his driver’s license in red capital letters. The Army charged Monique Howell Moree of South Carolina with nondisclosure, even though her partner didn’t want her prosecuted and confirmed she told him to use a condom. She faced 10 to 12 years, but the charges were dropped mid-trial. Eddie Casto was born with HIV and was prosecuted for not disclosing to his girlfriend when he was 18, even though his viral load was undetectable. He served a year and a half in prison in Spokane, Washington. Mark Hunter was born with hemophilia and acquired HIV from blood factor. After he and his fiancée broke up, she pressed charges. He served 2½ years in an Arkansas prison, even though his viral load was undetectable and he always used condoms. Kerry Thomas is three years into a 30-year sentence in Idaho. His viral load was undetectable and his accuser acknowledges he always used a condom. Lt. Col. Kenneth Pinkela was released in April from an Army prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, after serving nine months. He was prosecuted based on the word of an accuser, in the absence of any physical evidence.


Of these seven criminalization cases, only one was even accused of being responsible for HIV transmission, but no evidence in support of that accusation was presented in court. All of these courageous individuals have joined with Sero to become public advocates for criminalization reform. We can prevent HIV or we can prosecute it, but we can’t do both. To learn more about criminalization and how you can help or to view video interviews with criminalization survivors, go to seroproject.com Sero is grateful for major support from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation and the H. van Ameringen Foundation

Sero Project Advisory Board Karen Bateman (Murray, UT) Donald Bogardus (Waterloo, IA) Edward Casto (Spokane, WA) Cecilia C. Chung (San Francisco, CA) Louis Gay (Oslo, Norway) Tami Haught (Nashua, IA) Monique Howell-Moree (Charleston, SC) Mark Hunter (Grambling, LA) Mark S. King (Atlanta, GA) Doug McColeman (Montreal, ON) Xavier Morales (Milford, PA) Lt. Col. Kenneth Pinkela, (Alexandria, VA) David Plunkett (Albany, NY) Nick Rhoades (Plainfield, IA) Joseph Sonnabend, MD (London, England) Laurel Sprague (Ann Arbor, MI) Lisa Tiger (Santa Fe, NM) Sero Project Sean Strub, Executive Director Robert Suttle, Assistant Director Laurel Sprague, Research Director Reed Vreeland, Communications Joseph Glazebrook, Legal Advisor Cindy Stine, Sero Prison Project Hillary Needleman, Administrative Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Legal Counsel (pro-bono) MLGW, LLP, Accounting and Auditing Services (pro-bono)

For more information, email info@seroproject.com


Please join me in supporting Johnny Milani in Broadway Bares by donating to his Strip-a-thon page. Anthony Sweeney

http://support.broadwaycares.org/goto/johnnymilani


John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York

John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York, an international leader in educating for justice, offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu. Since opening its doors in 1988, the Gerald W. Lynch Theater has been an invaluable cultural resource for John Jay College and the larger New York City community. The theatre is dedicated to the creation and presentation of performing arts programming of all disciplines with a special focus on how the artistic imagination can shed light on the many perceptions of justice in our society. The theatre is also a member of CUNY Stages, a consortium of 16 performing arts center located on CUNY campuses across New York City. The theatre has hosted events in the Lincoln Center Festival since its first season in 1996, as well as New York City Opera, Great Performers at Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera Guild and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater/Ailey II. The theatre has also been the site of many television and film specials including A&E’s Live by Request, Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, Robert Klein in Concert and VH1’s Soundtrack Live. For more information and to view a schedule of events, please visit www.jjay.cuny.edu/theater.

Jeremy Travis, President Robert M. Pignatello, Senior Vice President for the Office of Finance and Administration Jeffrey C. Brown, Executive Director Johanna Whitton, Managing Director Joshua Redfearn, Technical Supervisor Rubina Shafi, Audience Services Manager Amelia Vlah, House Electrician Jeffrey Kurtze, House Carpenter/Rigger Bill Grady, House Audio Engineer David Nelson, Stagehand Kristyn Smith, Black Box Theater Technician Tim Jones, Gallery Technician Alyshia Burke, Custodian


Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS STAFF Tom Viola Executive Director Michael Graziano Producing Director Production Christopher DeLuise Cat Domiano Trisha Doss Nathan Hurlin Skip Lawing Joe Norton Kimberly Russell Scott T. Stevens Timothey Sullivan Danny Whitman Director of Communications & Development Communications & Development Lane Beauchamp Josh Blye Mo Brady Frank Conway Carol A. Ingram Joy Nelson Dex Ostling Roy Palijaro Ryan Walls Aaron Waytkus Larry Cook Director of Finance & Administration Finance & Administration Michelle Abesamis Ngoc Ha Bui R. Keith Bullock Ed Garrison Yvonne Ghareeb Dennis Henriquez Donald Huppert Rose M. James Brian O’Donnell Dan Perry Madeline Reed Retail Outreach Peter Borzotta Andy Halliday Chris Gizzi Dancers Responding to AIDS Denise Roberts Hurlin Christopher F. Davis Sarah Cardillo Classical Action Chris Kenney

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Officers Paul Libin, President Ira Mont, First Vice President Thomas Schumacher, Second Vice President Nina Lannan, Third Vice President Sherry Cohen, Fourth Vice President Philip Birsh, Treasurer Judith Rice, Secretary Trustees Cornelius Baker John Barnes Scott Barnes Joseph Benincasa Chris Boneau Bob Boyett Barry Brown Kate Burton Robert Callely Kathleen Chalfant Alan Cumming Gavin Darraugh Michael David B. Merle Debuskey Maria Di Dia Paul DiDonato Sam Ellis Richard Frankel Roy Harris Richard Hester Craig Jacobs Richard Jay-Alexander Cherry Jones Nathan Lane Jay Laudato Margo Lion Nancy Mahon Mary McColl Kevin McCollum Michael McElroy Terrence McNally Jerry Mitchell Bernadette Peters Chita Rivera Jordan Roth Nick Scandalios Peter Schneider Robert Score Marian Seldes Jeffrey Seller Philip J. Smith Charlotte St. Martin David Stone Stuart Thompson Tim Tompkins Tom Viola (ex-officio) Robert E. Wankel Beth Williams Nick Wyman (as of October 2012)




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