6 minute read
THEATRE SPOTLIGHT
EIGHTY-SIXED
UNEARTHING AN EPIDEMIC THAT SHOOK THE WORLD TO REVEAL A COMMUNITY’S FEROCIOUS FIGHT TO RECLAIM ITS FUTURE
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Diversionary Theatre will present the world premiere of the original musical EIGHTY-SIXED based on the novel of that title. The two-part novel, written by David B. Feinberg, was published in 1989. The musical, like the book, takes place between 1980 and 1986 during the height of the AIDS epidemic. Performances will run Thursday, May 12 through Sunday, June 12 at the Diversionary, 4545 Park Blvd. in San Diego.
The musical is written by Jeremy J. King with music and lyrics by Sam Salmond and directed by Kevin Newbury and choreographed by Raja Feather Kelly. It’s quite the distinguished artistic team with work including film, television, theatre and opera. Newbury has been involved with the creation of EIGHTY-SIXED for seven-plus years along with Preston Sadleir, who plays the central character of B.J. who goes through a gay world without AIDS to a world with it where he loses a number of his friends.
“Our cast is indeed bicoastal,” Newbury said. “We held auditions in San Diego and New York. We are so thrilled to be bringing members of our queer community from both coasts to tell this important story.”
Newbury said he was drawn to the piece, feeling it was his duty to “bridge the gap between the generation ahead of me and the generation behind me, and honor both the community we lost and the community that is building our future.”
It was also important to Newbury to stage the show in San Diego at the Diversionary, one of America’s oldest LGBT theatres, founded in 1986.
“Coming of age in the 1980s as a closeted queer kid, the only images I saw of gay men were connected with death and disease,” Newbury said. “Partnering with the incredible team at Diversionary for the world premiere makes EIGHTY-SIXED even more special. Diversionary is dedicated to building queer community and spreading queer joy, and I know EIGHTY-SIXED will continue that mission. Also, the ‘80s-inspired score is incredible, and the lyrics and book are infused with such deep queer humor, joy and compassion. I feel like my whole life has been leading up this project. It really is a celebration of queer joy.”
The story also appealed to book writer Jeremy J. King, but it wasn’t the first time he was drawn to AIDS-related stories. This one was different for him because he felt it was looking in the mirror and seeing his own reflection.
“David B. Feinberg’s novel certainly wasn’t the first time I engaged with any AIDS-related media,” King said. “But it was the first time I really saw myself in it. I was a promiscuous 20-something reading about the experience of a promiscuous 20-something . . . both the protagonist and I were going on good/bad dates, having good/bad sex, and just generally on a search for connection. It hooked me. There’s a time jump in the novel where all that connection is recontextualized and becomes a source of anxiety. Suddenly, I understood how frightening and confusing life must have been back then. I immediately wanted to help other people in my generation understand as clearly as I did and, in doing so, honor the people we lost. So, I decided to adapt it. First, I tried adapting the novel into a screenplay, then into a play, but the best medium for the story ended up being a musical. And here we are.”
AN EXCELLENT MISTAKE
“My friend Aaron Glick,” King recalled, “read an early draft of the play version of EIGHTY-SIXED and said, ‘I think you accidentally wrote a musical.’ He said that because the play had many monologues that resembled songs and a sort of Greek chorus that resembled the ensemble of a musical. Aaron was becoming a hot young producer and was able to commission it as a musical where we found composer Sam Salmond to write songs that help bring the show’s emotions to radiant life. We’ve been in development for the better part of a decade. During that time, we brought more collaborators to the show, like director Kevin Newbury and choreographer Raja Feather Kelly. They, along with everyone at Diversionary Theatre, are finally giving the show a beautiful physical life that we’re incredibly excited to share with San Diego.”
Preston Sadleir, known for his work on film, television and stage, has been with the production since its inception. He didn’t know the show would end up here six years later but was given the opportunity when the show’s producer asked him to be a part of the first reading.
“The boring version is that I had previously worked with our wonderful producer on a Broadway show,” Sadleir said. “He asked me to be a part of a developmental reading of EIGHTY-SIXED six years ago. The more hippy-dippy answer is laced with a little more alchemy and the belief that all of the artists working on this show were led to it because of our queer heritage and the need to see our stories told and celebrated. Diversionary Theatre paves the way with that artistic approach, and it’s such a gift to have a place like it here in San Diego.”
Sadleir’s prep work for the show, oddly enough, started long before he was asked to be a part of the show.
“I was actually assigned to read the book EIGHTY-SIXED by a director when I was doing a production of Rent about 10 years ago,” he said. “I figured a book about the AIDS crisis in New York City was going to be deeply depressing, so I remember being shocked to find myself reading something funny and relatable. It was a vivid example of how human beings can be so many things at once. Even though it was a horrifying time in our history, it wasn’t entirely reduced to solemnity. There was humor, there was denial, there was friendship. There was the full breadth of human behavior and coping mechanisms. That fullness is wonderfully illustrated in this adaptation by Jeremy J. King and Sam Salmond. My preparation for doing the show has been all about finding the nuance and full spectrum of gay expression. To me the best way we can honor the memory of these people is by humanizing them and not reducing them to numbers in a jar.”
Sadleir said his favorite part of the show is also his most difficult challenge.
“The thing I like best about the show is the same thing that makes it so hard to do,” Sadleir said. “It’s the fact that it’s me! Sure, I’m playing a character but he’s a gay man dealing with the complexities of love, loss, deep trauma and a life-threatening health crisis. Those are the stories of my community. Even currently! Living in that reality every day is much more vulnerable and deeply affecting than when I’m playing ‘Straight Farmer No. 3’ or ‘Stan from Accounting.’ Doing a piece of theatre about queer people alongside other queer people just doesn’t happen, and it’s my absolute favorite thing.”
