Tickets for Gilda Shedstecker Presents! Abraham Lincoln\’s Big Gay Dance Party, by Aaron Loeb are now on sale!
This play is in turn outrageously funny and frighteningly serious as it tells the story of the \”Trial of the Century:\” An elementary school teacher is fired in Menard County, Illinois, when her 4th grade Christmas pageant includes references to Presidential private lives and sues the school board. The District Attorney uses the publicity of the trial to revive his disgraced career and run for Governor against his protégé, a black female Republican Senator.
A Pulitzer prize winning journalist intent on ruining the homophobic DA swoops into town to cover the trial when the tension escalates into violence. The fascinating intrigue of the political campaign and human drama are offset by absurd attempts of one culture to cope with and exploit another, and visions of dead presidents.
The story is told in three dynamic parts from the diverse perspectives of the journalist, the Senator, and the District Attorney, in a clever device where the audience chooses the order of the three acts. In addition, at some point all 8 cast members portray Abraham Lincoln. And the audience shouldn\’t form any judgement based on the title, which is a gibe at the play itself.
This show is particularly timely with the decision of 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last November against the freedom to marry in Ohio. Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party is ultimately about freedom, a concept totally representative of America’s 16th President: the freedom of all Americans to live without fear, without persecution, and to live with the same rights enjoyed by all.
The cast includes Tammy Zinhon-Hyde, Patrice Rittenhouse, Benjamin Seeley, Stephon Harris, Jacki Dietz, Jimmy Ferko, Dan Fritz, and Tiffeny Brown and is stage managed by David Bowden. The show runs February 20, 21, 27 and 28 2015 at the Kathleen Howland Theatre in downtown Canton, Ohio. All performances are at 8:00 pm and the play contains adult language not recommended for youngsters.
For more information visit gildashedstecker.com. Tickets are available online from Kathleen Howland Theatre at secondapril.org or by phone: 330-451-0924.