Live Theater Production History

NOTE: This is not finished, but only a beginning dialogue on this subject.

LIVE PRODUCTIONS

Live stage shows have graced Oregon’s stages since before the beginning of statehood in 1859. Either through people singing and dancing or around the time Oregon became a state, female impersonators were part of the entertainment. As an example, in 1904, the December 24 Morning Oregonian stated, “Today and tomorrow are the last opportunities of seeing the great Christmas bill at the Star Theatre. The features of the great bill are…amusing female impersonators.” However, plays were not so readily available and especially those with either gay subject matter or characters about homosexuals weren’t seen until the early 1970s.

NATIONWIDE

The first known same-sex relationship play is At Saint Judas’s, by Henry Blake Fuller. Published in 1896, its Chicago-born author is best known as a novelist. St. Judas’s, a highly stylized play, is a closet drama in that it appears to have been written for reading rather than performance and no record of performance is known to exist. It is also a closet drama in that it concerns the intense friendship between two men. With characters known simply as the Bride Groom and the Best Man, the play is set before a wedding ceremony where the Best Man confesses his obsessive love for the Bride Groom. Fuller’s stage directions, which include changes in the postures of the figures in the stained-glass windows, leave the final images of his allegorical play of same-sex desire ambiguous, but one of the men dies on a sword. https://omnilogos.com/lgbt-theater-and-performance

New York City where theatre finds its footing found it hard to bring ‘out homosexual’ characters to the stage or even what then was considered risqué material. There would be suggestions of homosexual characters, but it wasn’t until 1926 when a well-received Broadway play about a lesbian affair - The Captive 1926 opened at The Empire Theatre and ran for 160 performances. The Society for the Prevention of Vice warned the producers that if the play continued, all Broadway productions that season would be scrutinized and censored, and what would become known as the “padlock bill” prohibited homosexual subject matter on the Broadway stage. [The Wales Padlock Law, under it any commercial theater presenting such work could be padlocked for a year. While enforcement of the law was threatened more than carried out in the years to come, the law remained on the books until 1967.] The Deputy Police Commissioner at the time issued a police raid of three shows, The Captive, Sex [written by and starring Mae West], and The Virgin Man on February 9, 1927. During its successful run, the casts of all three shows were arrested by the New York City police for being immoral and the shows never reopened. Actor Basil Rathbone who was in the production of The Captive states in his autobiography, In and Out of Character, that he noticed “an unusual number of people outside and more policemen than I had ever seen anywhere at one time in New York… As we walked out onto the stage to await our first entrances, we were stopped by a plainclothes policeman who showed his badge and said, ‘Please don’t let it disturb your performance tonight but consider yourself under arrest!’ At the close of the play, the cast were all ordered to dress and stand by to be escorted in police cars to a night court.”

In the New York Times, February 15, 1927, stated, “CAST OF 'VIRGIN MAN' IS HELD FOR TRIAL; TWO PLAYS UP TODAY; Author and Seven Players Give Bail on Charge That the Show Is Indecent. JAIL TERMS TO BE ASKED Police Inspector on the Stand Recites the Plot, Despite Lawyer's Objections. INJUNCTION CASES HELD UP 'Sex' and 'Captive' Hearings Today -- McKee Sees Success for Cleanup Campaign. 8 OF 'VIRGIN MAN' ARE HELD FOR TRIAL,”

Per the " NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, a THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1927.The Drag" Barred. "The Drag," a play of psychopathic sex manifestations, tried out in Bridgeport, Conn., and Paterson, N. J., and reported privately reviewed here early in the week by city officials will not be allowed to enter New York, officials Indicated yesterday. The Hudson County grand jury at Bayonne. N. J. today awaited a review of the production. The stage committee of nine had completed today a plan for censorship from within the theater. Sponsors of the proposal say it Is "better and more practical, working more quickly, effectively and with less publicity" than the district attorney's "drastic" measures. Summary of Plays.

The three plays under fire from the district attorney's- - office in New York and a brief summary of their subject matter are: "Sex" By "Jane Mast," Supposed nom do Plume of Mae West, the play's star. It deals with dissolute women who "follow the fleet." The language in the production is particularly robust. "The Captive" By Edouard Bourdet, a French playwright, translated by Arthur Hornblow, Jr. A woman who is captured emotionally by another woman. The victim In-effectual attempts to escape the attraction by marriage. Critics have called the play a delicate treatment of a theme hitherto untouched on the American stage. "The Virgin Man" By William Francis Dugan and H. F. Malthy. An undergraduate in New York who resists the unmistakable attention of three women. The humor is exceedingly broad.

The Hays Code of 1934 banned images of homosexuality on the Hollywood screen. So, what seemed like from 1927 through the 1960s homosexual content could not and would not be represented either on stage or screen.

Two things should be stated, first The Drag was a play written by Mae West that argued for sympathetic treatment of homosexuals and concerned the hidden gay life of a newlywed who hosts a drag ball and second on screen the same year (1927) a movie was released, Wings is released and includes the first on-screen male-male kiss in cinema. AND Wings was one of the first widely released films to show nudity.

Broadway by the early 1950s brought a show that would allow the subject of homosexuality back on stage and that was In Robert Anderson 1953, hit the stage play Tea and Sympathy which explored the rampant prejudice against homosexuality. The story follows Tom Lee, a young student accused of being gay, and the woman, Laura, who helps him face his own feelings of shame.

Beginning in the later 1950s a space opened where any artist could feel safe and show their work. That was at a small place opened by Joe Cino in 1958 called Caffé Cino. This tiny space was far from the stages of Broadway and off-Broadway. I became known as off-off-Broadway movement. In 1961, Doric Wilson [who also contributed to the Cascade Voice newspaper in Portland Oregon in 1982-1984]. In 1961 Doric’s play Now She Dances! was produced. The theater grew and other playwrights had work produced there such as Lanford Wilson’s The Madness of Lady Bright and Robert Patrick’s The Haunted Host both produced in 1964.

Mart Crowley wrote Boys in the Band (1968) in response to what seemed like a challenge by the theater critic Stanley Kauffmann, who in his January 23, 1966, Section A, Page 93 New York Times essay headlined “Homosexual Drama and Its Disguises” asked why that era’s most famous gay playwrights — meaning Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams and William Inge — didn’t write about themselves and leave straights alone. Or at least this is what https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/26/t-magazine/gay-theater-history-boys-in-the-band.html stated in its article A Brief History of Gay Theater, in Three Acts by Jesse Green Feb. 26, 2018. Whatever Mart felt, his show opened and ran for 1,001 performances at Theater Four, an old-converted church in Manhattan.  The play also was attended by Jackie Kennedy, Marlene Dietrich, Groucho Marx, Rudolf Nureyev, and New York City Mayor, John Lindsay.

Things then began to change. The musical stage reflected these advances. The same year as the Stonewall riots, Rene Auberjonois played Sebastian Baye in Coco (1969) -- this was the first openly gay character in a Broadway musical, even if it was written as a hateful caricature. A year later [1970] in the Tony Award-winning Applause Lee Roy Reams played the hairdresser, Duane, the first likable openly gay character in a Broadway musical. Applause also included a scene in a gay bar.  In 1973, Tommy Tune won his first Tony portraying a blatantly gay choreographer in Seesaw.  And in 1974 A Chorus Line opened and became the first major Broadway book musical to let gay characters discuss (in both dialogue and song) the sexual aspects of their lives.

It was the tradition in theatre that actors would dress in female attire and perform – this stretches as far back as plays in ancient China. And for years women were not allowed to be on stage, so men donned their clothing to perform. This all seemed to change in the mid-1900s.

Probably because of source material and the law in Oregon plays with homosexual characters were not seen or produced.

In the late 1920s and into the 1940s there were plays produced that had an all-male cast called “Womanless Marriages.” Per Wikipedia: A womanless wedding is a traditional community "ritual of inversion" performance, popular in the United States in the early 19th century. In this comic ritual, the all-male cast would act out all roles of a traditional wedding party – including those of bridesmaids, flower girls, and the mother of the bride – while dressed in gowns and dresses. The event often raised money for charities, civic organizations, and churches. [further into the explanation] Prominent male members of a community would typically be the actors of the womanless performances. Their status would allow for their outlandish performances of stereotypical imitations of the minorities of a community, and the conditions of a community that went against the social norms of the culture in the spirit of entertainment to be accepted by the community with humor, rather than backlash and their masculinity being questioned by a community.

The performances were so popular that scripts were developed around the idea, and the do-it-yourself theatrical productions were passed along from city to city.

OREGON

Oregon wasn’t immune to these types of plays. The first mention found in The Oregonian was on October 9, 1927, when the Ontario American Legion put on one with “70 men in the cast”.  In 1928, it would be the Kiwanis Club in Marshfield and the same year the American Legion in Grants Pass put one on as a benefit.  Closer to home in 1931 the Brotherhood of Yeomen in Alberta held one with a dance after and the Neighbors of Woodcraft – Mt. Hood produced one. The last one found was in 1939 held at the Sunnyside Grange.

It appears that the first play with strong LGBTQ undertones was produced at Portland Civic Theater with The Killing of Sister George.

The first known “out and proud” homosexual play produced in Oregon appears to be at Portland State University in 1971 produced Mart Crowley’s Boys In The Band.

Going back in time, there was a theatre with the name GAY THEATRE located at 805 Mississippi Ave and operated from March 16, 1915 – September 19, 1920. The name may have said GAY, but the content shown was popular movies.

Actor Sonny Sorrels April 1977 was interviewed by Northwest Gay Review, he commented about being an “out” actor: It’s the saddest of ironies; that for years that was the place where we could be most gay without fear of reprisal. But that was one and two decades ago, and those who once were liberal have grown a conservative crust. Perhaps that’s forgivable, but it’s not tolerable.  Forgivable or no, I have no intention of ever wearing a sexual straight jacket again, regardless of who’s lacing the ties.

Here is the partial list of plays from 1970 into the 1990s.

1970 Portland Civic – The Killing of Sister George

1970 Portland Civic – Good Night Ladies [Walter W Cole and Tony Sendarna dress in drag to hide in women’s bathhouse]

1971 Portland Civic Theater - Norman, is that you?

1971 Portland State University - Mart Crowley’s Boys In The Band.

1973 Portland State University – Staircase by Charles Dyer (written in 1969)

1974 Slabtown Stop Theatre – Boys in The Band

1974 The Imperial Inland Empire Repertory Company The Boy Friend [all male version] - Darcelle XV Showplace

1974 Portland Civic Theatre Blue Room - Simon Gray’s Butley

1975 Benson Hotel Dinner Theatre  – Norman…is that you?  - Benson Hotel in the Crystal Room [soon would be The Mark Allen Players]

1976 Dahl & Penne (gay bar) – Fortune and Men’s Eyes

1976 Darcelle XV Showplace – The Ritz [all male version]

1976 Darcelle XV Showplace - Little Merry Sunshine [all male version]

1976 W C’s Watercloset - (gay disco bar) – Chicago (vaudeville)

1977 Portland Civic Theatre Pussyfootin’’ [gay content]

1977 Portland Civic Theatre - Equus

1977 New Theatre - Equus [director of New Theatre] Pat Torelle

1977 Storefront Actor’s Theatre - Jewel Box ‘an adult erotic fairy tale’

1980 Storefront Actor’s Theatre – The Fifth of July  

1981 Portland Civic Theater - Boys In The Band

1981 Wilde Oscar [restaurant/bar] – Duck Variations

1982 Willamette Center - Bent produced in part by Phoenix Rising

1982 The Caroline Berg Swann Auditorium at the Portland Art Museum - Bent directed by Jerry Leith OR

1982 Portland Women’s Theatre Company - A Stake in the Heart of the Heart – at West Coast Power Studio

1982 Harrison Pierce producer - Doric Wilson’s A Perfect Relationship – YWCA Wilson Center for the Performing Arts

1982 Storefront Actor’s Theatre - Quarters [new work]

1982 Storefront Actor’s Theatre – Streamers

1982 Storefront Actor’s Theatre - Pilk's Madhouse  

1983 Storefront Actor’s Theatre Jewel Box [new work]

1983 Portland Women’s Theatre - Female Parts – The New Rose

1983 Portland Women’s Theatre - My Blue Heaven by late Jane Chambers - Pine Street Theatre

1983 Tom Enyart’s play The Circuit

1983 David Lee’s Comedy isn’t pretty – [space unknown]

1983 JR’s Cell (leather bar) – Richmond Jim

1983 Unknown producer – Deaftits – Judy’s (Lesbian bar)

1984 JR’s Cell (leather bar) – Kevin Berry’s Eastside Clinic

1984 Harrison Pierce producer –- Terry Baum’s Dos Lesbos – Judy’s (Lesbian bar)

1984 Sumas Theatre –– Tom Enyart’s Sextet – opened their new space 1313 NW 13th

1984 The Open Door Theatre –– Doric Wilson’s The West Street Gang

1984 The Open Door Theatre - Robert Chesley’s Stray Dog Story

1984 The Open Door Theatre - Slide and Swap

1985 Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center - Division Street by Steve Tesich

1985 Ember’s Avenue Jerry West’s producer – Doric Wilson’s Forever After – [article in The Eagle Newsmagazine, page 30, January 1,]

1985 Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center produced Division Street by Steve. It has a transexual cop named Betty.

1986 Harrison Pierce producer –– Doric Wilson’s Street Theatre at Chateau La Bamm

1986 Storefront Actor’s Theatre - The Normal Heart 

1986 Michael Scott Reed producer/playwright - Seven Sundays – Portland Civic Theatre Blue Room

1987 Phoenix Rising –– Ten Percent Revue

1987 Spread Eagle Productions –– Jerker – Embers Avenue [cast marches in 1987 Gay Pride Parade]

1987 Intimate Friends – unknown who produced it at Winningstad Theatre

1988 Firehouse Theatre Welcome Back Bobby Dearest

1988 Spread Eagle Productions – Switch - A musical extravaganza – Embers Avenue

1989 Rainforest Theatre - Michael Scott Reed’s The Victory Party

1990 triangle productions! – After the Rain – Firehouse Theatre

1991 triangle productions! – “…tell momma, goodbye…” – Firehouse Theatre and the Women, Children & HIV Conference at the Red Lion Ballroom – first known play about this subject matter.

1992 Echo Theatre 1515 SE 37th hosts Pomo Afro Homos: Fierce Love Jan 17-18

1992 Echo Theatre 1515 SE 37th Tim Miller in Stretch Marks January 31-February

1992 triangle productions! - Bent Theatre Paris

1993 triangle productions! Baltimore Waltz Portland Rep Stage II

1993 triangle productions! The Sum of Us – Portland Rep Stage II

1994 triangle productions! Falsettos - Portland Rep Stage II

1994 triangle productions! Jeffrey - Portland Rep Stage II

Over the years other theatres would produce gay content shows. This again is a small content and list of the companies and the shows: ART – Breaking the Code, Normal Heart, Take Me Out; Portland Center Stage – Fifth of July, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Fun Home, I Am My Own Wife, A New Brain; Profile Lisbon La Traviata; Live on Stage – Falsettos; Lakewood Theatre – La Cage; Musical Theatre Co. - La Cage; Oregon Cabaret – Hedwig/Angry Inch, Street, As Is [first AIDS play on Broadway 1985].

During these years, an out gay man, Bob Jackson took people to go see plays and even produced two television shows entitled “Eight Lively Arts” on KGW TV 8. Per the book A Curious and Peculiar People page 307, “Bob Jackson formed a new theatre group expressly to produce the AIDS play Adam and the Experts .” Also page 331