‘Online community’: Streaming short-play series commemorates Gay Pride – Albuquerque Journal

The cast of “It Ain’t Over ‘Til the Pink Lady Sings,” clockwise from upper left: Alix Hudson, Zoe Margolis and Zoe Burke. (Courtesy of Almost Adults Productions)

In mid-March, theater productions came to a standstill.

Aaron Leventman began looking for ways to keep theater alive.

He found innovative ways to present live theater online.

Beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 28, Leventman’s company, Almost Adults Productions, will present a series of LGBTQ+ short plays.

Leventman says the events will be livestreamed on the Almost Adults Facebook page, which can be found by searching for @almostadultstheatre. A public link to join on Zoom will be available.

It will be a 75-minute event, including a discussion after the readings.

Leventman says that although the content of the plays will focus on issues surrounding the LGBTQ+ community, anyone is welcome to participate. The short plays will feature local and national talent.

“Since we don’t know when we will be safely able to return to live theater, these Zoom performances will allow both local and national artists and audiences to create an online community for the purpose of celebrating and creating LGBTQ+ theater,” Leventman says. “Gay Pride is happening, and we can’t celebrate it like we are used to. I wanted to find a way to commemorate Gay Pride in June. This is a niche of theater I’m very interested in keeping alive.”

The short plays on Sunday, June 28 are:

The cast of “Where the Fireworks Come From” is Dustin Uher, above, and Niko’a Salas. (Courtesy of Almost Adults Productions)

• “Where the Fireworks Come From” by Michael Pisaturo of Boston. The play is about a special friendship between two 17-year-old boys that takes place on the Fourth of July before one of them leaves to join the Army. Santa Fean Niko’a Salas and Boston-based Dustin Uher will be in the play.

• “It Ain’t Over ‘Til the Pink Lady Sings” by Allison Fradkin of Chicago. The play is about a teenage girl performer who crushes on her musical duet partner during a production of “Grease.” Santa Fe-based actors Zoe Burke, Zoe Margolis and Alix Hudson will be in the play.

• “I’m So Lonely” by Rose Provan of Santa Fe. The play is about the connection between an out-of-work gay male actor, played by Stephen Rubin of Santa Fe, and a lonely woman, played by Provan, who interviews prospective roommates as a means of companionship.

“I’m getting requests from all over the world with interest in being part of the series,” Leventman says. “Creating an online community is great. The advantage to Zoom is that you can involve people from all over the world, as long as you get your time zones right. Artists are coming up with creative ways to continue to pursue their work until we can get together to meet again.”

Leventman plans to have a performance on the last Sunday of each month. If there’s enough interest, he might increase it to biweekly.

“Doing live theater with an in-person audience won’t happen for a long time,” he says.