Although much of David Drake's semi-autobiographical one-man show, "The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me," takes place in his home state of Maryland, he has never performed the entire show here -- until now.
Beginning Wednesday, Drake will repeat his Obie Award-winning performance at the Theatre Project, where the show -- a portrait of the artist as a gay young man -- will be filmed before a live audience for release as an independent feature.
"Many of these experiences, as well as my understanding of the obstacles in my life, started in my childhood, and that was in Maryland. So it's almost like confronting them in the place where they were born. It's sharing them and exorcising them," Drake, 35, said from his New York apartment last week. "Plus my love of performing started there. It started there, at the Spotlighters and places like that."
Drake said that because several previous film offers had fallen through, he was hesitant when he was approached by a young producer a little more than a year ago. And indeed, that producer eventually backed out, too, but not before introducing Drake to director Tim Kirkman, who is best known for the documentary "Dear Jesse," about Jesse Helms. By the time the producer had reneged, Drake said: "We were too far along. I said, 'Let's do it.' " They decided to co-produce the film themselves, along with three other producers.
Not having performed the show since 1995 in Australia, Drake plunged back into rehearsals a few weeks ago with his original stage director, Chuck Brown.
Although the bulk of the show will remain unchanged, Drake has re-written the final section, which was originally set on New Year's Eve 1999 and now takes place Dec. 31, 2015. Listing some of the events his character describes, he said, "I've got two little kids now, Richard and Bobby. One is obsessed with the new 'Star Wars' movie. The other one is obsessed with his superhero movie, 'Wonder Woman,' starring Ru Paul. I'm out to show cultural shifts and attitudes. My fantasy is still a fantasy, and it's a satire, but it's a vision of the elements of change and the elements of hope."
Besides preparing for the film, Drake has had a busy year since he directed "The Mirror of Love" as part of the Theatre Project's annual "Queer Cafe" last June. Two months later, he participated in a workshop production of fellow Marylander Anna Deavere Smith's "House Arrest" at her summer institute at Harvard University.
He also co-produced, co-wrote and co-starred in a short feature film called "The Trey Billings Show," in which he played "this public-access, celebrity chat-show character and his guest, who is this '50s warhorse TV sitcom comedienne." And he starred as a "Judy Garland drag queen in psychotherapy" in a short run of a new musical, "Dream Analysis," which is expected to open off-Broadway in the fall.
Right now, however, Drake is happy to be back in the place where his acting career began. "It does feel like a sort of completion, honest to God. I'm finally bringing it home," he said.
Show times for "The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me" at the Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St., are 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, May 12-22. Tickets are $15. (Call for information about the subsequent week of by-invitation filmed performances.) The number is 410-752-8558.
Everyman's season
There's lots of news from Everyman Theatre. Artistic director Vincent M. Lancisi has just announced the 1999-2000 season, which includes two new company members (popular Baltimore actresses Tana Hicken and Rosemary Knower), and the theater is gearing up for its first gala benefit.
The four-play season features a Tony Award-winning play and two Baltimore premieres. In honor of the centennial of Noel Coward's birth, the season will open with his rarely produced "Nude With Violin" (Sept. 17-Oct. 10), about the human vultures who circle after the death of a famous artist; Grover Gardner directs. Next comes the local premiere of Alfred Uhry's 1997 Tony Award winner, "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" (Nov. 19-Dec. 12), about a family of German-American Jews in 1939 Atlanta, starring Knower and directed by Lancisi.
This will be followed by Tennessee Williams' classic "The Glass Menagerie" (Feb. 11-March 12, 2000), starring Hicken and directed by her husband, Donald Hicken. The season will end with the other Baltimore premiere of Martin McDonagh's recent Broadway hit, "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" (April 28-May 21), with Vivienne Shub and Tana Hicken playing an embattled rural Irish mother and daughter, under Lancisi's direction.
The theater's gala, which is called "Salut! Everyman," will take place from 7: 30 p.m. to midnight June 5. Dancing to the music of Zim Zemarel, a buffet supper by Viccino Bistro and a gourmet wine-tasting will highlight the evening, which will also include an auction of more than 30 items ranging from rare wine packages to area vacations to a skybox for an Orioles game. Honorary chairmen are Baltimorean James Gabler, whose latest book is "Passions: The Wines and Travels of Thomas Jefferson," and Academy Award-winning actor F. Murray Abraham, who may be in attendance.
Tickets to the gala are $100 ($50 of which is tax deductible). Subscriptions to the four-play season are $45. Call 410-752-2208.
Staged readings
Center Stage will present staged readings of the three first-place scripts in this year's Young Playwrights Festival at 7 p.m. May 17:
"Laughing Guards," about a pair of young men who try to become guards at Buckingham Palace, but can't hold a straight face, written by Alex Otto, a 10-year-old fourth-grader at Fifth District Elementary School in Upperco.
"The Trial of Frank Thorin," about a man's trial in hell after not paying his $50,000 electric bill, written by Nick Hagerman, a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Harford Day School.
"Fine Print," about a grandfather obsessed with sweepstakes, written by Abhinav Nellore, 15-year-old 10th-grader at Bel Air High School.
"It's a night of comedy. It's going to be terrific," said Rachel Grossman, festival coordinator. Maryland's first lady, Frances Hughes Glendening, will again present awards to the playwrights, whose entries were chosen from almost 450 scripts.
In addition to Monday's performances, which feature professional actors, two other evenings of readings will be presented. At 7: 30 p.m. Friday, May 28, the second- and third-place high school entries will be read at Barnes & Noble's Power Plant store, 601 E. Pratt. And, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday, May 29, the second- and third-place elementary and middle school entries will be read at Port Discovery, 35 Market Place.
All the readings are free and open to the public. (There is no admission charge to attend the Port Discovery readings.) For more information, call the festival coordinator at 410-685-3200, Ext. 364.
Pub Date: 5/10/99