Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Get your Groupon offer for our season subscription today! You don't want to miss a moment of At the Flash, Beautiful Thing, or Under A Rainbow Flag!

Check out PFP ensemble member Cyra K. Polizzi in Raven Theatre's Tales of the Twinkling Twilight through November 25th. 

Cyra can also be seen this coming week in Stockyard's Theatre Project's Play for Keeps staged readings of new works in progress, and in short films screening in Madison, WI (The Fox in the Snow), Indianapolis, IN (Tuesday Night Make-Out), and Madrid, Spain (Allison, My Love).

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Congratulations to Jim Piazza! His screenplay A Friend of Dorothy's was named the winner of the 2012 Great Gay Screenplay Contest. Find more information here

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Here is Tiffany Nasca's great poster for our upcoming 20th Anniversary Production of Beautiful Thing. 

Friday, October 19, 2012

Congratulations to director Chuck Berglund, screenwriter Jim Piazza, and a fine cast on a very successful opening night performance of A Friend of Dorothy's!

Join us for more screenplay and film activity this weekend!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Here is information on our panelists this weekend at Center on Halsted. Won't you join us for these free events?


"The Evolution of LGBT Cinema"
Saturday, October 20. 5:00pm
Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St, Chicago
Free and open to the public
panel discussion with Tracy Baim, Dr. Kevin John Bozelka, Richard Knight, Jr, and David Zak about the history of LGBT cinema, from early experimental work to contemporary films.

"Making LGBT Films in a Changing World"
Sunday, October 21. 4:00pm
Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St, Chicago
Free and open to the public
panel discussion with independent filmmakers Alex Bohs, Wendy Jo Carlton, Mary F. Morten, Richard Paro, and moderator Cyra K. Polizzi about funding, production, and distribution for LGBT films, and the impact of shifting cultural attitudes and technology.


Panelist/Moderator Bios:

Tracy Baim is publisher and executive editor at Windy City Media Group, a co-founder of Windy City Times (1985), an author, and a film producer. She started in Chicago gay journalism in 1984 at GayLife newspaper, one month after graduating with a news-editorial degree from Drake University. Baim was executive producer of Hannah Free, starring Sharon Gless, and Scrooge & Marley, a gay Christmas Carol. Her many honors include induction into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, a CrainÍs Chicago Business 40 Under 40 leader, and the Community Media Workshop's Studs Terkel Award.

Alex Bohs is a writer/director/editor whose short film Half won the audience award at the 2012 Indie Boots Film Festival. His other short films include Writer's Block, Fish in the Sea, and That Four-Letter Word, as well as the upcoming films Finding Franklin, A Difficult Year, and Mum. Alex is currently enrolled in the film/video program at Columbia College Chicago with a concentration in directing. www.alexbohs.com

Dr. Kevin John Bozelka, PhD, has taught media studies at DePaul University and Austin College. His criticism has appeared in the Village Voice, Popmatters, MTV.com, Dallas-Morning News, and Chicago Reader. His essays cover The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the Gen X reception of Empire Records, the representation of lesbians in Bollywood cinema, and the films of gay sexploitation director Andy Milligan. Last August, he programmed an evening of early queer avant-garde shorts for Chicago Filmmakers. He is currently working on a book titled The Musical Mode: Rock, Recordings, and the Hollywood Musical.

Wendy Jo Carlton directed her first feature, Hannah Free, starring Emmy-winner Sharon Gless, in 2009. Carlton was the recipient of the Navona Fellowship from the University of Illinois Chicago, where she earned a graduate degree in film/new media. Carlton's second feature, Jamie and Jessie are Not Together, has won several awards and is receiving lovely reviews. Film critic Roger Ebert gave this film about unrequited love a 3 Star Review. Wendy Jo is currently directing Easy Abby, a queer RomCom web series, about a chronic seducer struggling with anxiety disorders and athletes foot. www.jamieandjessie.com

Richard Knight, Jr. has been the film critic for Windy City Times since 2004. He has written about film for the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times, and other publications. Two collections of his film reviews, Knight at the Movies, have been published with a third coming this December. He is also the founder of the Queer Film Society. His first film, Scrooge & Marley, a modern day, gay variation on A Christmas Carol, premieres in Chicago on November 29th at Music Box Theatre and will be released across the country in December.

Mary F. Morten is a filmmaker and activist committed to social change though video and film development. She is the president of Morten Group, a consulting firm specializing in social change through skills development, public policy and advocacy. Mary has served as producer/director for several films covering national policy initiatives, women's rights and youth development. She is currently in pre-production for her next documentary, Miss Gay Black America, about the art of female impersonation, highlighting the life of Terri Livingston. www.wokeupblack.com

Richard Paro is an award-winning independent filmmaker and theatre director. For over a decade, his feature-length and short films have been screening at independent, international, LGBTQ, and women's film festivals. Much of his work emphasizes coalition-building. Always excited to share his favorite movies, theatre and music with new audiences, he has worked in programming for years, currently through his company Mudgeonsoul Productions and Indie Boots Film Festival. www.mudgeonsoul.org

Cyra K. Polizzi graduated from UW-Madison in Acting, Gender Studies, and Environmental Studies. Primarily a stage actor, she can also be found directing, writing and filmmaking, as well as curating. Her DIY feature documentary and short films have screened in conferences, classrooms, and festivals around the world. In addition, she works part-time in film exhibition with a national art house chain. Affiliations include Pride Films and Plays, Indie Boots Film Festival, Full Voice, Mudgeonsoul Productions, and Stockyards Theatre. www.cyrakpolizzi.com

David Zak is Executive Director of Pride Films and Plays. He served as Artistic Director of Bailiwick Repertory in Chicago from 1982-2009. In 2010, he directed the London premiere of The Irish Curse, and in 2011 directed A Doll's House and Fanta Stick in Seoul. He has received Chicago's Jeff Recommendations and Awards, Jeff Citations for Best New Work and for Bailiwick's range of diverse programming, and After Dark Awards. His play The Hiroshima Project has been performed around the world. He teaches gender studies for the Chicago Center of Urban Life and Culture.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Check out PFP Ensemble Members Nick Stockwell and Nelson Rodriguez in the 20% Theater Company Production of The Rover!

A story about love triangles, revenge, and political satire centered on the mystical Carnivale, Aphra Behn's The Rover is 20%'s first foray into a period and historical piece.   When a rakish naval captain, Willmore, falls in love with a young woman, Hellena, as she is about to be sent off to a convent by her brother complications arise when Angellica Bianca falls in love with Willmore and swears revenge on him for his betrayal.  Meanwhile, Hellena's sister Florinda attempts to marry her true love, Colonel Belvile, rather than the man her brother has selected and Blunt is convinced that a girl has fallen in love with him but is humiliated when she turns out to be a prostitute and a thief.

Performances begin October 25 at the Great New Rivendell Theater Space on Ridge.  Find tickets and more information here. 

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Sunday, October 7 is the first rehearsal for the world premiere of At The Flash by Sean Chandler and David Leeper.  Make sure you book your tickets early for this fierce and funny show!