QUEER & NOW:
A LIP SYNC SPECTACULAR
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/ENSEMBLE
Devised by company
A life-changing transformation from the Christian Mother Mary into the Yoruba water deity Oxum. An entrance into the raunchy world of Marie Antoinette and her gender fluid lover Tomas du Pan. An alternate ending to the tragic life of Judy Garland.
Queer & Now: A Lip Sync Spectacular features seven vignettes of drag, lip sync, and dance, each helmed by a member of the devising ensemble. Each scene offers one perspective of queerness, one possible transformation, one celebration, and one dissent. Together the vignettes become a tapestry of our lived experiences, our questions, our desires, and our possibilities.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
UMass French Hall
Amherst, MA
December 2017 (premiere)
UMass Fine Arts Center 204
Amherst, MA
March 2018
COLLABORATORS
Dramaturgy Finn Lefevre
Lighting Design Jordan Mitchell
Makeup & Hair Design Sarah Talaid
Sound Design Ethan Gourlay, Olivia Holcomb, Alyssa Labrie, Finn Lefevre, and Garrett Sager
Stage Management Olivia Holcomb (2017); Afrikah Smith and Maeve Connolly (2018)
Costume Design Jordan Reed and ensemble
Choreography Alyssa Labrie (2018)
Ensemble Faolain Bobersky, Bry Belling, Ethan Gourlay, Lucas La Guardia, Cynthia Lizardo, and Garrett Sager
PRESS
"Though the lip-sync showcases a talented cast full of ferocity and grace, the piece stands as a challenge to anti-LGBTQ rhetoric with empowering images and tangible moments of cast members embracing their identities and showcasing their journeys to achieve this autonomy.”—UMass College of Humanities & Fine Arts
Photos by Jennifer Gately
Trailer by Alyssa Labrie