Gaybaret
Last year, for their wedding, David Mielke and Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma offered their guests an original performance that they called a “Gaybaret.” They wanted not only to share their stories—and the story of how they met—but also to delve into the deeper and more universal aspects of those stories, using a cabaret form that combined storytelling, original songs, and theatrical magic.
What emerged was an unusual and moving exploration of how friends and teachers help us to be ready to meet and say yes to a life-partner—gay, straight, or otherwise. Come be part of the public premiere of this inspiring and innovative show, newly revised into a free-standing performance that David and Tom plan to take on the road. Expanded and developed with support from 4Culture and presented in collaboration with Vashon Center for the Arts and the Vashon Heritage Museum exhibit “In and Out: Being LGBTQ on Vashon Island,” Gaybaret promises to be a singular theatrical event.
GAYBARET PERFORMANCES:
Fri. Nov. 22 at 7:30 | Sat. Nov. 23 at 7:30 | Sun. Nov. 24 at 2pm
$10 Student, $16 VCA Member, $18 Senior, $20 General in advance – $23 at the door
RELATED PANEL DISCUSSION:
“Prelude to a Gaybaret: A Historical Panel on the Art of Transformation,” at 7:30pm on Thursday, November 21, 2019. Free for youth 18 and under, with a suggested donation of $10 for adults to benefit the Vashon Heritage Museum
As part of the show’s public premiere, Vashon Center for the Arts, the Vashon Heritage Museum exhibit “In and Out: Being LGBTQ on Vashon Island,” and 4Culture are pleased to sponsor a special panel that sets Gaybaret’s themes of hidden shame, mentoring, and marriage in a wider set of perspectives.
We’ve asked five distinguished panelists of different ages, backgrounds, and walks of life to share stories and reflections in response to the question of how we transform into our truest selves. How does art help us know ourselves more fully? How can rituals like a ceremony of marriage or theater itself offer the possibility of healing? How do we make sense of historical change as we experience it in our own lives, acknowledging both the blessings and the curses of the past? Find Out More Here: https://vashoncenterforthearts.org/?post_type=tribe_events&p=35310&preview=true