(Photo: from Teatro El Públio’s play, courtesy of the artist, one of the performing companies in the GLBT Out in the Tropics festival)
By DMITRY RASHNITSOV
Gender-bending, lesbian marriage, Cuban theater, queer circus arts, racy humor, laughter, tears and much more will fill the stage at Out in the Tropics, South Florida’s first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) contemporary performing arts festival, from July 7-11. A stellar group of award-winning, cutting-edge artists from around the world are already set for the festival’s line-up at Miami Beach’s Colony Theatre, 1040 Lincoln Road, and other venues. Out in the Tropics, presented by FUNDarte, one of South Florida’s most successful presenters of alternative culture, in association with Tropical Wave Productions, was launched this past November with a wildly successful one-night showcase.
The festival begins with a free Opening Kick-Off event on Wednesday, July 7, at 7 p.m., with a lively evening of food, drink and the ideas and insights of an international group of cutting-edge artists, at the Shore Club Hotel on Miami Beach. The night begins with Queer Culture, Global Culture, a panel discussion with festival artists Carlos Diaz, founder of Teatro El Público, Sara Felder, and Taylor Mac, plus South Florida-based singer Beverly MClellan, in an in-depth discussion about the state of GLBT arts and culture, moderated by Festival Artistic Director Robert Rosenberg. At 8 p.m. the evening continues with a reception featuring food courtesy of First & First Southern Baking Company and a complementary Shore Club signature cocktail, plus cash bar, with live music from Beverly McClellan. The Shore Club is located at 1901 Collins Avenue, and the whole event is free and open to the general public.
The festival’s first two performances at the Colony Theatre on Thursday, July 8 and Friday, July 9, at 8 p.m., are by Teatro El Público, one of Cuba’s most important and daring theater company, for the first time in the U.S. They will present Las Amargas Lágrimas de Petra Von Kant (The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant), their Spanish-language theatrical reinterpretation of the classic film by famed bad-boy German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
The play will be performed both nights with English supertitles. Following Friday night’s performance there will be a free after-party at Edison Farrow’s Hype Fridays at Bar 721, located at 721 Lincoln Lane, on Miami Beach, with complimentary vodka drinks from 10-11 p.m.
Out in the Tropics continues on Saturday, July 10, at 8 p.m., at the Colony, with the South Florida premiere of The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac, featuring sensational gender deconstructionist, performer, actor, composer and director Taylor Mac in this solo show.
The festival closes on Sunday, July 11, at 7 p.m. at the Colony Theatre, with Sara Felder in the South Florida premiere of June Bride, her one-woman multi-character theater piece that has traveled around the world. The play takes the audience from an awkward first date between Felder and her soon-to-be girlfriend to the struggle to hold a “lesbian wedding ceremony” that, while radical in its pairing of two women, is also a “traditional” Jewish one. While the subject matter may be serious, Felder mines it for both comedy and pathos, blending traditional theater with a zany range of circus arts – including 3-ball juggling, sharp knives, colorful scarves, a crystal ball and a straitjacket escape – to create her signature vaudevillian style that is both engaging and thought provoking. There will be a pre-show reception at 5 p.m. for women and their friends hosted by Mary D. that is free and open to the public at Taschen Books, 1111 Lincoln Road, just down the street from the Colony Theatre on Miami Beach.
“We are so excited to be able to present this international mix of amazingly talented, accomplished artists who address the subjects of gender, identity and sexuality from both personal and political perspectives,” says Robert Rosenberg, Artistic Director of Out in the Tropics. “The festival is a unique addition to South Florida’s cultural landscape that we hope will quickly become a signature GLBT event for the entire community.”
Tickets for all performances are $35, $30 and $25 reserved seating, and $30, $25 and $20 for students (25 and under) and seniors (65 and over) Tickets may be purchased in advance through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com and by phone (800) 745-3000 (service charges apply).
For more information, please visit the Out in the Tropics Facebook page.
