Bob Dumais wants to help younger people understand the dangers of HIV transmission. That's why the long-time supporter of the LGBT group The Triangle Connection wanted to present excerpts of the book, From a Burning House, on the local stage.
â┚¬Å”The stories we'll be doing reflect the resilience of the human spirit, the funny moments as well as the tough truth that these peoples' lives had been quickened by the reality of AIDS,â┚¬Â says Dumais who is the executive producer of the local production.
From a Burning House: The AIDS Project Los Angeles Workshop Collection will be performed at the Bay Street Players' Historic State Theatre in Eustis on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m.
The program will feature staged readings from approximately 20 of the nearly 90 stories featured in the book by the same name, which was edited by Irene Borger. Borger founded the Writers Workshop at the AIDS Project Los Angeles in 1990 and is scheduled to appear at both the Saturday and Sunday performances.
She will take questions after the program, as well as attend a VIP reception following Saturday evening's premiere.
Dumais said that members of the LGBT community and straight people can benefit from attending the show. He said the topic should be of interest to all ages, especially young people.
â┚¬Å”AIDS awareness is for everyone,â┚¬Â he says. â┚¬Å”We've known for a long time that AIDS wasn't just a gay disease. Yes, it hit our community earliest and hardest here in North America, but that hasn't been the case in the rest of the world.â┚¬ÂÂ
Dumais says that one of the reasons he wanted to produce the show is to make younger people â┚¬Å”understand and appreciate the dangers of HIV transmission.â┚¬ÂÂ
â┚¬Å”You should never think you're invulnerable,â┚¬Â he says. â┚¬Å”I also want younger men and women to remember the history of a generation. Nowadays many in the younger generation think all you have to do is pop a few pills and you'll be fine. That's not always the case, even today. For gay people, the AIDS epidemic has been a holocaust; it is a time we must never forget. â┚¬ÂÂ
And including Borger in the Eustis production is a rare opportunity for Central Floridians to get a close glimpse of the HIV/AIDS battle.
During her tenure with the AIDS Project Los Angeles, Borger offered writing workshops for dozens of people with HIV or AIDS, as well as a workshop for their caregivers. Many of these people had been diagnosed during the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s when it was little known and often referred to as a â┚¬Å”plague.â┚¬ÂÂ
Dumais, who is the executive producer of the local production, says he became aware of the work through a book on tape. He later tracked down the actual book and came up with the brainchild of producing it as dramatic theatrical performance. He contacted editor Borger, who agreed with and endorsed the idea. That was nearly two years ago. Now he is ready to produce the premiere production here in central Florida.
Both performances will be fundraisers for the Hope & Help Center, Central Florida's largest service organization for people with AIDS, with all net proceeds going to the group to expand its programs in Lake County. The productions are sponsored by The Triangle Connection, Inc., northern Lake County's nonprofit social and service organization for LGBT people, in cooperation with The Bay Street Players, who are providing the venue and technical assistance.
While a majority of the original writers have died since publication of the book, one of the surviving writers, John D'Amico, now mayor of West Hollywood, Fla., plans to participate in someway in the Eustis shows, which are being directed by The Triangle Connection's Charles Schormann.
Dumais said the emotional impact of the stories is dramatic. In its rave review, The Los Angeles Times described the stories as â┚¬Å”humorous, sad, celebratorâ┚¬â€Âthe kind you never forgetâ┚¬â€Âabout what it means to be human under great duress.â┚¬ÂÂ
Local actors from community theaters will be featured in the Triangle Connection's production, but the Grammy-nominated cast for the original theatrical recordings included Richard Thomas, Joel Gray, David Hyde Pierce, B.D. Wong, Steven Weber, Robert Foxworth, Megan Gallagher and Borger.
The production has one intermission and is about two hours long. Tickets are available ($20 reserved seating; $50 VIP seats with cast party) from the Bay Street Players' Box Office and online through the theater at BayStreetPlayers.tix.com.
For more information, visit The Triangle Connection website at TriangleConnection.com.
