The Footlight Theatre at the Parliament House has quite an impressive list of shows for their 2017/18 season. The season kicked off this past August with the regional theatre premiere of Daddy Issues, written and directed by David Goldyn, fresh from its Off-Broadway run.
“Daddy Issues was a really great production. More than half of the ticket purchasers were first time buyers,” says Tim Evanicki, Footlight Theatre’s producing artistic director and president of Tim Evanicki Productions. “We are bringing in new faces to the theater.”
Evanicki takes the reins for the theatre’s next big show as he directs the world premiere of Erik Ransom’s GRINDR the Opera.
“They did a concert version in New York a couple of times just to gain interest, so when I heard about [GRINDR the Opera] I got it set up here,” Evanicki says. “I wanted us to be the first place to have a full production of this show.” Evanicki will also be the show’s musical director.
Evanicki was attracted to GRINDR the Opera not only due to the show stopping musical numbers and relatable characters, but because of the appeal of the show’s title.
“Everybody knows Grindr,” Evanicki says laughing. “The title alone will bring some people into the show. I was also looking for a show that I could tour a bit with. Each year I take a show to theaters in Fort Lauderdale and Atlanta. Last year was Naked Boys Singing. I thought this show would be a good fit in those other cities as well. This production, once it closes here in Orlando, will go to Fort Lauderdale for a month and then up to Atlanta for a month.”
GRINDR the Opera is a sometimes humorous, sometimes all too real look at the ever changing landscape of dating in the gay world. In the show, Grindr is a mythical goddess brought out of her millennial sleep by technology and embarks on a quest to help bring men together for companionship.
“Grindr is a drag role and is played by Alexei Barrios,” Evanicki says. “He is a trained musical theater performer, and he is just getting started in drag here in Orlando. Gorgeous voice, he sings in falsettos and sounds like a goddess.”
The part of Grindr almost went to another performer, but with the touring dates they couldn’t commit to the production. That’s when Evanicki got Barrios.
“I used [Barrios] for a recent production of Naked Boys Singing that played up in Canada for Montreal Pride and knew he would be perfect for this,” Evanicki says.
Grindr’s power, which is derived from human lust, is experienced by four gay men, each one representing a different “tribe” of gay culture; the romantic, the cynic, the twink and the daddy.
“I think [Ransom] does a great job representing the different tribes, as he calls them,” Evanicki says. “And without giving too much away, he really captures how the world of Grindr can be a bit of a tangled web.”
GRINDR the Opera is set in a place of magic and fantasy where everyone sings, but that doesn’t mean the show can’t tackle some very real world topics and themes in the gay community.
“You’re in this world where Grindr is a goddess and all of a sudden you are hit over the head with these very real issues,” Evanicki says. “The storyline does twist and turn, so I don’t want to give too much away but one of the characters finds out he is HIV-positive, and he has a very different reaction to it than many would think someone would. He is relieved and happy because he now feels like he belongs to a community.”
The show isn’t all serious though. There is definitely lots of humor in there, especially if you are one of the more than two million users of the extremely popular dating app, and some very adult language and subject matter.
“There are definitely some conversations in the show that, if you use apps like Grindr.com, you will recognize,” Evanicki says. “There is some dialogue and topics discussed that get a little risque. But again, if you use Grinder it’s certainly not going to be a shock to you. If you can look past all that you’ll see these characters are very real, true-to-life characters. They are looking for love, and you will see some love stories in the show, one very real love story and a couple of short-term love stories.” [laughs]
GRINDR the Opera, called an opera because the entire 90-minute show is completely sung through, features a variety of music styles from operetta to pop, and even some tunes you might be familiar with. With such varying types of music, the show requires a cast of varying musical talents.
Joining Barrios on stage will be Wes Miles as the cynic Tom, Eric Fagan as the twink Jack, Time Garnham as Devon the romantic and Chris Eastwood, making his Footlight Theatre debut as Don the daddy. The four guys use Grindr, each seeking to find a different type of connection, realizing through Grindr that they are all somehow connected.
Find out what connects them when GRINDR the Opera makes its world debut at the Parliament House’s Footlight Theatre Sept. 22-30. Tickets are $20 each and available to purchase at ParliamentHouse.com/Footlight-Tickets.
