Institute History
Description
Terence McNally and I are collaborating on a new play with music, which Sundance has commissioned. The impetus for this project is a CD collection entitled, CLUB VERBOTEN. In four discs, the editors have assembled what they perceived to be a wealth of American Popular Song, written by, performed by and listened to by gay men over eight decades. CLUB VERBOTEN purports to tell the story of gay love and liaison throughout the last century, Beginning at the time of the Harlem Renaissance and moving through each decade until the millennium, Club Verboten uses some of the structure of Schnitzler’s LA RONDE (two person scenes), to explore the nature of same sex romance in a host of social and political contexts. To date, we have done a fair amount of research, and at white Oak, Terrence will write and I will read and suggest some ideas. At the end, we may well have a portion of a play, read for actors.—Philip Himberg