THEATRE + COMEDY

Theatre New West will present a Staged Reading of The Normal Heart at Stages Repertory Theatre, on Monday, November 28th. The reading will be a Benefit for the University of Houston LGBT Resource Center. It will also be for World Aids Day, which is always December 1, but this year that falls on a Thursday, and Stages has productions on both of their stages that evening.

The first staged reading was at Stages Repertory Theatre on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2010. If you missed that reading you will now have the opportunity to see this one.

This year the play had a triumphant production on Broadway, (the original was off-Broadway), and won a TONY AWARD for Best Play Revival. This was a great thrill for Mr. Kramer, he had always hoped it would one day be produced on Broadway. Also two actors from that production won Tony Awards for Best Supporting Actor-Male, Best Supporting Actor-Female. This was the major impetus for a second staged reading.

The Normal Heart, by Larry Kramer, is an explosive drama about our most terrifying and troubled medical crisis: the AIDS epidemic. It tells the story of very private lives caught up in the heartrending ordeal of suffering and doom-an ordeal that was largely ignored for reasons of politics and majority morality. The play’s central character Ned Weeks, written as Kramer’s image of himself, becomes a leader in the AIDS awareness movement after witnessing the horrific plague deteriorate the gay community. The play is also a love story, between Ned and Felix, his first and only love.

“At the heart of THE NORMAL HEART, the element that gives this powerful political play its essence, is love-love holding firm under fire, put to the ultimate test, facing and overcoming our greatest fear: death. I love the ardor of this play, its howling, its terror and its kindness. It makes me very proud to be its producer and caretaker”. Joseph Papp, original producer at the New York Shakespeare Festival.

There will be a Talk- Back with the Director and Cast after the performance, along with Amy Leonard, MPH, Senior Director, Public Health Services, Legacy Community Health Services , Joseph C. Gathe, M.D., F.A.C.P., a Houston leader in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, and students representing the LBGT Resource Center at the University of Houston.

The LGBT Resource Center (LGBTRC) at the University of Houston seeks to create an environment of inclusion and acceptance for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender students, staff and, faculty. Through outreach, programming, education, advocacy, leadership, and visibility, we strive to strengthen the UH LGBT community and to eliminate attitudes of homophobia, heterosexism, and gender identity oppression. The Center provides the UH LGBT community with access to a broad range of resources, activities, and support services through collaborations with student organizations, campus departments, and local community organizations.