PFP Announces Sunday Double Feature of Buyer & Cellar & Afterglow

PFP Announces Sunday Double Feature of <em>Buyer & Cellar</em> & <em>Afterglow</em> 1 All Sunday matinees for Pride Films and Plays’ production of Jonathan Tolins’s BUYER & CELLAR have been rescheduled to a 2 pm curtain, an hour-and-one half earlier than previously announced.  The change was made to make it possible for patrons to attend on a single afternoon both plays that will be playing at the two-stage Pride Arts Center in April and May. BUYER & CELLAR, which will start performances on April 11 in the 85-seat Broadway Theatre at 4139 N. Broadway, will begin its Sunday matinees at 2 pm and let out shortly after 3:30 pm. This will allow a 25-30-minute break before the 4 pm Sunday matinees of AFTERGLOW, performed in the 50-seat Buena Theatre at 4147 N. Broadway. AFTERGLOW, which opened on March 27,  has a running time of approximately 80 minutes with no intermission, and lets out at approximately 5:20 pm. Separate tickets are required for the two plays.

All Sunday matinees for Pride Films and Plays’ production of Jonathan Tolins’s BUYER & CELLAR have been rescheduled to a 2 pm curtain, an hour-and-one half earlier than previously announced.  The change was made to make it possible for patrons to attend on a single afternoon both plays that will be playing at the two-stage Pride Arts Center in April and May. BUYER & CELLAR, which will start performances on April 11 in the 85-seat Broadway Theatre at 4139 N. Broadway, will begin its Sunday matinees at 2 pm and let out shortly after 3:30 pm. This will allow a 25-30-minute break before the 4 pm Sunday matinees of AFTERGLOW, performed in the 50-seat Buena Theatre at 4147 N. Broadway. AFTERGLOW, which opened on March 27,  has a running time of approximately 80 minutes with no intermission, and lets out at approximately 5:20 pm. Separate tickets are required for the two plays.

Emmy Award winner and Chicago musical theatre and cabaret performer Scott Gryder will play all the characters in BUYER & CELLAR, including the central role of Alex More – a struggling actor who takes a job managing a make-believe shopping mall in the basement of Barbra Streisand’s Malibu home. Gryder’s Chicago stage credits include JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Lyric Opera) and THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE (Drury Lane Water Tower). Television credits include GREEN SCREEN ADVENTURES as well as numerous cabaret performances. BUYER & CELLAR will be directed by Donterrio Johnson.

BUYER & CELLAR was a 2013 off-Broadway hit, running for 13 months at the Barrow Street Theatre immediately after its sold-out world premiere at the Rattlestick Theatre. A national tour starring Michael Urie played Chicago for six weeks in 2014. It has been performed in many countries around the world since then. This will be the play’s first Chicago production since the tour’s engagement here.

Tolins, whose other playwriting credits include the gay-themed comedies LAST SUNDAY IN JUNE and THE TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDS, was inspired to write BUYER & CELLAR after reading about Streisand’s real-life faux mall in her book, MY PASSION FOR DESIGN. Tolins’s comedy begins with the truth of the mall – a showcase for her collectibles like dolls and antique clothing – and imagines what it might be like to be the custodian of such a place for such a celebrity. BUYER & CELLAR is an outrageous comedy about the price of fame, the cost of things, and the oddest of odd jobs.

BUYER & CELLAR will be performed in the 85-seat Broadway Theatre of the Pride Arts Center. It will open to the press on Monday, April 15 following previews from Thursday, April 11; and will play through Sunday, May 19, 2019.

The Chicago Premiere of AFTERGLOW, an off-Broadway hit from 2017 exploring the emotional, intellectual, and physical connections between three men and the broader implications within their relationships, opened in the Buena Theatre of the Pride Arts Center on March 27. David G. Zak, the company’s Executive Director, directed. The cast includes Rich Holton (SEX WITH STRANGERS at Citadel Theatre) and Jacob Barnes  (URINETOWN at Red Barn Summer Playhouse and A COMEDY OF TENORS with Actors Theatre of Indiana), who play Josh and Alex, a gay male married couple in an open relationship. The two invite another man, Darius, (Jesse Montoya of HURRICANE DAMAGE at Pride Films and Plays) to share their bed one night. When a new intimate connection begins to form, all three men must come to terms with their individual definitions of love, loyalty, and trust as futures are questioned, relationships are shaken, and commitments are challenged.

AFTERGLOW is performed in the 44-seat Buena Theatre of the Pride Arts Center. It opened to the press on Wednesday, March 27 and will play through Sunday, May 5, 2019.

BUYER AND CELLAR

By Jonathan Tolins

Directed by Donterrio Johnson

Featuring Scott Gryder

April 11 – May 19

Previews Thursday April 11 through Saturday April 13 at 7:30 pm, Sunday April 14 at 2:00 pm,

Press Opening Monday April 15 at 7:30 pm

Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 2:00 pm through May 19

Premium seats $40, general admission seats $30, student/senior/military $20 (not valid Saturdays)

Flex Passes available for $144 are good for six reserved seats with priority seating for the patron’s choice of shows

Pride Arts Center – the Broadway, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago

Tickets available by phone at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or online at www.pridefilmsandplays.com

AFTERGLOW

By S. Asher Gelman

Directed by David Zak

March 22 – May 5

Wednesdays – Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 4 pm through May 5

Premium seats $40, general admission seats $30, student/senior/military $25 (not valid Saturdays)

Pride Arts Center – the Buena, 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago

Tickets available by phone at 866-811-4111 or 773-857-0222 or online at www.pridefilmsandplays.com

AUDIENCE ADVISORY: Includes male nudity. Suitable for audiences 18+

ABOUT PRIDE FILMS AND PLAYS

Pride Films and Plays is working to produce year-round theater and film projects that change lives through the generation of diverse new work (or work that is new to Chicago) with LGBTQ+ characters or themes that are essential viewing for all audiences. The company produces a five-play season of full productions, shoots one short film each year, and continues our famed play developmental projects. PFP is the principal tenant in Pride Arts Center. 

Pride Arts Center produces events complimenting the PFP vision, including dance, cabaret, film, and more. Events can be one-night or limited run productions or feature national treasures like Charles Busch.  PAC occupies The Broadway at 4139 N. Broadway, which has 85 seats, and The Buena, which has 50 seats at 4147 N Broadway.

Pride Films and Plays is supported by The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at The Richard Driehaus Foundation, The Illinois Arts Council, City of Chicago’s City Arts Fund, the Elliott Fredland Charitable Trust, Proud to Run, The Pauls Foundation, The Heath Fund, The Service Club of Chicago, the AmazonSmile Foundation, Arts and Business Foundation, Tap Root Foundation, Arts and Business Council, and Alphawood Foundation. 

 PFP is a member of the Smart Growth Program of the Chicago Community Trust. Pride Films and Plays is a member of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Illinois, Northhalsted Business Association, Uptown United, and The League of Chicago Theatres.

Feature Photo:  Jacob Barnes, Rich Holton, and Jesse Montoya in AFTERGLOW.  Credit: David Zak