Seasons of change

Home Free, Cheyne - Sanctuary Art Center

With just a week before next Sunday’s CBS broadcast of the 2011 Tony Awards®, I’ve got a serious case of Tony fever. How kind of the Metropolitan Men’s Chorus to open Friday night’s benefit performance of “At the End of the Day…” with the song “Seasons of Love” from the Tony Award®-winning musical “Rent.” Also “Not While I’m Around” from “Sweeney Todd,” another Tony Award® winner, and two other selections.

I loved the fact that chorus members donned street clothes instead of traditional choir garb. Think red check flannel and Hawaiian print shirts. Khakis and flip-flops. And that they sang surrounded by set pieces resembling old aluminum siding spray painted with brightly-colored graffiti.

Open Heart, 2004, Gary - Sanctuary Art Center

“At the End of the Day…” — presented by QSpeak Theatre (of Phoenix Theatre) in collaboration with Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development in Phoenix — is “a play based on true stories and experiences of LGBTQ and homeless youth living in the Phoenix Valley.”

The play was “written in collaboration with program participants of START and GreenHouse Project programs at Tumbelweed Center for Youth Development, and youth participants at 1n10 and Y.E.P.” The one night benefit performance was directed by A. Beck, who describes it as the outgrowth of work with more than fifty youth during the course of nearly a year.

My daughter Lizabeth participated in several QSpeak projects (including “At the End of the Day…”) while attending high school at Arizona School for the Arts. Tomorrow afternoon, June 5, we’ll be seeing “Like Everyone Else” — developed by Xanthia Walker’s “Theatre for Social Change” class at ASA in partnership with Phoenix Theatre and the Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center.” Both works feature snippets of stories meant to convey youth experiences in their own voices.

The 12-member cast did an exceptional job conveying the hopes and fears of LGBTQ youth struggling with homelessness and all that can entail — poverty, hunger, unwanted sexual encounters and more. Plus the issues that plague all teens and young adults, from self-identity to choice of values.

Choose, 2006, Ashley - Sanctuary Art Center

The work sheds light on complexities of societal supports for people experiencing homelessness. Bed shortages. Inadequate training for professionals. Budget cuts. And the tendency of too many to say they want to help the homeless without taking a single step to actually do so.

One message in particular stood out. These youth and young adults don’t want to be stereotyped or stigmatized. They’re people. Period. Yet portions of the dialogue revealed stereotypes some homeless youth hold against peers with mental health disorders, described in the work as “crazy,” “mental” or “psycho.”

Some aspects of life on the streets, including encounters with law enforcement, were deliberately excluded from the piece. The depiction of a youth who feels forced into prostitution by the need to pay rent was done with real artistry, but the sheer number of encounters “shadowed” through a piece of hanging cloth made this scene feel almost gratuitious to some in the audience.

At times, comments by cast and creative team during the post-show talk back were needed to elucidate points conveyed somewhat vaguely during the show. The fact that churches and temples, even those offering free food and clothing, feel unsafe to youth who grew up feeling judged by religious family and friends. And the aversion to accepting help that comes with strings attached. Think sermon first, meal later.

Coffee Shop, 2004, Scott - Sanctuary Art Center

If you missed the performance of “At the End of the Day…” but want to learn more about helping LGBTQ and/or homeless youth, click here to visit the Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development in Phoenix. And stay tuned for future “theater for social change” fare from Phoenix Theatre and its many community partners.

— Lynn

Note: Additional information on programs and policies related to homelessness is available from the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness.

Coming up: Valley stages featuring Tony Award®-winning works

All artwork from the Sanctuary Art Center in Seattle at www.sanctuaryartcenter.org

Old friends, new year

I ran into an old friend on Friday while waiting in line at a favorite breakfast haunt with my daughter Lizabeth. We ended up sharing a table and lingering over talk of films, showtunes and such.

I met Alan, who hails from Philadelphia, more than a decade ago when he was still in music teacher mode — and charged with teaching Christopher, then in elementary school, to play saxophone.

Nowadays he’s a hypnotherapist. And Christopher’s sax is long gone. Still, I run into Alan fairly often since we’re both ASU Gammage season ticket holders. He enjoys shows with his wife Anita, while I usually take Lizabeth along.

My husband James knows better than to try and wrestle either of us for a ticket. And we’ve already seen everything from “Starlight Express” to “Les Miserables” together.

Earlier in the day I’d been musing over what to feature for a New Year’s post — with little success. Clever New Year’s resolutions with a theater-geek twist topped my list, but I’d had far too little espresso to make that magic happen.

I set what seemed a more manageable goal — culling some of my favorite lines from all sorts of Broadway showtunes. But alas. So few really translate without the music. And many simply aren’t fit for family magazine fare. Think There’s a moment you know…. from “Spring Awakening.”

In reality, I’ll be hibernating long before the official New Year is upon us. But I’m rallying just long enough to offer one-liners of the mostly G-rated varety. Consider this post a preview of sorts. I reserve the right to make changes as (or perhaps if) the inspiration strikes.

Whether you love my list or hate it, I hope it inspires you to consider some of your favorite quotes from stage and screen — and how you might sum up your own hopes for the New Year in a simple sentence or two.

Life’s too quick (Rent/Out Tonight). A person’s a person, no matter how small (Seussical/Horton Hears a Who). What do you do with a B.A. in English? (Avenue Q). Don’t be the bunny (Urinetown).

I may not be smart but I ain’t dumb (Sweeney Todd/Not While I’m Around). And all these things I feel and more/My mother’s mother felt and hers before (Baby/Story Goes On). Don’t want a nation under the new media (American Idiot).

Because I knew you, I have been changed for good (Wicked/For Good). There’s life outside your apartment (Avenue Q). Well they can kiss my tush (Spamalot/Diva’s Lament). Let me be a kid (Runaways).

At the end of the day you’re another day older (Les Miserables/At the End of the Day). I really need this job (Chorus Line/I Hope I Get It). Nice is different than good (Into the Woods/I Know Things Now). Give a man enough rope (The Will Rogers Follies).

Just breathe (In the Heights/Breathe). A lawyer is a shark (Legally Blonde/Blood in the Water). Brush up your Shakespeare/And they’ll all kowtow (Kiss Me, Kate/Brush Up Your Shakespeare). It sucks to be me (Avenue Q).

You see what you look for, you know (Company/Being Alive). Children may not obey, but children will listen (Into the Woods/Children Will Listen). We were born to consume/From the cradle to the tomb (Walmartopia).

For life is quite absurd (Spamalot/Always Look on the Bright Side of Life). I wish I could go back to college (Avenue Q). My child is next in the line that has no ending (Baby/Story Goes On).

In everything you do/Always be yourself (Billy Elliot/The Letter). It’s not the time to overthink (Legally Blonde/Bend and Snap). Everyone’s a little bit racist (Avenue Q). Happiness is two kinds of ice cream (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown/Happiness).

 I want my life to be something more than long (Pippin/Corner of the Sky). What you want is right in front of you (Legally Blonde/What You Want). Never met a man I didn’t like (The Will Rogers Follies).

In learning you will teach/And in teaching you will learn (Tarzan/Son of a Man). How do you measure a year in the life? (Rent/Seasons of Love).

— Lynn

Note: Where song titles aren’t listed, the song title is the same as the quote noted for that show. Feel free to comment below with your own favorite (and family-friendly) Broadway one-liner.

Coming up: New year, new theater