Charles Busch as Katherine Hepburn
Four Things Productions (David Youse) presented a very special one-night-only staged reading of Matthew Lombardo’s (High, Looped) one-woman show, Tea at Five, starring the one and only Charles Busch (The Divine Sister, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife) as Katharine Hepburn. The delightful evening, directed by Rob Ruggiero (High, Looped) benefitted The Ali Forney Center. Carl Siciliano (Executive Director, The Ali Forney Center) gave a very moving speech and introduced the event.
Photography: Barry Gordin
Tea at Five is an intimate look at Katharine Hepburn, at home, in her Fenwick estate in old Saybrook, Connecticut. The play takes place in 1983 after Hepburn was injured in a car crash. The accident affords the now legendary star an opportunity to reflect on her turbulent childhood, the triumphs and failures of her career and her heart-breaking romance with Spencer Tracy.
The complete design team for Tea at Five included Katherine Carr (Wig Styling), Ben Hagen (Lighting Design), Peter Hurley (Photography), Nathan Johnson (Make-Up), Charles Lapointe (Wig Design), Michael Pilipski (Props), Jennifer Rogers (Stage Manager), Shannon Slaton (Sound Design) and Kelly Stimac (Wardrobe Stylist).
Tea at Five was first produced by Hartford Stage (Michael Wilson, Artistic Director; James Ireland, Managing Director) in Hartford, CT and thereafter produced by Daryl Roth, David Gersten, Paul Morer, Michael Filerman, Amy Nederlander and Scott E. Nederlander at the Promenade Theatre, off-Broadway in New York City.
The Ali Forney Center started in June of 2002 in response to the lack of safe shelter for LGBT youth in New York City. The AFC is committed to providing these young people with safe, dignified, nurturing environments where their needs can be met, and where they can begin to put their lives back together. AFC is dedicated to promoting awareness of the plight of homeless LGBT youth in the United States with the goal of generating responses on local and national levels from government funders, foundations, and the LGBT community. As the visibility of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people grows in our society, more and more LGBT teens are finding the courage to come out of the closet. Tragically, as many as 25% of these teens are rejected by their families, and many end up homeless on the streets. Homeless LGBT teens are more likely than straight homeless teens to be subjected to violence on the streets, and in the homeless shelter system. They suffer from inordinate rates of mental illness, trauma, HIV infection and substance abuse.
Check Out Jim David’s Charles Busch Interview http://comicjimdavid.podomatic.com/
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