Category Archives: Tale of Two Cities

We love Mark Chambers. We love him so much that we brought him back to star once again in A TALE OF TWO CITIES. But don’t take our word for it, the Tampa Bay Times says “Mark Chambers’ solo performance is a tour de force” and audiences cannot stop raving – watch above.

You only have six chances left to catch Mark before he sashays away.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES | Now Playing through June 26
Tickets and Information at www.americanstage.org/a-tale-of-two-cities… Read the rest

Janis Stevens, Director of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, talks about the heartwarming message that underpins this flamboyant comedy.

“I don’t think that we have come to a place yet in society, either in America or anywhere else in the world, where there still isn’t a great deal of oppression going on, of repression going on. You see it in the headlinesof the newspaper and you watch any news program any night – you see that this is at play still. Civilization is still struggling. 

And so the play, I think, it still speaks very much, and maybe even more so, to the right to be yourself. And everyone has a right to be themselves. 

I think that at the end, Jerry is more himself than he might have been had it not been for this particular obstacle thrown in his path that he overcomes, incorporates, and generously passes on. 

The real message of the play is..

this is my life.”

A TALE OF TWO CITIES | Now Playing through June 26
Click here to book tickets and learn more.… Read the rest

Find out what Audiences and Critics are saying about American Stage’s A TALE OF TWO CITIES! (Now Playing through June 26)

Do not miss the show that The New York Times calls “…Fascinating…Funny…Moving…”

CRITICS
“Mark Chambers’ solo performance is a tour de force.”
-Jim Harper, Tampa Bay Times
Review: A drag retelling of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ impresses at American Stage

AUDIENCE MEMBERS
“It’s a great play and everyone should come out and see it!”

“The ‘A TALE OF TWO CITIES’ that I read was not nearly as entertaining as this was!”

“What theatre should be!”

Click here to learn more and book tickets for A TALE OF TWO CITIES… Read the rest

Everett Quinton’s adaptation of A TALE OF TWO CITIES is not quite what you’d expect. The classic tale is retold by Jerry, an aspiring Drag Queen in 1980’s NYC, as he prepares for his first big gig. Drag has come a long way since then, even sauntering into the mainstream with RuPaul’s Drag Race, and has developed quite the lexicon. Find out the secrets behind “throwing shade” and learn how to “slay” and “spill the tea.”

Drag Mother: n. An experienced drag queen who acts as a mentor and guide to a younger, up and coming, less experienced, or apprentice drag queen.

Drag Queen: n. An acronym for “Dressed Resembling A Girl”, from which the term “Drag” is said to ostensibly originate. The term is said to date back to Shakespearean times when male theatrical actors would play female roles.

Fishy: adj. A term used to describe a drag queen who looks extremely feminine, or one who convincingly resembles a biological woman.

Hunty: n. a term of endearment among drag queens.

Ki Ki: n. A term used for gossip, small talk, chatting, or a heart to heart.

Reading: v. To wittily and incisively expose a person’s flaws (i.e. “reading them like a book”), often exaggerating or elaborating on them; an advanced format of the insult. The term is a reference to the film Paris is Burning. OR n. Criticism made to a drag queen.

Spill the Tea: v. A term started in San Antonio, Texas in the very early 1990’s in the Urban Gay community. To “spill the tea” is to gossip. The term comes from the custom in the South of women who gather in the afternoon to drink tea and gossip.

Slay: n. To be on point, to win, to be outstanding, or to be the best.

Throwing Shade: v. The act of criticism in a blunt and insulting manner.

Now that you’ve brushed up on your vocabulary, be sure to book tickets to A TALE OF TWO CITIES (June 1 – 26)… Read the rest

TAKE A LOOK at our trailer for A TALE OF TWO CITIES – the classic Dickens epic as told by a Drag Queen. Journey to 1980’s New York City and follow Jerry, an aspiring Drag Performer, who gives the performance of a lifetime to entertain an unexpected guest. Learn more and book tickets at americanstage.org/a-tale-of-two-cities

A TALE OF TWO CITIES
adapted by Everett Quinton
directed by Janis Stevens

An aspiring drag queen named Jerry opens his door and finds a baby left on his doorstep. “He’s a straight baby, but we can co-exist. I know it can be done.” Jerry proceeds to tell the baby a Grimm’s fairy tale, but when this fails to stop the baby’s crying, he performs the entire narrative of Dickens’ classic of the French revolution, playing all the characters in only 90 minutes! Mark Chambers, the actor who played Jerry on our stage twenty years ago, will reprise his role.

Book Tickets… Read the rest