Riverfest is upon us: nine straight days of fun in our river city, from May 31 to June 8, with events designed to appeal to a variety of tastes.
Festival of Broadway takes place on Tuesday, June 4, with performances from multiple entertainers, including Laughing Feet Performers, Roxy's Downtown, Mosely Street Melodrama, and Music Theatre Wichita. Check your Riverfest guide for venue and performance times, and enjoy the fun on the river.
Also on stage Fridays to Sundays throughout the month of June is Terrence McNally's Love! Valour! Compassion! at Roxy's Downtown. This production is scheduled to honor the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and June Pride Festivals.
McNally's Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play takes place over three holiday weekends in a single summer — Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day — and follows the fortunes of eight friends who gather at a lakehouse to celebrate.
The central character is Gregory, who owns the house. He's a choreographer who fears what advancing middle age will mean to his career and his personal life. The play is a character-driven piece, at once funny and moving as it follows the complications that arise in the lives of the eight gay men.
Terrence McNally has received such honors in his career as an Emmy, two Guggenheim Fellowships, and a Rockefeller Grant. He is well known for other works, as well, such as Kiss of the Spider Woman, Master Class, and Ragtime.
Love! Valour! Compassion! gets an “R” rating from Roxy's, as there's a bit of nudity and much of the subject matter is frankly sexual.
