The Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever

For those of you New Yorkers out there thinking about seeing a show- The Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever brought to you by The Alternative Theater Company opens Monday November 22nd. I just got off the phone with writer and director of the play, Joe Marshall, and he is thrilled about his new production. About Joe Marshall Ever since Marshall was a child, he has always been involved in theater. Participating in elementary school productions to going to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Joe mainly saw himself as an actor. What inspired him in getting into queer theater was seeing John Glines’s Men of Manhattan, a series of 11 vignettes about gay culture. Seeing his community having a voice in theater motivated him to open the Alternative Theater Company, a gay theater company, in Phoenix, Arizona. Joe noted during that time there were only a handful of gay theater companies, productions, and media outlets, and there were none in Arizona. So he felt the gay community needed to be heard. As a producer, Joe received an onslaught of scripts that were just waiting to be made into plays. So he decided to take a stab at writing himself. He has received some great success as well: writing twelve full length plays, and receiving two AriZonis, Arizona’s versions of the Tonys, for Best Original Script and Best Overall Production for his play A Night in Vegas. Just recently, the Alternative Theater Company relocated from Arizona to New York to compete with those productions on the Great White Way. The Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever The farcical, slapstick, and over the top Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever will have you laughing yourself to tears. In this play, nothing is held sacred and everyone gets poked fun at. The play is set in WeHo where a struggling gay theater company is trying to make ends meet and needs to put on a Christmas production. The main problem with the company is Rod, the artistic director creates flop after flop ruining the theater company. The company secretly rejects Rod’s play for this year, and instead hires a new playwright M&M who will hopefully turn the company around. Unfortunately, the company is left high and dry when M&M refuses to work anymore after being offended by a straight techie. However, the show must go on! The company emulates Christmas pageants that are put on by churches that tell the story of Jesus’s birth. The main twist though is that they gay the birth story up, making it one of the campiest productions you have ever seen. You can find out more information about the Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever on their website including show times and ticket information or you can follow them on Twitter at GayTheatreNYC. If you are traveling to New York City and are looking for lodging, you can find our recommendation on the Gay Travel New York City Lodgings page and be sure to check out our Gay Travel New York City Guide for more great places to visit while visiting the Big Apple. If you are attending the Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever, please post a comment about your experience, we’d love to hear from you!