TOSOS, the classic gay theatre company The Other Side of Silence, has revived OG founder Doric Wilson’s Forever After, capturing an epic moment when two gay men – in 1980 no less – are celebrating their first anniversary when they are magically joined by the Muse of Comedy and the Muse of Tragedy. These uninvited guests are there to argue whether lasting love is even possible for our lavender lads, and then it is well and truly GAME ON!
But first, we are treated to Danielle Frimer’s 2023 short play A Marriage is a Story We Tell and Keep Telling. A winsome affianced couple’s ceremony screeches to a halt when baby blue tux’d Fi (Preston Fox), zillas out and locks himself in a broom closet. Or is that a Groom Closet? Fi’s beloved Em (Jesse Reid), channeling the Men in Black collection, comes for him and together they engage in rapid-fire dialogue reminiscent of Sondheim’s Not Getting Married Today from Company. Do we get a happy ending…? Stay tuned!
Always forward almost 45 years from the original debut of Forever After, and these days you’ll find that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Whether we as LGBTQIA+ folx get a happy ending is still up for question and now the haters and baiters are coming after our Queens! And we know you must always guard your Queens!
Directed by Associate Artistic Director Dennis Corsi, is an all-star cast. Chris Andersson, a founding member when TOSOS revived in 2002 as well as TOSOS current Board Prexy, is a veteran of the gritty and real performance spaces in OBIE territory and as Melpomene, the oh-so Tragic Muse, throws kerosene on the fire of “do the gays deserve to be happy”. In the point-counterpoint, foiled by the equally brilliant physical comedy of Pissi Myles as Thalia, the Muse of Comedy, Ms. Myles goes the distance to prove that Happy is everyone’s right, not just the conventionals. Tom (Reid) and David (Fox) are the birdie in this badminton game where each runs the gamut in asserting sexuality all over the spectrum and the fourth wall is shattered, flooded and flagrantly disregarded throughout. All in all, an evening of full, barking laughter, joy and love.
The Forever After Suite is playing now through August 26, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30pm. Get there early and have a drink in the cool of the evening and visit now to get your tickets at this link: https://www.tososnyc.org/foreverafter.
Be sure to tell Melpomene and Thalia hello for me!