Out Front Theatre’s ninth season brings queer stories to life

Out Front’s ambitious ninth season serves up humor, tenderness and drama with two regional premieres and a world premiere.

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It’s coming up on a decade since the founding of Out Front Theatre Company, Atlanta’s primary destination for queer theatre, and there are some gems in store for its ninth season. These include a well-loved classic, a down-to-earth family drama and a world premiere musical in 2025.

As is its tradition, Out Front will open the season with a crowd-pleasing musical. Following on the heels of seminal hits like The Prom in 2023 and Kinky Boots in 2022, this year will see Out Front take on the iconic Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman classic, Hairspray. Based on the 1988 film by John Waters, Hairspray made a splash on Broadway in 2002, bagging 13 nominations at the 2003 Tony Awards (two shy of the record at that time) and winning eight, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score. The production will run from October 24 to November 9.

As in previous years, the theater’s opening musical will be followed by a raucous, irreverent and bawdy holiday show, Murder on the Polar Express, a regional premiere. Running from December 12 to December 22, the lively farce follows Shirley Holmes, “the World’s Foremost Drag Detective,” and her associate, Dr. Jody Watley, as they investigate a murder aboard a train bound for the North Pole.

Out Front will commence the 2025 segment of the season with another regional premiere: At the Wedding, by Bryna Turner. The bittersweet comedy follows Carlo’s struggle to make it through her ex-girlfriend’s wedding without causing a scene or trying to rekindle their relationship. Out Front previously produced Turner’s play Bull in a China Shop in January 2020. At the Wedding will run from January 30 to February 15.

The penultimate event of the season, Immediate Family, by Paul Oakley Stovall, is a more intimate piece about the intricacies of family dynamics. Described as Modern Family meets Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, the play showcases the drama that arises when Jesse Bryant returns to his family home for a wedding with his new boyfriend in tow. This production runs March 13 through March 29.

Finally, the season will close with the world premiere of Trick! The Musical May 1 through May 17. An adaptation of the 1999 cult film, the musical depicts Gabriel, an office temp and aspiring Broadway composer, who meets Mark, a dancer at a Manhattan gay bar, and attempts to take him home for some casual sex. Hijinks ensue as the two try to find a place to do the deed and begin to form a genuine connection. Screenwriter Jason Schafer provides the book and lyrics for the musical, while the music is written by David Gursky.

Trick! The Musical was a commission by Artistic Director Paul Conroy, who reached out to Schafer about three years ago to inquire about adapting his film for stage. “The idea of adapting Trick had been brought up to him before,” Conroy says. “But after we talked a couple of times, and he learned about our mission, he decided that this was the path he wanted to take — to work with a regional theater that focuses on queer stories to bring his story to life.” 

Conroy also will direct the production.

“It’s truly an honor that we get to present this before anyone else and that our audiences can experience the sweet love story that impacted me as a young queer person,” he adds. 

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Luke Evans is an Atlanta-based writer, critic and dramaturg. He covers theater for ArtsATL and Broadway World Atlanta and has worked with theaters such as the Alliance, Actor’s Express, Out Front Theatre and Woodstock Arts. He’s a graduate of Oglethorpe University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, and the University of Houston, where he earned his master’s.