tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703913.post5312616647457764868..comments2023-10-02T04:41:34.722-04:00Comments on Marry in Massachusetts: Acting Action in Actonmassmarrierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02358207247771711952noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703913.post-12329100688601783492007-11-09T09:41:00.000-05:002007-11-09T09:41:00.000-05:00Thanks for the comment and suggestion, Rieux. I'm ...Thanks for the comment and suggestion, Rieux. I'm also not around for this, but it would be great if a supporter from the local bloggers would go. <BR/><BR/>Having seen it, I do recommend it. <BR/><BR/>For the procedure, the drama coach, Ms. Potter, is very professional and I'm sure she had understudies ready. <BR/><BR/>While it is always amusing when parents blame <I>outsiders</I> if their kids have problems, I hope the daughter is as strong as she appears. I'm sure this is not the first time she's had to live with emotion decisions from the home front. Let's wish her health.massmarrierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02358207247771711952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7703913.post-90159743833199723682007-11-09T02:15:00.000-05:002007-11-09T02:15:00.000-05:00Hi, MM. I'm writing after learning (the same way y...Hi, MM. I'm writing after learning (the same way you did, I think) that Amy Contrada's daughter has come out, leading Amy to pull said daughter out of both "The Laramie Project" and Acton-Boxborough Regional High School entire.<BR/><BR/>A thought occurred to me as I was reading "Ryan's Take" on that news: there are still two performances left of "The Laramie Project" at ABRHS. Despite the fact that a cast member has been spirited away by a virulently homophobic parent, presumably the show must go on tonight and tomorrow night, November 9 and 10.<BR/><BR/>Call me melodramatic, but it seems to me that recent events make these last two AB performances of "Laramie" among the most important productions of that play that have ever been mounted--anywhere and by anyone. There's a fundamental congruence between the events that led to the creation of the play and the events that have just occurred in a home in Acton; obviously the <I>brutality</I> of Matthew Shepard's death is unparalleled (and I expect the younger Ms. Contrada will come through this stronger than ever)--but it sure appears to me that both incidents originated in the same kind of hatred.<BR/><BR/>So I wish I could attend AB's performance of "Laramie" tonight. A play that was created to document and contemplate the aftermath of an outrageous act of homophobia... now has to go up in the aftermath of an outrageous act of homophobia. I think there's something profound and (forgive me) potentially awe-inspiring about that.<BR/><BR/>I would certainly understand if the cast and production staff of AB's "Laramie" chose simply to find ways to cover the younger Ms. Contrada's parts and not invoke her name, with the intention of protecting her privacy. I'm sure they're thinking about her constantly regardless.<BR/><BR/>Still, I wish I weren't forced to be hundreds of miles away from Acton tonight. Would, er, a certain blogger have time to head over there and let the rest of us know how it goes?<BR/><BR/><I>(Full disclosure: I just laid this same guilt trip on Mark Snyder at Queer Today.)</I>Rieuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07691836125299225989noreply@blogger.com