Time: 7:30 p.m.
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This Spring, Lethbridge Busts Out of the Closet and Onto the Stage
Pretty, Witty and GAY returns to Lethbridge for the 8th time!
This
April 2 we invite one and all to come out of those dusty old closets
and into “gay” society! This year, Lethbridge’s hugely anticipated,
annual queer cabaret, Pretty, Witty & GAY, is throwing a one night
only Debutante’s Cabaret Ball to honour the brassy broads and the moxie
misters who wish to sta...te, unequivocally, that they are loud, proud, queer and HERE in Lethbridge!
For
decades, “debutante’s balls” or “coming out parties” have been
celebrating the young, wealthy and pretentious as they blossom into
adulthood, begin the quest to mate, and join society as visible,
thriving and contributing members of that society. For Pretty, Witty
and GAY’s 8th installment, we will be celebrating the Lethbridge queer
community with a coming out party of our very own. Like the coming out
parties of high society, we will shamelessly applaud what’s wonderful
about each of us, without the exclusion or pretentiousness of
traditional debutante soirees. Local coming out stories will be
featured this year, lending a personal tone to the usual variety of
dynamic and diverse theatre, dance, poetry and musical performances for
which Pretty, Witty and GAY has become widely known and respected.
These dazzling performances and poignant confessionals will celebrate
the wide range of sexual identities that exist here in Southern Alberta.
Our funky formal affair will provoke tears, laughter and buoy your
spirits through an evening of high class, low class, camaraderie and
entertainment.
“Last year we indulged in the outrageous camp of
queer culture by hosting a 1960’s style go-go extravaganza. The event
was a success, however, this year, due to recent, undeniable political
and social developments touching the LGBTQ community, we felt it prudent
to change the tone of the event” explains Jay Whitehead, a U of L
professor, co-producer and founder of Pretty, Witty and GAY. He cites
recent high profile events including a teen gay suicide epidemic, the
repealing of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and the increasingly visible fight
by gays and lesbians in many parts of the world to earn equality and
protections: from the right to marry in the United States, to the right
to not be criminalized just for being gay in countries like Uganda.
“This year’s classier event seems appropriate in order to give our
community a sense of integrity and gravity in these times of great
transition.” Adds co-producer Geneviève Paré, “Debutante parties are
traditionally for the social elite, which allows us to not only feel
like respectable members of society, which we are, but also to indulge
in a bit of formal extravagance, with just the right amount of irony.”
Pretty,
Witty and GAY will play for one night only, Saturday, April 2, 2011 at
8:00 pm at the University of Lethbridge’s David Spinks Theatre. Doors
at 7:30 and cash bar will be provided. Tickets can be purchased through
the university box office at 403-329-2616. Seats will go fast, so buy
your tickets now.