Entrapment! The trials of Dale Jennings

Dale Jennings (1917-2000) was a writer, producing and stage director in Los Angeles and Pasadena. He studied dance with Lester Horton and Martha Graham, and served in the U.S. Army stationed in the Asiatic-Pacific theater. He was awarded a World War II Victory Medal, an American Campaign Medal, and Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and a Philippine Liberation Ribbon.

Dale DancingIn 1950 he was one of the original founders of the Mattachine Society.

In 1952 he was arrested for indecent behavior, and they decided to fight the charge in court under grounds of entrapment. After a dramatic court trial, Jennings was acquitted, which energized other persecuted homosexual people into action throughout the nation and brought respect to the Mattachine Society. Most states have removed the infamous “Crimes Against Nature” statutes, party due to the influence of Dale Jennings.

He went on to publish ONE Magazine, dedicated to speaking out for homosexuals and sold on newsstands and by mail subscription. In 1954, the mailing was confiscated by the Los Angeles Postmaster on the basis of obscenity. The Federal Court case that followed ended with a 1958 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that a magazine calling for equality for homosexuals is not obscene. This decision brought more freedom to all media and was the basis for all future growth of the gay and lesbian press.

Source: http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/Dale_Jennings

The Temperamentals

Justin Ison will portray Dale Jennings and others in Arouet’s upcoming production of The Temperamentals, which recalls the founding of the Mattachine Society. Contribute to our Kickstarter campaign to bring their story to the Seattle stage.

Where did we put the money from “The House Of Bernarda Alba”?

Here’s the thing: we are asking you to support The Temperamentals, but if our last Kickstarter Campaign is any evidence, then the money will be carried forward to other events in the Seattle community. For example, not only did our last Kickstarter campaign cover The House Of Bernarda Alba, but it also funded the free Arts Crush even Lawfully Wedded and our next production (with Driftwood Players) called The Hen Night Epiphany.

Your donation to support The Temperamentals will probably fund many other theatre events that enrich the community. And you can get tickets out of the deal. And a tax write off. How cool is that?

Rudi Gernreich

Rudi Gernreich
Photo of Rudi Gernreich by Julian Wasser

Rudi Gernreich (1922-1985) was born in Vienna, Austria and moved with his mother to the United States following the 1938 Anschluss as Jewish refugees, settling in Los Angeles, California. Gernreich was a dancer with the Leslie Horton Modern Dance Troupe from 1942 to 1948 and, when he moved to the fashion world, took that influence with him translating the flexibility and comfort of dance clothes to high fashion. In 1950, having been convicted in an entrapment case himself, he became one of the five founding members of the Mattachine Society with his lover, Harry Hay. He supported the organization financially albeit anonymously, known only as “R.” He is noted for creating the monokini – the first topless bikini – and the thong, and designed the Moonbase Alpha uniforms in the British sci-fi series Space: 1999. He has been hailed as “one of the most original, prophetic, and controversial American designers of the 1950s through the 1970s” and was named one of Time Magazines All-TIME 100 Fashion Icons.

Read more about Rudi Gernreich on Wikipedia and The New York Times online.

The Temperamentals

Rudi Gernreich will be portrayed by Scott Abernethy in Arouet’s production of The Temperamentals in May 2013. Contribute to our Kickstarter campaign today to bring the story of The Temperamentals to the Seattle stage.

Harry Hay

Harry Hay
Photo of Harry Hay by LeRoy Robbins

Harry Hay (1912-2002) was a controversial labor advocate, teacher, actor, and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He was active in the Los Angeles avant-garde arts movement of the 1930s and fought against Fascism, racism, and anti-Semitism in 1940s. He is known for his roles in helping found several gay rights organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States, and the Radical Faeries, a counter-cultural movement seeking to reject hetero-imitation and redefine queer identity through spirituality. His belief in the cultural minority status of homosexuals led him to take a stand against assimilationism, which led to his support to controversial groups and to criticize both the mainstream gay rights movement and some of the movement’s radical components.

Read more about Harry Hay on Wikipedia and The San Francisco Public Library website.

The Temperamentals

Harry Hay will be portrayed by Daniel Wood in Arouet’s production of The Temperamentals in May 2013. Contribute to our Kickstarter campaign today to bring the story of The Temperamentals to the Seattle stage.

The Mattachine Society

The Mattachine Society
The Mattachine Society in a rare group photograph. (l-r) Harry Hay, Konrad Stevens, Dale Jennings, Rudi Gernreich, Stan Witt, Bob Hull, Chuck Rowland (in glasses), Paul Bernard. Photo by James Gruber.
[/caption]The Mattachine Society was the first sustained gay rights group in the United States. Founded in 1950 by Harry Hay, Rudi Gernreich, Dale Jennings, Bob Hull, Chuck Rowland, James Gruber, and Konrad Stevens. Referred to as “Society of Fools” at their first meeting, the group changed its name to “Mattachine Society” as suggested by Gruber and chosen by Hay. The name is inspired by a French medieval and renaissance masque group of masked men who, through anonymity, were empowered to criticize ruling monarchs with impunity. “So we took the name Mattachine because we felt that we 1950s Gays were also a masked people, unknown and anonymous, who might become engaged in morale building and helping ourselves and others, through struggle, to move toward total redress and change.”

Mattachine’s membership grew slowly at first but received a major boost in February 1952 when founder Jennings was arrested in a Los Angeles park and charged with lewd behavior. Often, men in Jennings’ situation would simply plead guilty to the charge and hope to quietly rebuild their lives. Jennings and the rest of the founders saw the charges as a means to address the issue of police entrapment of homosexual men. The group began publicizing the case (under the name “Citizens Committee to Outlaw Entrapment”) and the publicity it generated brought in financial support and volunteers. Jennings admitted during his trial to being a homosexual but insisted he was not guilty of the specific charge. The jury deadlocked (11-1 in favor of acquittal) and Mattachine declared victory.

Following the Jennings trial, the group expanded rapidly and diversified, with more women and people from a broader political spectrum becoming involved. With that growth came  concern about the radical left slant of the organization. In particular, Hal Call and others out of San Francisco along with Ken Burns from Los Angeles wanted Mattachine to amend its constitution to clarify its opposition to so-called “subversive elements” and to affirm that members were loyal to the United States and its laws, laws which declared homosexuality illegal. In an effort to preserve their vision of the organization, the founding members revealed their identities and resigned their leadership positions at Mattachine’s May 1953 convention. With the founders gone, Call, Burns and other like-minded individuals stepped into the leadership void, and Mattachine officially adopted non-confrontation as an organizational policy. The reduced effectiveness of this newly-organized Mattachine led to a precipitous drop in membership and participation. The Los Angeles branch of Mattachine shut down in 1961.

The Temperamentals

The Temperamentals is a play about the Mattachine Society and the complex relationships of its founding members. Contribute to our Kickstarter campaign today to bring the story of The Temperamentals to the Seattle stage.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattachine_Society
http://www.outhistory.org/wiki/Harry_Hay:_Founding_the_Mattachine,_part_2

Cast and Crew of “The Hen Night Epiphany”

Colleen Carey (Una)

Colleen CareyColleen has been working as a professional actress in the Seattle area for thirty-three years. Favorite recent theatre roles include: Carlotta in The Cherry Orchard, Wife in Edmond, The Fraus in All Through the Night (Gregory Award Nominee) and Angustias in The House of Bernarda Alba. Look for Colleen as Dorothy O’Donnell in the feature film Different Drummers (Winner: Best Screenplay, WorldFest Houston International Film Festival). Release date: April 2013. Thanks to my Dad, Mom, David and Aidan. Also, special thanks to Charles Waxberg for re-forging and transforming my vision. “We don’t live a play. We live a scene at a time.” – Stella Adler


Laura Crouch (Anta)

Laura CrouchSince moving from the midwest where, aside from acting, she worked with the Kansas City Philharmonic and NCAA, Laura has been fortunate to perform on many stages throughout Seattle. These include Seattle Shakespeare Co., ACT, The Bathhouse, The Market Theatre, Driftwood, and Phoenix. She is delighted to be able to add Stone Soup to the list. Some favorite shows include a rock and roll version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Diary of Anne Frank and Auntie Mame. Laura also works extensively in radio and provides voiceovers. She performed a one-woman USO show at The Museum of Flight and joyously “became” Mae West for the opening of the Radio Museum in Bellingham and for Lufthansa Airlines. What a thrill to be able to work with such a wonderfully talented director and group of women. She’s not in Kansas anymore!


Ellen Dessler (Triona)

Ellen DesslerEllen is thrilled to be working with her good friend Roy in her inaugural production with both Arouet and Driftwood. She was last seen in Seattle Musical Theatre’s Legally Blonde as Paulette and Theatre 9/12’s Suddenly Last Summer as Sister Felicity. She has done many shows with ReAct (Izzy in Rabbit Hole, Interplanet Janet and others in School House Rock, Darla in A Letter to Three Wives, etc.), Second Story Rep (La La in Last Night of Ballyhoo, Chester in Bunnicula, Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors, etc), Village Theatre (Evita, South Pacific, Pirates of Penzance, etc.), and many others! She is also proud of her work with Effective Arts, Child Abuse Training with CJTC, and Living Voices. And you can find a few credits on IMDB.


Frances Hearn (Olive)

Frances HearnFrances is delighted to work with Roy again and this wonderful cast. Frances has an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in Drama and a Master’s in Education Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Seattle University. She has acted in several shows throughout Seattle and Los Angeles. She was last seen in The House of Bernarda Alba, directed by Charles Waxberg and produced by Roy Arauz, playing the role of Maria Josefa. She currently teaches at Seattle Central Community College.


Kelly Johnson (Kelly)

This is Kelly’s 2nd show with Roy Arauz, where she was seen as Hera in Thunderbolts and Dunderheads. She’s a local kid who can be found doing theatre in and around the Seattle area. Kelly would like to thank all her friends and family for their love and support. A big thank you goes to Vandyman who is always ready with a kind word, a shoulder to lean on, a warm hug or a gentle kick in the pants when needed. I love you big!


Roy Arauz (Director)

Roy ArauzRoy gets to play with some of his favorite actresses in The Hen Night Epiphany, and he couldn’t be happier. It’s also very exciting to collaborate for the first time with The Driftwood Player’s Theatre of Intriguing Possiblities program. With a background dance, choreography, and stage management, he now directs around the Puget Sound and is Artistic Director at Arouet. Locally he has worked in various capacities at ArtsWest, The Driftwood Players, Redwood Theatre, SecondStory Repertory Snoqualmie Falls Forest Theatre, Studio East, and Valley Community Players. Recent directing credits: Lawfully Wedded (Arouet), The Music Man (The Driftwood Players), and Anna in The Tropics (Latino Theatre Projects.)


John Epperson (Sound Design)

John Epperson, SeattleJohn is a recording artist. His work appears on many albums, compilations and DVDs as well as television, film and video games. When not making weird noises with synthesizers, Epperson designs sound for theatre. He has previously worked with Arouet, ArtsWest, Driftwood Players, Latino Theatre Projects, Redwood Theatre and Theatre 9/12. John has a website.


Keith A. Gehrig (Co-Producer)

Keith A. GehrigKeith is a 20 year veteran of theater in the Puget Sound area. He has designed lighting for Evergreen Theatre, Civic Light Opera (now Seattle Musical Theatre), Driftwood Players, Tacoma Little Theater, Northwest Savoyards, Seattle Comic Opera, and Gaydar Productions. Also a scenic designer, master electrician, actor and playwright, his day job is running the front office for The Driftwood Players in Edmonds. When not in a theater, he spends his time with his two “guys”, Chazz and Dave.


Roger Huston (Technical Director)


Roger HustonRoger Huston is relatively new to the Seattle area and the theater. He moved here from the DC area, where he was merely a patron, in 2010. He’d been a stage techie in school – many, many years ago. He began volunteering with Driftwood shortly after settling into his Edmonds home. He’s been involved in set design and construction, lighting design, running crew (runs a mean follow spot), and production management. He’s served as the Technical Director for TIPs, and its predecessor Alternative Stage Productions, since the 2011-2012 season. Roger can also be found at Theater Schmeater in Seattle, where he is Managing Director.


Renee Cyr Johnson (Stage Manager)

Renee Cyr JohnsonRenee is thrilled to be stage managing again with Driftwood Players and to be working with Arouet for the first time. She recently staged managed Music Man, Murder on the Nile, and Harvey here at Driftwood. She has also worked at Stone Soup, Greenstage, and Centerstage. She would like to thank all of you for supporting local theatre.


Chrystian Shepperd (Lighting Designer)

Chrystian ShepperdA graduate of UW’s drama department, Chrystian loves playing with lights and has done so at various theatres in Seattle including Annex, Theater Schmeater & Live Girls!, where he also directed. Most recently he was the lighting designer for Driftwood’s TIPS production, The 39 Steps. This is his first experience designing a show for 2 totally different spaces and he’s excited about the challenge of it. Jen- you are my everything, thank you for the constant encouragement and support, you’re a MoonMan! Immer.


Carissa Meisner Smit (Executive Producer)


Carissa Meisner SmitAfter initially training and working in Southern California, Carissa moved with her family to the Seattle area in 2002. Since then she has worked with many different theaters wearing many different hats, including Madrona Children’s Theater and Snoqualmie Falls Forest Theater (choreographer); Arouet, Second Story Repertory, The Phoenix Theatre, Adagio Players, and Seattle Musical Theater (performer), as well as The Driftwood Players where she has performed, choreographed, directed, and produced. She assumed leadership of the struggling Alternative Stages program in 2009 and is pleased to have guided it through a major renovation as The Theatre of Intriguing Possibilities (TIPs). She is pleased to collaborate with Arouet on this special production.


Deanna Smit (Costumer)

Deanna SmitDeanna Smit is so excited to be working on this project! She has an acting background as well as several costuming credits under her belt — most recently including The 39 Steps and The Third Annual Festival of Shorts, both at the Edmonds Driftwood Players with The Theatre of Intriguing Possibilities. Thanks to Carissa!


Jen Cabarrus (Properties)

Jennifer CabarrusJennifer is super excited to be wrangling props for the Driftwood Players and Arouet. Some of the past theatres she has worked with in the Seattle area include Annex, Open Circle and Live Girls! With her day job in the scientific community she is always rejuvenated at the magic of seeing a show come together. CS-thank you for always putting me back on the horse. you’re a moonman!–immer.

The Temperamentals

Arouet presents the Seattle Premiere of the Award Winning play,
The Temperamentals
A play by Jon Marans
Directed by Roy Arauz
May 10-25, 2013

The Temperamentals by Jon Marans (poster)The Temperamentals chronicles the founding of the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights organization in the United States in the pre-Stonewall, McCarthy era. It is also the love story of two of its founding members, communist Harry Hay and Viennese fashion designer Rudi Gernreich. “Temperamental” comes from early 20th century as a slang for homosexual, and was used as a necessary code in the early 1950s as homosexuality was thoroughly prosecuted.

The New York Times called The Temperamentals an eminently likable docudrama about gay identity in the age of Eisenhower.” Backstage said “The Temperamentals is an exceedingly fine play – smart, passionate, focused, and satisfying.”

Jon Marans received the John Gassner Award for the The Temperamentals.

The Temperamentals” is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, New York, NY.

*The Thursday, May 10th performance will be interpreted for the hearing impaired

Cast and Crew

For a detailed bios and photos, please visit Meet The Cast and Crew of The Temperamentals

  • Daniel Wood (Harry Hay)
  • Jaryl Draper (Rudi Gernreich)
  • Greg Brisendine (Chuck Rowland and others)
  • Will Halsey (Bob Hull and others)
  • Justin Ison (Dale Jennings and others)
  • Mariajose Barrera (Production Manager)
  • Dani Dodge (Stage Manager)
  • J.S. Epperson (Sound Design)
  • Keith Gehrig (Lighting Design)
  • Kristina Hestenes Stimson (Costume Design)
  • Kim Rosin (Set Design)

Take a look at the rehearsal and production galleries.

What the critics had to say: Review Roundup

An Actor’s Voice

It’s interesting, I have always believed in marriage equality but doing this piece has opened my eyes even wider. It’s the compilation of all the different reasons for allowing marriage for everyone, put into a 70 minute piece and laid out right in front of you that just makes a crystal clear picture. I think everyone is going to benefit that watches this show, it is going to educate with a mixture of hilarity and gut wrenching moments.

The piece that really grabs at my heartstrings for marriage equality is Sign Here. It is also going to be the most challenging piece for me to perform because of how honest, real, and unfair the scenario is that we’re delving into over rights of a straight couple vs. rights (as of now) of a gay/lesbian couple. I want to be able to portray the inequality and the injustice and I want more than anything to make people see the characters’ and realize this isn’t just this character going through this but this is really happening and needs to change, we are all humans with feelings and should be treated as such!

Overall, I want people to walk away from the show and go to a ballot and vote for human equality. Regardless, if they support gays and lesbians this is a bigger picture; I want to show we as humans are evolving and understand empathy and kindness and peace for everyone regardless of race, sexuality or beliefs—the passing of Ref. 74 is a part of that evolution towards complete humanity.