BCT carries 'Torch' for Pride month

May 31—For director Juan Quiñonez, the new production of "Torch Song," opening this weekend at Bakersfield Community Theatre, couldn't be more timely.

"This play is being done at a very pivotal time where all throughout the country LGBTQ+ rights are being attacked and taken away," he wrote in an email. "At a time where antisemitism is at the rise and hateful rhetoric is becoming more commonplace in society.

"So, what else could be better to start off this Pride month than with a show about a gay Jewish drag queen trying to find love? I honestly can't think of anything."

The show is a two-act adaptation of Harvey Fierstein's 1983 Tony Award-winning play "Torch Song Trilogy," which was also made into a 1988 film with Fierstein, Anne Bancroft and Matthew Broderick.

During the course of the play, Arnold finds love first with Ed (Cameron Kovac), who eventually leaves him for Laurel (Shelbe McClain), and Alan (Matthew "Ruka" Hafen), although their romance is cut short by tragedy. Arnold also adopts a son, David (Logan Scott), an uncommon experience for a gay man during the 1980s.

Quiñonez wrote, "At the time when it debuted, gay men being allowed to adopt a child was extremely rare if not unheard of altogether. So, people would have had a pretty heteronormative idea of what a family looks like very much like Arnold's mother," played by Julie Gaines.

"The show does a good job at showcasing Arnold as a hardworking, supportive, and loving parent. It's his mom who is the weird one for not being able to comprehend a different definition of family, her son's own chosen family.

"If anything, I find this message to be more relevant today than ever. There is a saying in the gay community right now that, 'as gay people we get to choose our family.' And that's very true to this play."

A longtime fan of Fierstein's acting as well as writing, Quiñonez said he deeply connected with the play.

"The things Arnold was going through were things that I myself had been through. His ideas on romance, love, intimacy were so closely aligned to mine that if Harvey hadn't written this in the '80s, I'd think someone was spying on me.

The director said the show's themes — all surrounding the ins and outs of love — are always a timeless and extremely relatable concept.

His favorite scene is a "very volatile and lively 'conversation'" between Arnold and his mother that Quiñonez said is not unlike those he's had with his own mother.

"I always feel a bit psychotic for grinning ear to ear every time I see it, but when I see extremely good acting on stage I really can't help but smile."

The director said he would also like audiences to connect with Arnold's story and identify more with him than his mother.

"My hope is ... that they see this gay man living his life like everyone else and think not only that he's the normal one but that people like his mother are the ones that are odd for not being able to understand."

The theater scheduled this show to run during Pride month as part of its commitment to present stories reflecting all of Kern County's diverse communities, said Jan Hefner, BCT's executive director.

It also partnered with The Center for Sexuality & Gender Diversity to raffle off a special Pride basket ($250 value), Quiñonez said.

"It's a basket of items to help people through Pride month: two bottles of champagne and two can of wine, all Pride themed, three DVDs of classic queer-focused films, including 'Torch Song Trilogy,' three award-winning LGBTQ+ books now banned in some states, a cake mix for baking a Pride cake, two movie passes, a rainbow flag and various Pride buttons."

Tickets for the raffle are $1 each.

Attendees will also be able to view art on display by Gabbi Steiger (@rabbitfoods on Instagram). Her work, on view at the box office, will be available for purchase.

Stefani Dias can be reached at 661-395-7488. Follow her on Twitter at @realstefanidias.