Who Wants Cake? will stage a one-time reading of Mart Crowley's landmark play, "The Boys in the Band," at 2 p.m. Dec. 6 at The Ringwald Theatre.
The reading will be immediately followed by a talkback with the actors and director.
The cast includes Jeff Bobick (Shelby Township), Jerry Haines (Berkley), Vince Kelley (Roseville), Jeremy Kucharek (Detroit), Dan Morrison (Ann Arbor), Richard Payton (West Bloomfield), Joe Plambeck (Ferndale), John Prakapas (Royal Oak) and Jamie Richards (Birmingham). Joe Bailey (Ferndale) will direct.
"The Boys in the Band" began its original New York run in April of 1968 and ran for 1,000 performances. A subsequent film adaptation opened in 1970 and was also deemed a success. In 1996 an off-Broadway revival featured David Drake and Christopher Sieber.
Mart Crowley's landmark play was the first of its kind to show gay men as something more than off-stage suicides and whispered-about distant relations. These men were in your face, full-bodied homosexuals with a capital H. As time has passed, however, some public opinion has changed about the way the characters are presented: too queeny, too bitchy, too mean, too self-loathing.
Now the "Boys" will be revisited, for better or worse.
The Ringwald Theatre is located at 22742 Woodward Ave. in Ferndale. Donations will be accepted at the door.
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