issue two

EDITORS
l e t t er
Like any child born in the 70s, I went and saw Star Wars accompanied by my mother. As the voice of James Earl Jones sent shivers down my spine, I looked away from the screen and up at my mother. I want to do what Princess Leia does when I grow up.
You want to rule a galaxy far, far away? My mother asked smugly. Ignoring her sarcasm, I whispered excitedly No, I want to be able to say the words she says! Oh, you want to act. I fell in love with acting on that day, and as soon as I could sound out words in books, I began to read everything I could on the subjectfrom Stanislavski to Sir Laurence Olivier to Shakespeare. I was in awe of the world created by words that spun my imagination into another reality of storytelling and action. I wanted to learn how Carol Burnett knew how long to hold for a laugh, or how many hours of rehearsal it took before Ann Reinking became a triple threat. As I immersed myself in this craft: learning lighting, sound, and set design, knowing the difference between upstage and downstage, or why you should never say Macbeth in a theater, one thing consistently stayed truemy love for theater was unshakeable. It didnt matter if I was in a sound booth calling cues or stage right waiting to say my first line, theater is, and will always be, my first love. Which brings me to this issue and the inspiration behind it. Live performance is like no other. There are no second takes, and in that way, the theater is a lot like life, you only get one shot at it. With its mixture of philosophy, psychology, with the ability to teach tolerance by experiencing (the best you can) what it is like to be in someone elses shoes, to see life from that characters eyestheater to me was always the great equalizer; especially when folks like Joseph Papp came in and introduced color blind gender blind casting. When casting Hamlet he didnt care if you were a black woman or a white male, whoever could bring it got the part. However, I found myself concerned this year when people like Richard Chamberlain and Ramin Setoodeh (formally of Newsweek, now at People) discussed limitations of believability for openly gay actors, or why one should resist coming out of the closet due to the fact that roles will dry up if the audience is aware of a performers sexual orientation. I found the comments disheartening to say the least, and its what inspired the Playing it Straight article in this issue. If there are those that need to label me, I will let them know that I am a half-black, half-Latin, bi-sexual woman. So does that mean I am only supposed to be cast in roles defined by those labels? Absolutely not. Do I wish there were more roles that are powerful, thought-provoking, less stereotypical and more inclusive of black, Latin, gay, lesbian and bi-sexual experiences? A resounding YES! That is why I am encouraged by the brilliant people that are in these pages, who are some of the most thoughtful, talented, and pioneering performers, directors, producers, and writers around. They continue to write, produce, direct and perform material that is stimulating and challenging in a time that is obsessed with the distraction of reality television. These individuals remind us to WAKE UP and remember what the human experience is supposed to be about. Perhaps the most important aspect in theater that I learned was that it was a home away from homeand that it is truly one big family. I loved getting to experience watching Denis O Hare and Sandra Bernhard become fast friends, and Alan Cumming liven the room with his magnetism and energy. Jeffrey Wright impressed me with his seriousness and his professionalism, and George C. Wolfes commanding presence is lightened only by the charisma and charm he exudes. Everyone from David Cromer to Anthony Rapp were utterly delightful and reminded of the closeness I felt years ago when I was around performers on a daily basis. I want to thank everyone once again for all their help with this issue; Clare Smythe-Lee for her beautiful art direction, Andrew Boyle for curating the photographers, Ellen Moynihan for being such a brilliant (and cool) Associate Editor, JJ Maxwell, Lynn Furge, and Justin Min for the exquisite sense of Fashion they bring, my Editor-at-Large for this issue, Paul Oakley Stovall, who (along with Earl Dax) brought so many wonderful people into these pages. Lastly I want to thank Bobby Crace, the love of my life, for helping me with everything from car transportation, late-night editing, catering, and duct-taping my sanity together when it was falling apart. I hope you all enjoy The Broadway Issue. Thank you,

Maya Contreras Editor-In-Chief

(L-R) Jeffrey Wright, Maya Contreras, George C Wolfe, Mos Def.

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spring 2011 : the ddd