Posted May 5, 2023
Q&A with Playwright Jeffrey Neuman
By Denny Patterson, May 5, 2023
Live in The Pluss Theatre at the Mizel Arts & Culture Center, Cherry Creek Theatre is proud to present the world premiere of The Headliners—a new play by acclaimed local playwright Jeffrey Neuman.
Fictionalizing a moment in the lives of two historical vaudeville superstars as the pair straddle their on and off stage personas, The Headliners puts female impersonator Julian Eltinge (Jeremy Rill) and flamboyant co-star Eva Tanguay (Norrell Moore) in the spotlight at the turn of the 20th century. Their latest engagement satirizes gender, respectability, and the institution of marriage.
Neuman infuses vaudeville songs and show into a surprisingly timely story that explores the explosive crossroads of gender, fame, sexuality, and power.
“I could not be more honored to be chosen by the brilliant Jeffrey Neuman to produce the full-scale, world premiere production of The Headliners,” Cherry Creek Theatre Artistic Producer Susie Snodgrass exclaims. “Little did I know exactly how timely this piece would be. Being queer is not a crime! Jeffrey combines imagery and poetry in this new piece, and I can’t wait to put it on stage.”
The Headliners runs May 5-21 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, with an additional performance scheduled for Monday, May 15. Neuman took some time to talk more about the production and his work with OFM.
Let me begin by asking, how excited are you for The Headliners to premiere at Cherry Creek Theatre?
(Laughs) I know I’m supposed to be a wordsmith, but there’s no words that I think adequately express how excited I am. This has been a four-year development journey that kind of got waylaid with COVID, so this is literally a dream come true.
Read the full Q&A here