Tag Archives: Los Angeles LGBT Center

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: They Tend To Themselves: A Choreopoem

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , , ,

by Constance Jaquay Strickland

Quick peeks at #HFF26’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

WHO:  Gabrielle Jackson

WHAT: They Tend To Themselves: A Choreopoem

WHERE: Los Angeles LGBT Center (Davidson / Valentini Theatre), 1125 North McCadden Place

WHY: Oh, what a mythical force. A Deity. A Priestess. 

They Tend to Themselves is a beautiful, poetic show rooted in the magic of Africa, the memory of our ancestors, and the enchanting power of Black women. Gabrielle is a familiar vision. Immediately, I feel as though I know her, have seen her before.

I fully understood, embraced with open arms, and possibly even evoked Gabrielle as one of my ancient ancestors channeled to remind my spirit to think beyond my physical essence. As she grabbed the hand of a Black woman and spoke truth through touch, she erased years of pain, opened a portal for healing and made way for enlightenment. 

Proud. Stunned. In awe. My solar plexus exploded each time Gabby’s voice reached back hundreds of years to bring us to this very moment in time, together.

My heart exploded during this show in the most affirming of ways. Not because I was a Black woman, but because it is a rare moment to witness the truth onstage. I was left Breathless. I left the theatre in tears but ready to not take on the world, but to tend to my spirit.

Words are not enough. Go see this show. Go support Black women telling stories.

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/9428

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: RADICAL ACTS with Ramón

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , , , ,

by Eloise Coopersmith

Quick peeks at #HFF26’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

WHO: Ruby Marez

WHAT: RADICAL ACTS with Ramón: Tomfoolery, Grief and Whimsy

WHERE:  Los Angeles LGBT Center (Davidson / Valentini Theatre), 1125 North McCadden Place

WHY: At a time when many people are struggling with division, grief, and uncertainty, RADICAL ACTS with Ramón offers something increasingly rare: hope. Through the drag king persona Ramón, creator and performer Ruby Marez transforms audience participation into an act of community-building, inviting strangers to laugh, connect, reflect and engage with one another.

Part protest, part clown show and part communal celebration, the production embraces the full spectrum of human emotion. Rather than denying grief or frustration, Marez makes space for them while encouraging audiences to respond with empathy, action, and joy. Under Bonnie He’s direction, the evening balances activism, vulnerability, and playfulness, while musician Steve J helps create an atmosphere that is both welcoming and energizing.

What makes this work especially relevant is its belief that connection itself can be a radical act. In a cultural moment often defined by cynicism and isolation, Marez reminds us that community requires participation. Audiences may leave feeling lighter, more connected, and perhaps believing in one another a little more than when they arrived.

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/14421

#FringeFemmes Check-Ins: Outdated

Fringe Festival, playwriting, , , ,

Quick peeks at #HFF25’s “Women on the Fringe” by Fringe Femmes who are behind the scenes this year. Click Here for all Check-Ins

Fringe Femmes

WHO: Kirsten Vangsness

WHAT: Outdated

WHERE: Los Angeles LGBT Center (Davidson / Valentini Theatre) 1125 North McCadden Pl

WHY: Kirsten Vangsness is, quite simply, one of those performers you can’t take your eyes off of. She’s fearless and fragile and bold and breakable, ridiculous and self aware and polished and messy and a positively addictive presence onstage. Whether she’s embodying Tana, a Topanga femininity coach who wants women to embrace their “soft folds,” Aaron, Tana’s sweetly dedicated assistant, or baring all as herself in her deep dive into three particularly destructive dating experiences with men (the whys and hows and morning afters), Kristen is a force. And while her stories are very much her own, they speak to us all.

HOW: https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11774