The Nance at The Stagecrafters

PHILADELPHIA PREMIERE
IChauncey Miles, the headliner at the Irving Place Theater, a burlesque house in late 1930s New York City, excels in playing the “nance”, a stock character depicting an exaggeratedly effeminate gay man. The thing is, in real life he IS a homosexual, at a time when it was accepted to play one, but very hazardous to be one! Chauncey’s laughter-creating clownery on stage stands in sharp contrast to his dreary life away from the bright lights. The play, at once poignant and high spirited, deftly re-creates the on-stage and backstage worlds of vaudeville and burlesque, both widely attended by stage audiences of the era, with the secretive gay lifestyle as an on-going subtext. As one reviewer put it bitter-sweetly: “… an especially powerful show that captures all our emotions. … indeed, it’s full of laughs and gaiety, but you may find yourself wiping away a tear or two.” (Arts Stage – Seattle Rage).

Authors

• Douglas Carter Beane