• Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • Slice, Slice Baby!
  • LGBTQ+ Youth, Seniors, and ‘Drag Race’ Queens Celebrate Chosen Family at Inaugural Intergenerational Thanksgiving Dinner
  • Dispensing Culturally Competent Care: The Center’s Patient-Centric Pharmacy Does Much More Than Fill Prescriptions
  • Get to Know the Center’s New Leadership Team
  • The Center Looks Back on 25 Years of Senior Services
  • Center CEO Joe Hollendoner: “Our Work Is Never Done”
  • Trixie Mattel Inspires LGBTQ+ Youth to Be Their Best Selves at Models of Pride: “You Are All the Main Character”
  • From Poetry to Tap Dance, Seniors Flaunt Their Talents at Fall Showcase 
Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube
LGBT News Now
Learn about career opportunities at the Center
  • Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
LGBT News Now
You are at:Home»Community»Tony Winner Joanna Gleason Bringing “Out of the Eclipse” to Renberg Theatre
Joanna_Gleason

Tony Winner Joanna Gleason Bringing “Out of the Eclipse” to Renberg Theatre

0
By on January 31, 2020 Community

By Greg Hernandez

The deaths of her parents less than four months apart in 2017 led Joanna Gleason to create the deeply personal musical journey Out of the Eclipse.

And the Tony Award-winning star is bringing the show to the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Renberg Theater on February 15 and 16.

“I kind of went into a very dark place even though they were very old—and I’m not young,” Gleason shares with LGBT News Now. “With the world feeling so shaky anyway, losing them caused me to lose my balance. I really couldn’t find which way was up.”

Many people may not know that she is the daughter of iconic television personality Monty Hall, who hosted the classic game show Let’s Make a Deal in various incarnations from 1963–1991, and Emmy Award-winning producer Marilyn Hall.

“I needed to tell this story of what I learned about my parents after they died, what I was able to really see about them and their extraordinary story,” Gleason says. “It’s a very funny piece, but it’s also kind of raw at times because it’s about what I went through. It goes dark places, it goes bright places. It just keeps moving, and I’m really proud of this show.”

“I’m insanely proud of my parents”

The theatrical memoir of storytelling and song is written and directed by Gleason.

“I wrote a play is what I did, and the offstage characters are people you can identify with,” she explains. “I’m certainly not hiding the fact that it’s Dad. I just don’t lead with that nor do I push that in the show at all. I’m insanely proud of my parents. But I realized if I talked about them by name as I share these funny anecdotes about their lives, then it’s a memorial, and you picture my dad the whole time when you should be picturing the people in your life.”

For those not familiar with her work on stage, Gleason is quite recognizable from movies and television. She was the therapist who helped Miranda and Steve find their way back to each other in the first Sex and the City movie; was Mark Wahlberg’s mother in Boogie Nights; and also had roles in Hannah and Her Sistersand in Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Her television roles include playing Bette Midler’s best friend in the 2000–01 sitcom Bette and multiple episodes of Friends, The West Wing, The Good Wife, and ER.

But Gleason’s greatest success has been on Broadway where her performance as Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods won her the Tony Award in 1988 for Lead Actress in a Musical.

“It was surreal,” she says of her Tony win. “There’s a video of me when my name was called, and I throw my head back so hard. For the next two weeks, I couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t turn my head left or right.”

“Theater has been a big chunk of my life”

Gleason was also Tony nominated in 1985 for the play Joe Egg and in 2005 for the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Her other Broadway credits include Social Security (Drama Desk Award), The Real Thing, I Love My Wife (Theater World Award), and It’s Only a Play (Drama Desk Award).

“Theater has been a big chunk of my life and nothing really compares with that,” she says. “On a TV show, you rehearse it for a couple of days, you do it and you go home. Different episodes, different stories. Same with film. You’re sitting in a trailer for nine hours and then you do a scene for a half hour. I worked with a lot of amazing people but for me it was never very satisfying.”

Out of the Eclipse, however, has been very satisfying.

“I get to use my life, I get to use the music I want to sing, and I get to tell the story I need to tell,” she says. “It’s not a strict cabaret show where I sit and sing a whole bunch of songs and weave them together. It’s really a theater piece.”

The show initially had two runs at Feinstein’s/54 Below in New York City in 2019 then played in the theater at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts in Fairfield, Connecticut, where Gleason lives with her husband, the Oscar-nominated actor Chris Sarandon.

After a show at 54 Below one night, four brawny men visiting from Texas came up to and introduced themselves to Gleason.

“They had just gotten into town and wanted to see what a New York nightclub was going to be like,” she recalls. “They didn’t know me, and they didn’t know what they were in for. But two of them were crying, and one of them held me and wouldn’t let go. They had been the biggest laughers in the room. It was a very sweet moment.”

“The response at the end of the shows has been kind of overwhelming to me,” she adds. “Nobody wanted to go home. They were sitting among strangers, and everybody’s talking. Old people, young people. There’s a lot of laughing, a lot that is funny. But there is also a lot that sneaks up on people and is really quite moving.”

The musical director for Out of the Eclipse is Jeffrey Klitz and Gleason is accompanied by the Moontones: Michael Protacio, Christine Cornell, and Christiana Cole (vocals), Jeffrey Klitz (piano), Katherine Springarn (cello), Justin Rothberg (stringed instruments), and Shane Del Robles (percussion).

 

Joanna Gleason: Out of the Eclipse

Saturday, February 15, 8 p.m.
Sunday, February 16, 7 p.m.

General Admission: $35. Buy tickets at lalgbtcenter.org/theatre or call the box office at 323-860-7300.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

Slice, Slice Baby!

LGBTQ+ Youth, Seniors, and ‘Drag Race’ Queens Celebrate Chosen Family at Inaugural Intergenerational Thanksgiving Dinner

Dispensing Culturally Competent Care: The Center’s Patient-Centric Pharmacy Does Much More Than Fill Prescriptions

Comments are closed.

Upcoming Events

Feb 4
5:00 pm - 10:00 pm

The Future is Black 2023: Renaissance

Feb 9
February 9 - March 4

Cock

Mar 16
March 16 - April 16

Menstruation: A Period Piece

Apr 29
April 29 - June 24

A New Brain

May 13
May 13 - June 12

The Bottoming Process

View Calendar
About Us

LGBT News Now

LGBT News Now is a publication of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, the Center is the largest LGBT organization in the world, dedicated to building a world where LGBT thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org.

Follow Us on Instagram

lalgbtcenter

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is building a world where LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society.

Los Angeles LGBT Center
This is not a drill: There are active legislative This is not a drill: There are active legislative threats against our freedoms going up for vote across the country. We know most of these fights are not happening in California—but that’s precisely why our Center community can be of help. Join the Resistance Squad today by texting ‘RESIST’ to 33339 to help win this fight, and swipe through the slides to understand what’s happening. —>
Did you know that the Center hosts a Senior Prom f Did you know that the Center hosts a Senior Prom for our #LGBTQ+ #elders each year? A few years ago, we were visited by filmmakers who wanted to document the event in all its glory—and now their film is airing tonight on @PBS at 10PM PT. Please tune in to celebrate the amazing work of our Senior Services team and our real heroes, our incredible clients! And stay tuned later this year for more from our next installment of the Prom.
Our community at the Los Angeles LGBT Center exten Our community at the Los Angeles LGBT Center extends our deepest condolences to the loved ones of those we lost in the tragic mass shooting in #MontereyPark, and our well wishes to the survivors who are recovering. We remain committed to our hope for a peaceful and prosperous Los Angeles—without guns and hate.
We’re honored to join the @academymuseum as a Co We’re honored to join the @academymuseum as a Community Partner for the upcoming screening of Pat Rocco's Signs of Queer Life on January 26 at 7:30pm.

The trailblazing LA-based filmmaker and gay rights advocate, #PatRocco, captured seminal moments of LGBTQ history, joy and upsets. Check out a preview of his film #WeWereThere. Use discount code LGBTQ+ to get $2 off tickets to the screening! Link in our bio. 
 
#AcademyMuseum #LGBTQstories
The Center is proud to announce our inaugural thea The Center is proud to announce our inaugural theatre season! This year, we are partnering with local theatre companies to present nearly 100 showings of four remarkable plays to lift the depth and diversity of LGBTQ+ narratives. The line-up includes world premieres, an award-winning comedy, and a radically reimagined musical. Performances begin Feb. 9—Get your tickets now at lalgbtcenter.org/theatre, or at the link in our bio! 🎭 🎟️
SHE DID NOT COME TO PLAY! The one and only @bigfre SHE DID NOT COME TO PLAY! The one and only @bigfreedia, Queen of Bounce, is coming to the Los Angeles LGBT Center for #TheFutureIsBlack — our #BlackHistoryMonth event — and tickets are FREE to the public at the #linkinbio. Hear from Freedia and a dynamic roster of other Black talent, then dance the night away in our Renaissance-themed afterparty. Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 4th and get on that list at the link in bio before it closes.
Today we commemorate one of our nation’s most pr Today we commemorate one of our nation’s most preeminent civil rights leaders— the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.— who left us a transformative legacy rooted in service and community. His noble actions blueprinted monuments of unity across the country, and especially, here at home in Los Angeles. On this #MLKDayofService, we are reminded of our ability to champion equity and justice for all.
 
#DrKing #MLKDay
We at the Los Angeles LGBT Center are deeply distu We at the Los Angeles LGBT Center are deeply disturbed by the videos depicting the tragic deaths of three Angelenos, and join the Mayor in calling for urgent police reform and accountability. Swipe through for our full statement.

#TakarSmith #KeenanAnderson #OscarSanchez
Get ready, LA! Join us in community as we ring in Get ready, LA! Join us in community as we ring in Center South’s 3rd Anniversary Celebration on January 21st from 12-4PM! The joyous afternoon event will offer self-guided tours, dynamic performances, food, prizes, health services, and more. Register for free at lalgbtcenter.org/centersouth3year or with the link in bio! We can’t wait to see you there 🏳️‍🌈☀️
 
PS: Did you know Center South is located in the heart of #SouthLosAngeles, just steps away from historic #LeimertPark? The site offers free (or low cost) year-round health services and STI testing for all #Angelenos. 

#LosAngeles #LGBTQ
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Stay Connected
Subscribe
Copyright © 2022 Los Angeles LGBT Center
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.