The music is pumping as you walk into the Soho playhouse and settle into your seat for Nora Burns’ David’s Friend. On stage, a DJ (Ricky Roman) spins disco, punk, and New Wave hits from the late seventies through the eighties while a fringed curtain pulses with multicolored lights. As the music segues into the Sylvester Classic You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), the lights dim and Nora takes the stage. Climbing atop a speaker, she proclaims, “I am a Fag Hag,” and that she has been since birth, so much so that her pacifier was Midcentury Modern. It is only appropriate that she begin her show by dancing on a speaker because that is where her story with her friend David Begins.
The two met at Boston’s 1270 Club, dancing on top of the same speaker when they were both in high school. Their connection was immediate, dancing til dawn, sharing confidences and their dreams of taking on New York City. It is certainly the story of friendship but also a picture of a time that has been lost.
In this age of legalized gay marriage, Corporatized Pride events and RuPaul’s Drag Race, it is all too easy to forget that there was a time when a United States President and his wife (both former actors) refused to utter the word AIDS, even as one of their closest friends died from the disease. Younger generations are often unaware of the fear and chaos of that time and the toll it took on LGBTQ+ communities worldwide. Or the art that has been lost because the artists are no longer here to make it. This is what makes David’s Friend an important story.
In telling the story of her friendship with David from its inception to his death from AIDS, Burns brings to vibrant life a time and place that should never be forgotten. Fulfilling their dream of moving to New York together, they embark upon a grand adventure. They dance at Studio 54, make friends with cultural luminaries, both present and future, and sample everything the NYC nightlife offers until David’s illness changes things.
“There are people that life finds and people who have to go out looking for it,” says Burns. David was the type that life found, while Nora was the opposite. Through her eyes, we experience not just David’s world but Nora’s as well. As David grows sicker, he leaves the city for a quieter life in the country he hopes will heal him. Nora stays in Manhattan, not yet ready to give up the party life. And though they may have been living disparate lives, there was still a deep bond. In Nora’s words, “You come and go in each other’s lives, but you know you always have someone to come home to.”
While Nora and David’s story is sad, it also contains humor, creativity and joy. Projections cleverly evoke the places and people in the story, including several of David. Director Adam Pivirotto keeps the show moving briskly, and Robin Carrigan’s Choreography, Paul Alexander’s Costumes, and Steve Hammel’s set add wonderful visual elements to the story.
In the end, we grieve with Nora that David is not here to see who she has become and also that we will never get to see what David himself might have become.
"David's Friend"
Written and Performed by Nora Burns
Directed by Adam Pivirotto
Featuring Ricky Roman
July 11 - August 10, 2024
SoHo House Playhouse (15 Vandam St. NYC)
Wendy Lane Bailey has a powerful classic pop voice and a rather cavalier attitude towards the idea of genre. Wendy-Lane’s debut solo recording, Breathing, was produced by composer/arranger/pianist Michele Brourman. Her performances in venues across the country have earned critical praise for versatility and sophistication. She has appeared as a guest artist on multiple recordings, including Leslie Gore’s and Susan Egan’s. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, HB Studios and the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. Off-stage Wendy Lane is a creative advocate for artists. While living in Washington, D.C., she founded a regional networking organization for musicians and for five years, was the Associate Director of the Cabaret Conference at Yale University. She received a 2007 Bistro Award for outstanding achievement and was nominated for a Washington Area Music Association Award. While serving on the board of NJ’s Pioneer productions, she produced, directed, and appeared in several theatre pieces. She is currently developing Hot Coffee, MS, a solo theatre piece with music in collaboration with Michele Brourman & Gretchen Cryer. In 2020, she accepted the position of Assistant Artistic Director of the United Solo Theatre Festival. In addition to her performing work, she teaches and consults privately and in master classes for singers of all genres.
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