StageQ (sometimes erroneously written Stage Q) is a theatre company based in Madison, Wisconsin. It is a community theatre troupe, and its casts with few exceptions are all-volunteer. Since its inception in 2001 StageQ has been particularly dedicated to the performance of gay-themed plays and works by gay and lesbian playwrights (the Q suggesting the word "queer").
It was one of many organizations within the city of Madison selected in 2004 for criticism by the city's Catholic Bishop, Robert C. Morlino, as existing below a religious "moral minimum" within a city that has "virtually no public morality." [1]
In 2006 StageQ was the recipient of an Annual Achievement Award given by OutReach, Madison's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community center. [2]
In 2012 the Isthmus selected StageQ's theater production "Queer Shorts on Stage Q"(sic) as its favorite theater production of the year. [3]
Madison is the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Dane County. The population was 269,840 as of the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Wisconsin, after Milwaukee, and the 77th-most populous in the United States. The Madison metropolitan area had a population of 680,796. The city is located on an isthmus and lands surrounding five lakes—Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Lake Wingra, Lake Kegonsa and Lake Waubesa. Madison was founded in 1836 and is named after American Founding Father and President James Madison.
The Diocese of Madison is a Latin Church diocese in the southwestern part of Wisconsin in the United States. The diocese has approximately 167,000 Catholics in 102 parishes with 98 priests in active ministry.
Sarah Miriam Schulman is an American novelist, playwright, nonfiction writer, screenwriter, gay activist, and AIDS historian. She holds an endowed chair in nonfiction at Northwestern University and is a fellow of the New York Institute for the Humanities. She is a recipient of the Bill Whitehead Award and the Lambda Literary Award.
Queer theology is a theological method that has developed out of the philosophical approach of queer theory, built upon scholars such as Marcella Althaus-Reid, Michel Foucault, Gayle Rubin, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and Judith Butler. Queer theology begins with the assumption that gender variance and queer desire have always been present in human history, including faith traditions and their sacred texts such as the Jewish Scriptures and the Bible. It was at one time separated into two separate theologies: gay theology and lesbian theology. Later, the two theologies would merge and expand to become the more general method of queer theology.
Robert Charles Morlino was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Madison from 2003 until his death. He was Bishop of Helena from 1999 to 2003. Morlino was widely perceived as a conservative bishop.
E. Patrick Johnson is the dean of the Northwestern University School of Communication. He is the Annenberg University Professor of Performance Studies and professor of African-American studies at Northwestern University. Johnson is the founding director of the Black Arts Consortium at Northwestern. His scholarly and artistic contributions focus on performance studies, African-American studies and women, gender and sexuality studies.
Theatre Rhinoceros, Theatre Rhino, or The Rhino is a gay and lesbian theatre in San Francisco. Theatre Rhinoceros claims to be the world's longest-running professional queer theatre company. It was founded in the spring of 1977 by Lanny Baugniet and his late partner Allan B. Estes, Jr.. The name is based on the lavender rhinoceros, a symbol popularized by the Boston gay community in the mid-1970s. It is a non-profit theater company dedicated to the production of plays by and about gay and lesbian people.
The North Carolina Gay & Lesbian Festival is an annual LGBT film festival produced by the Carolina Theater in Durham, North Carolina, typically held in mid-August. The festival has been credited in previous years as the second largest LGBT film/video festival in the Southeastern United States.
The Chicago Gay Men's Chorus (CGMC) is a choral organization in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1983 with 55 singers, the chorus currently consists of approximately 150 singing members and over 200 members in total.
Doric Wilson was an American playwright, director, producer, critic and gay rights activist.
Ana María Simo is a New York playwright, essayist and novelist. Born in Cuba, educated in France, and writing in English, she has collaborated with such experimental artists as composer Zeena Parkins, choreographer Stephanie Skura and filmmakers Ela Troyano and Abigail Child.
Broom Street Theater is an experimental black box theater located in the heart of Madison's isthmus. As one of the oldest and most prolific experimental theater companies in the United States, it has produced over 350 original works. Productions are most frequently written and directed by local playwrights and artists, who are able to realize their vision without censorship of content or presentation. Broom Street Theater is a 501(c)(3) member-run non-profit which currently produces nine to ten plays per year.
Rupert Kinnard also credited as Prof. I.B. Gittendowne, is an American cartoonist who created the first ongoing gay/lesbian-identified African-American comic-strip characters: the Brown Bomber and Diva Touché Flambé. Kinnard is gay and African American.
Henry M. Tavera was an AIDS activist, artistic director, and archivist based in the Mission District of San Francisco, California; his 1979 move to the region put him at the forefront of the AIDS epidemic via his involvement in various HIV/AIDS service organizations as well as AIDS theatre. He also did work around Chicano Gay Activism and teaching/advising. Tavera died on February 27, 2000, at 56 years old from kidney cancer.
Monica Palacios is a Chicana lesbian American playwright and performer, specialising in Chicana, queer, feminist, and lesbian themes. She has charted the intersection of queer and Latina identities in Latinx communities, with their mutually marginalising impact. A trailblazer stand-up comedian in the 1980s and 1990s, Palacios is now better known for her work as an award winning playwright and activist. Her works are taught in many schools and colleges, where she has served frequently as a director of student theatre.
Ricardo González is an American politician. He is a former member of the Madison, Wisconsin Common Council and the first openly gay Latino elected to public office in the United States. González is the Past President of the Cuban Committee for Democracy.
A Queer Carol is a 1999 theatrical adaptation of Charles Dickens's classic novel A Christmas Carol retold in a gay perspective, written by Joe Godfrey. It work-shopped in Buffalo in December 1999 before later premiering in Manhattan in December 2001, and the rest of the United States over the years. A Queer Carol is the first queer adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
Biello & Martin are a songwriting duo working in dance, theatre, and film. Independently, Michael Biello is a lyricist, performance artist, and ceramic sculptor. Dan Martin is a composer and music producer. They are best known for creating performance works which promote love, spirituality, and self-expression through a Queer lens. As LGBTQ+ cultural activists, they also founded Outmusic, an LGBTQ+ music organization, and have been romantic life-partners for over 40 years.
Roland Richard Wagner was an American historian, activist, and politician, most noted for his work in Wisconsin LGBT history, the creation of organizations to elect gays and lesbians to public office, and public service to Madison, Wisconsin and Dane County.