After a successful Houston run in June 2012 that made L. Robert Westeen a finalist for the Best Playwright award at the 2012 Houston Theater Awards, Cocaine and Ethel Merman: The New Homo Guide will appear in Houston once more. Originally developed by Westeen as a performance piece about his own life, the comedy Cocaine and Ethel Merman, as Westeen affectionately refers to his work, is the real-life uproarious story of a man who spends an evening alongside a coked-out Ethel Merman impersonator (are you sold yet?). The two are an unlikely pair, but the chain of events that take place that night ultimately give the man a new outlook on his life, past and present. Anchored by the protagonist’s coming out and of-age tale, Cocaine and Ethel Merman is often hailed as a compelling story for any audience member, gay or straight, as well as a commentary on one man’s journey through a troubling time and “coming out” on the other side a better man.
Cocaine and Ethel Merman: The New Homo Guide runs for six performances at Studio 101. 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m. Sundays through July 15. For information, visit queensburytheatre.org.
Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Mondays, Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Starts: July 6. Continues through July 13, 2014
This article appears in Jul 3-9, 2014.