SOUTHERN COMFORT, a musical by TREVOR creators Collins and Wick Davis, was inspired by a film documentary telling the true story of several transgender friends living life on their own terms in rural Georgia, runs through March 31. $25-$40. March 7 – 31 with Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30m and Sundays at 3:30pm. Tickets are available by phone at 866-811-4111 or online. In SOUTHERN COMFORT, Robert, a transgender man living in rural Georgia among his chosen family of transgender friends, has one final wish after receiving life-altering news. He wishes to make it to the annual Southern Comfort Transgender Conference he has attended with his friends for years, so he can dance at the ball with his newly-discovered love, Lola. While Robert attempts to live his life as fully as possible surrounded by those he loves, his friends struggle to process what will inevitably come. This heartwarming musical with a lush folk/bluegrass score is based on the award-winning 2001 Sundance Film Festival documentary of the same title. SOUTHERN COMFORT has book and lyrics by Dan Collins and music by Julianne Wick Davis, the writing team responsible for TREVOR: THE MUSICAL, which was warmly received in its world premiere production at Writers Theatre in summer 2017. In reviewing SOUTHERN COMFORT’s premiere at The Public Theater in New York City in February of 2016, THE NEW YORK TIMES praised it as “a sweetheart of a musical, . . . (with) a spirited, tuneful country score and colorful characters that draw us close to the emotional ups and downs of Robert’s family.” The musical will be directed by JD Caudill, whose previous directorial credits in Chicago include MERCHILD for 16 th Street Theater at the Hoover-Leppen Theater in the Center on Halsted, FACE THE DAY for The New Colony, and TUESDAY for Broken Nose Theatre. Jeff Award-winner Robert Ollis, a Pride Films and Plays Artistic Associate, will be music director. All five members of the “family” of transgender friends will be played by trans actors: North Rory Homeward (Robert), Kyra Leigh (Lola), Ricki Pettinato (Carly), Benji Flores (Sam), and Lizzy Sulkowski (Jackson). Sinclair Willman will play the cisgender family member Melanie. Playing supporting roles as the “Storytellers” and providing onstage accompaniment with guitars, violin, cello, banjo, mandolin and percussion are actor/musicians Mario Aivazian, Kimberly Lawson, Justin Harner, Candice Kight and Taylor Dalton. Kaleb Tank will be the assistant director and Paul Cook production manager. Prior to its premiere at The Public Theater in New York City in February of 2016, SOUTHERN COMFORT had productions at Barrington Stage and Cap21 (NY Times and Time Out Critics Pick), and development support at the NAMT Festival of New Musicals and Playwrights Horizons. Bookwriter/lyricist Dan Collins and composer Julianne Wick Davis received the Jonathan Larson Award of the American Theatre Wing and the GLAAD Media Award for their work on SOUTHERN COMFORT.
