The Lavender Effect's Presents #QUEERSTORY Performance Series For World Pride and the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall

LGBTQ+ HISTORY PROJECT THE LAVENDER EFFECT is pleased to present, in celebration of this year's historic 50th Anniversary of Stonewall and World Pride in New York City, the award-winning LGBTQ+ play ELECTRICITY which chronicles the LGBTQ+ journey of two Gay men from Stonewall to today.

The award-winning production, starring playwright and actor Terry Ray and Off-Broadway veteran Mel England, and directed by Steve Rosenbaum will play two benefit performances only at the Revelation Gallery at St. John's in the Village Church (224 Waverly Place, btw 7th Ave/W. 11th St.).

Performances are Thursday, June 27 at 2:00 p.m. and Saturday, June 29 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets may be reserved in advance for $40 (premium seats), $25 (general admission) at ElectricityNYC.BrownPaperTickets.com, or purchased at the door for a $25 suggested donation, upon availability.

ELECTRICITY explores the relationship between two Gay men who meet in high school, the summer of Stonewall, and continue to meet up in a motel room at their high-school reunion every decade since--as they emerge from living in the shadows of the closet, to the daylight of equality. Sex, drugs and booze make up the life of Brad Burke, while ex-seminary student Gary Henderson is so closeted, he hides his sexuality behind an invented wife. When they re-unite in their motel room at their 10-year reunion it is a monumental clash of worlds that sparks an electricity between them that lures them back to that same motel room every decade to today.

The tremendous changes in the lives of LGBTQ+ people, from living "in the closet", the explosion of the sexual revolution and Gay Liberation, the fight to survive the plague of AIDS, battles with addiction and recovery, to the struggle for Equality, are all seen in the course of Gary and Brad's relationship over the decades. ELECTRICITY offers a glimmer of hope in how things have changed for gay men over the past fifty years and has potential to continue to improve.

ELECTRICITY has been performed in Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Columbus, and continuously for the past two years in Palm Springs. It won BEST TOURING PRODUCTION (alongside HAMILTON), and BEST ACTOR in a Tour in Minneapolis, and was named one of the top 10 performances of the year in Columbus.

Playwright and actor Terry Ray, originally wrote the play because he wanted to capture the journey of a generation of gay men who went from living in the closet to demanding equality. "Getting to share ELECTRICITY as a writer and actor in New York City for the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall during Pride is a true gift," Ray said. "Our journey since that night in 1969 is our collective gay experience, a road map from where we started to where we are," he continued, adding "and that's the journey I wanted to capture in ELECTRICITY and reflect back in the lives of two complicated and flawed gay men."

Mel England, who plays the party-addicted Brad, also serves on THE LAVENDER EFFECT Board of Advisors, and brought the play to its #Queerstory Performance Series. "ELECTRICITY tells the story of a generation that fought for its right to exist and to pursue happiness, the American dream," said England. "This is the perfect play to see for the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall," he added.

The benefit performances of ELECTRICITY for THE LAVENDER EFFECT as part of its #Queerstory Performance Series, coincides with the organization's expansion into New York from Southern California just in time for the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall. THE LAVENDER EFFECT's other programs coming to New York include the launch of its Stonewall LGBTQ+ History Tours, and the expansion of its Oral History Projects documenting LGBTQ+ pioneers, early AIDS activists, and a Non-Binary Oral History Project.

Founding Executive and Creative Director of THE LAVENDER EFFECT Andy Sacher said "Terry Ray's play romps through several Gay Decades with two unique men. It reminds us how differently we can experience relationships in the midst of monumental social changes."

Tickets may be reserved in advance for $40 (premium seats), $25 (general admission) at ElectricityNYC.BrownPaperTickets.com, or purchased at the door for a $25 suggestion donation, upon availability.