"It's My Party" hitmaker Gore and her partner, jewelry designer Lois Sasson, will host the 8:30 PM reception at the Workshop Theater, which will serve as a "Pride Night" benefit for Manhattan's LGBT Center. The reception will be followed by a 10 PM performance of the detective mystery. Tickets for the benefit are $30.
In addition, Venus Flytrap director, Tony Award nominee Marcia Milgrom Dodge (Ragtime, Seussical), and her husband Anthony Dodge (who authored the play) will take part in a post-performance talkback following the 7 PM performance Nov. 11.
A 2007 Best Actress Tony Award nominee for Coram Boy, Elbrick stars as detective Butch Diamond. The cast also features Matt Loney, Raissa Dorff, Jason Emanuel, Grace Gealey, Danny Katz, Jose Luaces, Molly Sorohan and Richard B. Watson.
Producers describe Venus Flytrap as a work "in the style of mystery writer Raymond Chandler," which centers on a female detective, Butch Diamond: "A woman who likes women. And whom women like back. A lot. While there are no chronicles confirming the '40s detective heroine existing in those conservative times, the play explores how much—or how little—things have changed when it comes to embracing outcasts and disenfranchised citizens. A journey behind closed doors and closed closets, you could call it a postmodernist-feminist mystery play. You could call it femme noir. Or you could simply call it Venus Flytrap."
Venus Flytrap has scenic design by Michael Schweikardt, costume design by Bobby Pearce, lighting design by Paul Miller, sound design by Acme Sound Partners and hair and wigs by Edward Wilson. Anthony Dodge is also the playwright of Sherlock Holmes & The West End Horror and Free Burt Lancaster! He penned the librettos for the musicals Look Homeward Honky Tonk Angel and HATS! (The Red Hat Society Musical).
The Active Theater, Craig Haffner and Karl E. Held produce the run.
Venus Flytrap will run through Nov. 14. Regular tickets, priced $18, are available by visiting TheActiveTheater.com. The Workshop Theater is located at 312 West 36th Street.
