ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Fringe Festival's Queer Highlights Return in FringeNYC Encore Series

(Christopher Larkin, Jon-Michael Reese and Rory Lipede in when we last flew)

The New York International Fringe Festival, one of New York’s largest theatrical incubators, has ended its 14th season. But if you weren't able to see some of the top shows, don't have a panic attack. The FringeNYC Encore Series, running September 9–26, brings back festival faves so you can catch the ones you missed—or see the ones you loved again! We've sifted through the Encore Series schedule to bring you some gay-interest highlights.—Juan Pawiroredjo
 

Bunked!
Written by Alaina Kunin and Bradford Proctor, this new musical follows five camp counselors near the end of summer, when passion, jealously, dangerous secrets and love triangles emerge. "It's special because it is post-gay—these are teenagers unconsumed with sexuality and labels. For them, sexuality is not an issue," says Kunin.  "Also there's very catchy music!"
9/19 at 5pm, 9/20 at 7pm, 9/23 at 7pm, 9/25 at 4pm. Lucille Lortel Theatre. 121 Christopher St; bunkedthemusical.com
 

Just In Time: The Judy Holliday Story
Holliday, born Judith Tuvim in Queens in 1921, was the original dumb blond, a brilliant comedian who hid a wealth of emotion and intelligence behind a ditzy, campy facade. Writer-director Bob Sloan takes the audience on a fast-paced romp through her professional and personal life, with multitalented Marina Squerciati in the lead and co-stars playing Orson Welles, Katherine Hepburn and Sunset Boulevard's Gloria Swanson, who lost the Oscar to Hollliday in 1950.
9/10 at 9:30pm, 9/13 at 7pm,  9/14 at 7pm, 9/15 at 3pm; $18. Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher St; thejudyhollidaystory.com  

Over and Over
When we heard that Were the World Mine star Tanner Cohen was playing one of the leads in this complicated relationship drama, we were intrigued. After writer/director Tim Aumiller explains that the play is “about longing, hunger, forgiveness and denial,” between two old college friends who have a sexually-charged reunion, we were sold. “It’s also about love—the presence or absence of, and desire for it,” Aumiller continues. “There is a sense of heightened voyeurism that I think is slightly different than what normal theatre invites us to watch,” he says. The honesty and rough edges of Aumillers work is worth experiencing.
9/18 at 8pm, 9/22 at 9:30pm, 9/24 at 7pm, 9/25 at 5pm; $18. Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal St; nohopeproductions.com

South Pathetic
Jim David is one of rare gay comedians who's made it big in the mainstream stand-up scene. In this one-man show, a treasure trove for theater queens, he stars as an unemployed comedian directing a community-theater production of A Streetcar Named Desire—as well as the actor playing Stanley (a former porn star), the actress playing Blanche (a Christian crusader), and eight other roles. Somewhere Tennessee Williams is rolling in his grave.
9/15 at 8pm, 9/17 at 9:30pm, 9/18 at 10pm, 9/19 at 3pm; $18. Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal St; jimdavid.com.

The Twentieth-Century Way
In 1914 Long Beach, two "straight" unemployed actors prepare for roles as gay men trolling bathrooms in hopes of getting hired by area police to help crack down on public sex.  Based on a real-life incident, palywright Tom Jacobson's drama explores the nature of sexuality in a historical context: were these men really homosexuals or just looking for work? "This is the first instance of entrapment that I had ever read about, and it was two actors that were doing it," said Jacobson. "It seemed ripe with metaphor.” Fun fact: The play's title stems from a colloquial term for oral sex at the time.
9/16 at 9:30pm, 9/17 ay 7pm, 9/18at 5pm, 9/19 at 8pm; $18. Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal St; bostoncourt.com

when last we flew
Paul (Jon-Michael Reese), a black gay teen in a banal corner of Kansas, has made a rare connection with Tony Kushner's Angels in America, which he "liberated" from his school library.  When not locked in the bathroom reading passages from the seminal play, he grapples with his mother, his best friend (and secret admirer) Ian and their classmate Natalie, a private-school reject enjoying her first taste of anti-authoritism. With a remounting of Angels coming to Signature this season, Harrison David Rivers's auspicious drama couldn't be better-timed.
9/9 at 9:30pm,  9/11 at 5pm, 9/12 at 8pm, 9/16 at 7pm, $18. Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher St; whenlastweflew.com