Known for being the birthplace to countless performers, Asbury Park NJ is also the birthplace of one of the one of the newest theater festivals directly from the LGBTQ community; ACT OUT, DIVA New Play Festival. Directly from the whip smart and endlessly creative minds of Matt Yee & Bailey Dumalo, the festival kicks off this week at Paradise in Asbury Park, who will showcase the original production Sensation. I caught up with Matt Yee to talk about what made them want to bring this production to Asbury Park, their own passion for the stage & what it’s like bringing brand-new theater productions to this storied LGBTQ community.
Michael Cook: You are a co-founder of ACT OUT DIVA! What is the origin story behind this idea coming to fruition?
Matt Yee: Bailey Dumlao and I started talking about the idea of ACT OUT, DIVA! last year after we workshopped my play, Sensation – me, the playwright and him, the director. We began discussing how we might develop my play further which led to discussions about a lack of theater in Asbury Park – a historically artistic city – and how we might uplift LGBTQIA+ people in this current political climate. Over the following months, we talked about plays and what it would look like to produce a new play theater festival in Asbury before finally hitting the “go” button back in May. Suddenly the ACT OUT, DIVA! New Play Festival was born.
MC: Tell me about some of your own history of playwriting? What truly is your favorite part of the process?
MY: I have always been a proud theater kid who has also enjoyed creative writing. It amazed me at how just some black and white letters on a page could create such vibrant, vivid, and colorful worlds to escape into. When I was in college, I tried my hand at playwriting. I wrote a piece called Don’t Let Me Go – which was lucky enough to have two (2) full production iterations at Project REAL. I then wrote another piece called Proverbs 11:29 which was featured as part of the New York Theater Festival’s Summerfest in 2018.
Theater is such a collaborative art form and it’s that collaboration that I look forward to the most. Being able to spend time on a zoom or around a table and have actors reading my script aloud is so exciting. It’s my favorite part – getting to ask questions, flesh out the story, and hear the words aloud. The piece comes alive and it helps inform me where to make edits, cuts, and rewrites.
MC: Which brings us to Sensation, your newest play. Tell me about how that one has come to fruition and a bit of the story behind it?
MY: I was working at the now closed Headroom in Jersey City and thought it was a terrific space to present theater in so I got to writing. I wanted to write a play that felt authentic to the drag experience. Most drag theater often doesn’t center drag or makes drag to be high-camp comedies and parodies or like a RuPaul’s Drag Race acting challenge. All those pieces are valid and valuable as representations, but I sought out to offer a reflection of drag now, with drag queens who are like any drag artist in your local scene.
MC: What is it like having a partner like Paradise, who already works to closely with the community for decades?
MY: Incredible. Paradise has always been a home for me for years and for all the wacky and fun productions I want to put on, from The Nightmare Before Drag-mas to the annual Fresh Face of Drag pageant. Jojo, Ryan, and the entire staff at Paradise are nothing, but supportive and encouraging. I owe them a lot for helping shape Lady Celestina into who she is today.
MC: Your partner in Act Out Diva! is Bailey Dumalo. Tell me about how that partnership levels up the productions of ACT OUT DIVA!
BD: When we began discussions, we talked a lot about what our networks and experience looked like. Mine was in theatrical marketing and fundraising as well as having a knowledge on Asbury Park and what it’s like to self-produce in this area. Bailey is almost the complete opposite. He is a fantastic artistic leader who, not only, hand selected, but will be directing all five (5) plays that are being presented as part of our premiere. I do not know how he will do it. He has an incredible artistic eye for theater alongside his informative knowledge as a dramaturg. I am continuously impressed by Bailey. It’s been so easy to work together and, I think, fulfilling for both of us. We were friends before and this has only made us closer.
MC: Both yourself and your alter ego Lady Celestina are Broadway babies through and through; what are some of your absolute on or off-favorite Broadway productions?
MY: This is a trap for a Theater Queen! Okay, I’m currently obsessed with Death Becomes Her, but I will always hold special places in my heart for Be More Chill, Kinky Boots, Once On This Island, and Pippin! I could go on…
MC: Why is it crucial to be showcasing and highlighting fantastic new playwrights right now?
Queer people all across the country are facing backlash for simply existing. Trans people are being murdered with little to no justice and pro-LGBTQIA+ legislations are being turned over at an alarming rate. These are all things Bailey and I feel deeply as queer people ourselves. We hope that audiences coming to ACT OUT, DIVA! will be seen and be reminded that queer people have always been here and always will be. We hope to remind audiences that activism and joy live hand in hand. There’s an incredible quote that I always remind myself of: “During the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, we buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night. The dance kept us in the fight because it was the dance we were fighting for. Keep fighting, keep dancing.” To be queer is an act of rebellion and to do theater is to reflect, comment, and give hope to the world we live in.
MC: Manifestation time; where would you love to see ACT OUT DIVA! go, say five years from now?
MY: It’s so funny you ask this because Bailey and I have already been talking about this! In five (5) years, we hope to fully produce one of the pieces featured in the Festival – fully staged, with set, costume, lights, etc. That would be really exciting for us! No clue what that play is yet. Every year will be a different crop of plays so who knows what’ll come down the pipeline.
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