And then comes "Tru"
Staff Report
To celebrate Wichita’s Gay Pride Week, Writer/Director/Actor Tom Frye invites you to celebrate with Truman Capote, who in his own words said, "I've never had any trouble with being a homosexual, I've always been right out there."
According to Frye, this is a “brilliant script about one of America's great writers,” Truman Capote. The play chronicles two days before Christmas 1975 when Capote has been ignored by many friends because of an article he wrote in Esquire.
“This hilarious and poignant play reveals the many facets of this complicated author,” adds Frye. “His works include In Cold Blood, Breakfast at Tiffany's and many short stories.”
To date, Frye has directed more than 150 productions. He is currently serving as playwright/director/actor at Mosley Street Melodrama, where he is using his experience working on more than 85 melodramas.
Frye earned his B.A. in Theatre from Wichita State University and his M.A. in Acting/Directing from Wichita State and the University of Kansas. His theatrical career has included over 350 productions as actor, director, playwright, choreographer and producer. He resides in his hometown, Wichita, KS.
And then comes Tru, a play based upon the life of the eccentric Truman Capote. As a “one-man” show, this “compelling, poignant drama is indeed a penultimate role for any actor.” Robert Morse was the first to create this role on Broadway. “To be on-stage for nearly two hours, to exhibit an extraordinary gamut of emotions, to recreate a complicated yet brilliant man whose brilliant words and odd personality have created an American anomaly and a daunting test for any actor.’
This gauntlet challenged Tom to possibly his greatest role to date. The result? “Magnificent.”
Frye said while he was performing the one-man show Tru at the Wichita Center for the Arts, the play's author Jay Presson Allen and her Broadway producer husband Lewis Allen saw a video tape of the production. Based on the performance, Jay Presson Allen (screenwriter for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Cabaret, Marnie and Forty Carats) and Lewis Allen (producer of Annie, A Few Good Men and Master Class) selected Frye to recreate the role in the upcoming Off Broadway Production and national tour of Tru. Most recently, Tom's production received rave reviews for a pre-Off Broadway run of Tru in St. Petersburg, Florida
Frye currently has three volumes of melodrama scripts published with Samuel French, Inc. and is currently performing as Matt Drayton in The Forum Theatre's Midwest premier production of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?
The show is Sept 18-20, 2015 at 7:30pm on Fri/Sat and 2pm on Sunday. Tickets are $25.
Reservations at Roxy's can be made by calling (316) 265-2558. www.roxysdowntown.com.
The Gayly – September 10, 2015 @ 5pm.