HELP!!! re: Theatre Piece

[Guest HOPPY]

Can anyone help me. I'm in NYC working on a Serious musical theatre piece about a gay burlesque house similar to the Gaiety. Does anyone have connections with any of the dancers who would be willing to talk with me for research. I want to hear their side, their stories, their feelings, etc. There's no money at this point, so they would have to be willing to donate about 30 minutes "in the name of Art!" (STOP LAUGHING!) I'm being consulted on the project by a HUGE name in the business, who won't let me use his name, and we are supposed to have it in a first reading workshop by the end of the summer. ALSO, in addition to the dancers, I need to interview some of their "clients" for the stories, emotions, etc. Anonymity will be totally respected and I will sign a confidentallity agreement. ONE MORE THING. Does anyone know if any of the dancers have any serious theatre training and are possibly interest in performing in the show. PLEASE HELP!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!

[Guest HOPPY]

Dear HooBoy:

 

I never posted on this board before and I posted in The Lounge and The Deli because I wanted to "cover all bases". I got 2 responses in the deli and only your response in the lounge, which just goes to show that not everybody visits both areas. I hope you are kidding about me being a cop. I can't even begin to figure out how a cop could "lure" anyone into any kind of "web" by getting people to talk about their feelings and experiences. To the best of my knowledge "freedom of speech" is our constitutional right. I would love to hear your paranoid fantasy of how I, as your mythological cop, could possibly "lure" anyone into any sort of "web".

 

As a gay man, I innocently and naively posted on the boards, hoping that other gay men might appreciate and respect my efforts. I want to question your mean-spirited response. I seriously doubt if anyone is going to offer any assistance or suggestions after they read it.

 

If anyone wants to check me out, all it takes is an email and I will respond with my phone number and whatever information they might want.

 

Thank you for the reality check about homophobia.

 

HOPPY

[Justice]

>If anyone wants to check me

>out, all it takes is

>an email and I will

>respond with my phone number

>and whatever information they might

>want.

 

You should have made that clear in your original post.

 

>Thank you for the reality check

>about homophobia.

 

 

HooBoy's response has NOTHING to do with homophobia and EVERYTHING to do with fact that people can and do get arrested for some of the activities that are described on this Board. The police conduct sting operations all of the time. At least one escort on this Board has been arrested as a result of such a sting. You were able to find this Board. What makes you think that law enforcement types haven't found it too? HooBoy's response reflects the fact that everyone who is involved with escorting -- either as an escort or as a client -- has to be on their guard. One never knows who's out there. If you had provided a few more details, you wouldn't have gotten the same response.

[Guest HOPPY]

What is this:

 

The "Try to make HOPPY fee like a jerk Club"?

 

All I'm looking for is some assistance with some research. I am sorry if I have ruffled anyone's feathers, however, it appears that the people on this board are NOT fools, and are extremely sophisticated and savvy. I believed that anyone wanting to help me would email me and request a phone number and some way to check me out. I assumed that it was not necessary to explain that in the post. Now don't give me the lecture about "assuming". I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Now can't we just start all over again. Let's just be pals and move forward. I need some HELP with this fucking project.

[HooBoy]

I apologize for offending you.

 

HooBoy

Email: HooBoy@male4malescorts.com

[Will]

Dear Hoppy, I haven't posted on this board for some time because there hasn't been a thread to which I thought I could contribute anything. But in this case, perhaps I might help. Like you, I have a professional, legitimate, "non-personal" interest in some of the aspects of human behavior and attitude that eventuate in boards like this one. In my case, it has to do with perceptions of male sexual attraction -- both stimulating those perceptions and experiencing them -- and from time to time it has crossed my mind to post a statement to that effect and to ask for responses from the frequenters of this site. Therefore, I share your hunch that this would be a good place to ask for the help you seek.

 

On the other hand, and precisely because I am a well-known and well-established professional man whose anonymity on this board preserves both his private and his public lives, I also share the kinds of misgivings that HooBoy voiced. This is his site; he does not charge us for using it; he makes the rules; and -- most important -- he patrols the board for crazies, con artists, and cops. Surely, you can understand that a guard dog's job is to growl before he bites.

 

Therefore, it occurs to me that you might receive a lot of friendly and helpful pointers from those of us who check in here regularly if you were to tell us a little more about this project; if you were to outline what you have in mind; and if you were to make it clear just how helping your project would accomplish a little more good in the world than some gay men helping another gay man. After all, none of us is entitled to receive help just because we're gay. But I hope you'll find out, as I have, that this is a very, very friendly place.

 

Put your nose back on your face, get down off your high horse, and join us. The responses so far have not been about you; they are practical measures to ensure safety, yours as well as ours. By the way, why do you spell "theater" as "theatre"? Are you British? Or perhaps just another theatrical rebel?

 

Cheers,

Will

[Guest HOPPY]

and I appologize for being defensive and a little bit stupid.

 

Thanks, HooBoy, for guiding this rookie through the formalities of the Boards.

[Guest HOPPY]

Hi Will!

 

You are absolutely right! I am new to these Boards and a bit ignorant of problems that may have arisen in the past regarding cops, con artists, and crazies. I have apologized to HooBoy and I apologize to everyone else for my ignorance.

 

Regarding the project, I didn't give a lot of details for a few reasons:

 

1) I honestly felt a little foolish and tentative posting here, fearing that people might laugh at me. Let's face it, everybody and his great aunt is writing a "serious musical". I figured if I touched anyone's interest, he would simply email me. Then I could respond with specifics.

2) Standard artistic paranoia that someone will steal the idea. I know it's self-centered and naive, but it's still there.

3) I really didn't want to waste a lot of board space with a long-winded explanation of the project.

 

I'll get a little defensive and say that I never expected help because I am gay. I had something going on in my head about "gay community" and helping each other which on some convoluted level ends up a form of stereotyping for which I also apologize.

 

Regarding the content of the show, I want to explore themes of growing old, the quest for youth and beauty, narcissism, self-destruction, redemption, and the different ways human beings ultimately help each other. As you can see these are universal themes which will be played out in a very "edgy" (spelling?) arena: A gay burlesque house. Although all the characters are gay, hopefully I will also be able to touch a limited heterosexual audience. Will this accomplish a little more good in the world? I honestly don't know, but I hope so. That's why I'm doing it.

 

Now...about my spelling of "theatre" vs. "theater". No, I am not British, I'm from Memphis. I graduated in 1967 from the theatre department of Carnegie Tech (Carnegie Institute of Technology which became Carnegie Mellon University). I think "theatre" is a throwback to drama school. I actually don't ever remember using "er". I would think it's more of an "old-fashioned" thing than being on a high horse or having my nose off my face. I'm definitely not a theatre rebel. I'm sorry if I sounded "upity" in my posts. You can blame it on my writing style, or lack thereof.

 

I hope I've shed a little light on who I am and what this is all about.

 

Thanks again for your response.

 

HOPPY

[Bilbo]

Out here in Texas, we use both spellings rather interchangeably. I always personally use er since I find re a bit snobbish. Also, here on the frontier, an apartment house named Elangante always isn't. I don't notice how our Equity houses spell themselves, but so many of the community theaters use re. ;-) (Just couldn't help myself.) (And here's to many new threads that can use Will's help. I always love his writing.)

[Guest HOPPY]

BILBO!!!

 

Laughing out loud!!! Because of your post, I now remember where my theat"re" comes from. I started working at a regional theatre in Memphis when I was 12 and worked there in the summers until I graduated from college. It was called Front Street Theat"re". Hardly was I snobbish - just a little red-neck showbiz queen who didn't know any better. Thanks for the memory shake-up.

[Guest Robbo]

Hoppy:

 

Why don't you give your e-mail address if you want direct response/info?

[Guest Tall Texn]

Well...way out in West Texas...I'm sure the echoes of "goin to the The-ATE-er" is still ringing... LOLOL!!!!

[Guest HOPPY]

LOLOL - that's the way I pronounce it but I spell it the-ATE-"re"