Arts & Entertainment
Big dreams
Memoir tells of Pa. high school theater program that set the bar high
Book cover to ‘Drama High.’ (Image courtesy Riverhead Books)
‘Drama High: The Incredible True Story of a Brilliant Teacher, a Struggling Town, and the Magic of Theatre’
By Michael Sokolove
Riverhead Books
$27.95
352 pages
Sometimes, you just don’t feel like yourself.
Lately, for instance, you’ve been acting differently and people have noticed. You wear outfits you wouldn’t normally wear and you say the oddest things. It’s almost like you’re possessed by another person.
Such is the life of an actor in a play: to do it right, to convince an audience, you have to become someone you’re not. You know the pressure can be enormous, so read “Drama High” by Michael Sokolove, then imagine performing with New York theater executives in the audience.
Like most schools, Harry S. Truman High School in Levittown, Pa., had its budget slashed last year. Gone are extravagances, extracurriculars and extraneous activities. But teacher Lou Volpe’s theater classes survived the cuts, just like they had for some 40 years.
Volpe hadn’t intended on becoming Truman High’s drama teacher; in fact, before he was hired, he’d had zero experience with theater. But, as he did many other times (and like many other teachers), he threw himself into making Truman’s students into a first-class troupe.
Michael Sokolove, one of Volpe’s students back in the 1970s, remembered the way Volpe had of finding one special, latent talent that each of his students had and highlighting it. Volpe urged his students, stood up for them, supported them and expanded their horizons, making them want more from life. Sokolove remembered spaghetti suppers at Volpe’s house and never wanting to disappoint his teacher.
But he also remembered the town in which Truman High sat. Once a subdivision of the future, Levittown was the kind of place people moved away from and hard times only made it worse.
Still, Volpe and his drama students made their school proud through first-class, competition-winning, Broadway-quality plays — but not of the “Arsenic and Old Lace” ilk. No, Volpe liked to push his students to the edge of their comfort zones, asking them to sing and act in ways they didn’t think they could, making them become people they didn’t think they’d ever be, both personally and on stage.
And in doing so, Volpe changed their lives.
Like any good actor, “Drama High” plays several roles.
For adults, it’s definitely a book of nostalgia. Like many people, author Michael Sokolove moved away from Levittown and his trip back is filled with wistfulness and eagerness to see how time alters old memories.
For students — especially those struggling or who harbor a secret love of theater — and for their parents, Volpe’s story offers strength and an urge to commit to ones’ heart. His students spurned sports in favor of stage and in turn, he supported their dreams and nurtured their talents. Some of his former students, in fact, have become Emmy winners, entertainment executives and Broadway actors.
Despite that it occasionally shows a tone of despair, it’s hard not to cheer when you’ve got this story in your hands.
Theater
‘We Are Gathered’ a powerful contemplation of queer equality
Arena production dives fearlessly into many facets of same-sex connection
‘We Are Gathered’
Through June 15
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
$70-$110
Arenastage.org
Aptly billed as a queer love story, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s terrific new play “We Are Gathered” (now at Arena Stage) dives deeply and fearlessly into the many facets of a same-sex connection and all that goes with it.
McCraney’s tale of two gay men’s romance unfolds entertainingly over two acts. Wallace Tre (Kyle Beltran), a tense architect, and his younger partner Free (Nic Ashe), a campy and fun-loving musician with a deep sense of quiet and peace are contemplating marriage after five years together, but one of the two isn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of imminent matrimony.
At 14, Wallace Tre (nicknamed Dubs) first learned about gay cruising via renowned British playwright Caryl Churchill’s seminal work “Cloud Nine.” It was an intoxicating introduction that led Dubs to an exciting world of sex and risk.
Soon after, a nearby park became a thrilling constant in his life. It remains a source of excitement, fun, danger, and fulfillment. The local cruising zone is also a constant in McCraney’s play.
One memorable evening, Dubs experienced a special night in the woods, a shadowy hour filled with exhilaration and surprise. That’s when Dubs unpredictably learned something he’d never felt before. That night in the park, he met and fell madly in love with Free.
In addition to being a talented playwright, McCraney is the Academy Award-winning Black and queer screenwriter of “Moonlight,” the 2016 film. He’s happy to be a part of WorldPride 2025, and grateful to Arena for making space for his play on its stage. McCraney says he wrote “We Are Gathered” as a contemplation of queer marriage and the right for same-sex couples, like opposite-sex couples, to marry anywhere in the United States.
For Dubs, it’s important that Free speak openly about how they met in the park. He’d like Free to share the details of their coming together with his supportive grandparents, Pop Pop (Craig Wallace) and Mama Jae (out actor Jade Jones). As far as they know, their grandson met Dubs at a lovely gathering with a nice crowd assembled under a swanky canopy. When in truth it was a park busy with horny guys cruising beneath a canopy of leafy verdure.
Understandably, Free is more than a tad embarrassed to reveal that he enjoyed al fresco sex with Dubs prior to knowing his boyfriend’s name. Clearly, in retrospect, both feel that their initial meeting is a source of discomfort, tinged with awkwardness.
There is a lot more to “We Are Gathered” than cruising. Dubs and Free are ardently liked by friends and family. Both are attractive and smart. Yet, they’re different. Free is quite easy going while Dubs is, at times, pricklier.
While Free is part of a happy family, Dubs’s people aren’t entirely easy. He grew up with a strung-out mother and a cold father (Kevin Mambo). Yet, his sister Punkin (Nikolle Salter), an astronaut, is very caring and close to him. While she doesn’t necessarily like “the gay stuff,” she very much wants to live in a world where there’s room for her gay brother.
Adeptly directed by Kent Gash, the production is memorable, and it’s not his first collaboration with McCraney. Ten years ago, Gash, who’s Black and queer, staged McCraney’s “Choir Boys” at Studio Theatre, another well-written and finely staged work.
“We Are Gathered” is performed in the round in Arena’s cavernous Fichandler Stage. The space is both a forest and various rooms created by designer Jason Sherwood and lighting designer Adam Honoré. It’s a world created by elevating a circular platform surrounded by charming street lamps both hanging overhead and lining the perimeter.
Ultimately, what takes place in “We Are Gathered” is a party, and something even more; it’s a paean to marriage, and a call to a sacrament.
Out & About
Justice-centered theater production comes to D.C.
Mexican Cultural Institute to host ‘La Golondrina’
The Mexican Cultural Institute will host “La Golondrina” on Friday, June 6 at 7:30 p.m. at its location on 2829 16th St. NW.
“La Golondrina” is a theater production that aims to elevate the conversation around hate crimes and the urgent need for dialogue and healing. It is also a powerful and deeply moving story that brings to the stage the emotional legacy of the Pulse nightclub shooting. The play explores that tragedy through an intimate encounter between two characters, Amelia (Luz Nicolás) and Ramón (Victor), whose connection unveils grief, love, and the enduring shadow of homophobia.
Tickets for this event are available on the Cultural Institute’s website.
Out & About
Celebrate Pride with a thoughtful book club
Second edition of ‘Books and Wine’ held at Urban Grape DC
Meet the World Image Solutions will host the second edition of “Books and Wine” on Thursday, June 5 at 5:30 p.m. at Urban Grape DC, a Black- and woman-owned winery in Washington, D.C.
The featured authors are: Beautiful Lawson, Chanele Ramos, and Pamela Coleman. All will read from works that reflect love, resilience, and queer identity across genres. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Rehoboth Beach’s Clear Space Theatre summer 2025 season preview
Mayor Bowser hosts WorldPride welcome event after Shakira cancels
Rockville hosts 9th annual Pride event
LGBTQ people, allies targeted in Ghanaian cities
Has the LGBTQ rights movement embraced disabled queers?
Shakira cancels WorldPride concert
‘Pee-wee’ spills the tea in outstanding new documentary
Faith and interfaith-based events for WorldPride
Ride with Pride!
