ABSTRACT
In 1995 an opera titled Harvey Milk was performed by the Houston, New York City, and San Francisco Operas. The Harvey Milk Show will be remounted in a larger, more elaborate production for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, an irony and a bit of a victory after the official gay-bashing in neighbouring Cobb County. The story of Actor's Express and The Harvey Milk Show demonstrates how hungry gay audiences are for work about them and how a theatre can flourish by being adventurous enough to offer new, gay work. The Harvey Milk Show demonstrates another important aspect of contemporary American theatre, straight or gay: There is no longer a New York-based American theatre. The repertoire of Actor's Express ranges from the Greeks to the present. It is not a gay theatre, but it now has a devoted gay audience. The Harvey Milk Show is, as writer Dan Pruitt puts it, "a southern boy's version of the story.".
