By: Darryl Reilly
“TOSOS is the oldest LGBTQ+ theater company in New York City; as the oldest drag queen in New York City, I feel tired…My eyes are turning red from just looking at you…I may seem disoriented tonight, it’s the meth…” Those were among the many potent quips tossed off by night club fixture extraordinaire Pissy Myles during her mirthful hosting of the The Other Side of Silence’s 50th anniversary gala; it was held on September 30, 2024, at the Manhattan Hell’s Kitchen gay bar Red Eye. The 75-minute festive ceremony included municipal tributes, a theatrical performance and a vivid documentary video.
“I wasn’t able to bring a proclamation, because I am the proclamation!” So, hilariously thundered trans woman Chanel Lopez, who is New York State Governor Kathy Hochul’s Deputy Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs, during her laudatory remarks. Ms. Lopez also serenely referenced that this venue was once Sally’s Hideaway, which was a haven for trans performers. Previously, two official eloquent proclamations from New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and New York State Assembly member Tony Simone (who drolly appeared in person) were displayed and read onstage.
If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heartbeat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.
2007 New York Independent Theater Award.
This quote from George Elliot’s novel Middlemarch, inspired firebrand gay playwright Doric Wilson (1939-2011), cabaret performer Billy Blackwell, theater director Peter dell Valle and John McSpadden, to name their 1974-created gay-centric theater company, TOSOS (The Other Side of Silence). The troupe presented a variety of alternative Off-Off-Broadway works before ceasing in 1977. In 2002, Mr. Wilson, artistic director Mark Finley and producing director Barry Childs, restarted the company. Now in residence at The Flea Theater, it presents two major productions a year, while offering staged readings of new plays by emerging authors. That aspirational institution’s renaming was announced as The Doric Wilson Program. Mr. Finley and Mr. Childs were given honorary awards in recognition of their prodigious tenure. Near the end of this celebration it was declared that over $3000 in donations had been raised from in-person attendees.
Street Theater is Doric Wilson’s 1982 landmark panoramic theatrical take on the 1969 Stonewall gay rights riot; a scene was performed during the event. TOSOS has revived it several times since 2002. This signature production is now being given a fresh take with a new cast; it opens October 3, 2024, at New York City’s The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, and will be performed at several Lower Manhattan venues throughout the month.
For more information about TOSOS and to purchase tickets to Street Theater, visit www.tososnyc.squarespace.com