Queer actress headlines ‘Les Misérables,’ Atlanta Fringe festival showcases LGBTQ work – Georgia Voice – Gay & LGBT Atlanta News

For our performer Haley Dortch, being part of the cast of the musical “Les Miserables” is a career highlight. The actress plays Fantine in the ever-popular production coming to the Fox Theater courtesy of Broadway in Atlanta on June 4.

While in college, she was looking for a summer job and saw an open call for the show. She didn’t have an agent and wasn’t a union actress, so the odds didn’t seem to be in her favor. Still, Dortch’s philosophy was that the worst producers could say was no, so she recorded an audition and sent it in. It worked.

For Dortch, “Les Misérables” seems timeless and universal.

“So many scenes feel very relevant to what’s happening today, about what you believe in and what you want to stand for,” she said. “That’s our entire epilogue – will you join our crusade?” Will you be strong and stand up for what you believe in? I think there are so many messages about persistence and survival of the human spirit that still speak to so many people today.

No one in “Les Misérables” persists like Fantine.

“She will do anything for Cosette and her story is so beautiful,” Dortch said. “It’s like watching a flame go out: you try to keep it burning for as long as possible. I think (the character) is really a fighter.

Dortch vaguely remembers watching the movie version of “Les Miserables” when it came out, but that was when she was in high school and she didn’t understand everything that was going on. The first time she saw a professional production on stage was during the Dallas tour. Now she’s part of that tour – years later – and has committed to the show until the end of September. This is her first time performing in Atlanta.

“Les Misérables” has been around for 40 years, and Dortch understands its legacy, especially among queer audiences.

“It’s so epic and has beautiful music,” she said. “People are still blown away by the production values ​​of the show.”

She’s particularly excited about the fact that producers are constantly bringing in new and young actors, which is exciting for those “who’ve seen it about 26 times.”

The annual Atlanta Fringe festival always offers a series of eclectic and queer shows, but this year the offering includes 28 performing groups from seven different states and Thailand.

One of the queer artists is Lily Kerrigan, who headlines “The Lily Show.” In it, the performer says she talks about “queer identity, professional cuddling, and the time I dislocated my jaw giving blowjob.” It’s for the whole family, she jokes.

Kerrigan, who moved to Atlanta in 2018, is an actor, writer and comedian who has been in the industry for 10 years. Kerrigan will perform “The Lily Show” four times during the festival, every weekend. She’s been working on this show for four years, starting after the 2020 election, and calls it part narrative and part stand-up comedy.

This is personal work for Kerrigan and it’s important to her that the audience leaves feeling like they’ve made a friend. She talks about monogamy, kink and bisexuality. Since these are unusual topics, she wants people to have the chance to become familiar with her. As such, it includes a question-and-answer session with each performance. One day during a question-and-answer session, a woman in her 60s asked Kerrigan if she would take her and her friends to the sex dungeon she talked about on her show.

Although Kerrigan has performed there before, this is her first time performing at the Atlanta Fringe Festival. She believes that each marginal event takes on the personality of the city in which it takes place.

“In Washington you have a lot of Shakespeare and in Prague you have a lot of weird experimental stuff,” she said. “Atlanta is a lot of sincere productions that are unique to each artist. Last year I saw a one-man clown show with a Bible theme. It’s also really cool, quirky, fun and down-to-earth.

Almost all fringe festivals also have queer elements.

“Fringe is a lot of small businesses and DIYers and people who decided to pick up a pen and pencil because they didn’t feel represented in the huge theaters,” she said. “You get a lot of diverse perspectives.”

Other queer-themed shows featured at this year’s event are “Officer Scott” and “Aqua Loves a Monster.”