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John Stillwaggon & Carolyn Dellinger celebrate the works of BERNARD J. TAYLOR with a special private showing of TENNESSEE WILLIAMS: PORTRAIT OF A GAY ICON
John Stillwaggon & Carolyn Dellinger celebrate the works of BERNARD J. TAYLOR with a special private showing of TENNESSEE WILLIAMS: PORTRAIT OF A GAY ICON plus other presentations. This event is dedicated to the EMERGENCY FUND OF SAVE THE CHILDREN (All donations go to Save the Children) and the 50th anniversary of the AMERICAN THEATRE OF ACTORS, the host venue of the original New York production. Doors open at Noon; Program begins at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, November 3, 2025 at the Jerry Orbach Theatre, 210 West 50th Street on Broadway, New York City.

This event is produced by JAY MICHAELS GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS, LLC (Contact Jay Michaels at info@jaymichaelsarts.com for further info or to RSVP)
Tennessee Williams: Portrait of a Gay Icon an exploration of playwright Tennessee Williams’ “private” life.
After acclaimed national performances, Bernard J. Taylor’s play made its NYC debut to sold-out showings at the historic American Theatre of Actors before garnering the same kudos in the United Kingdom.
Join us for one last showing tributing playwright Taylor and raising funds for the Emergency Fund of the
Save the Children Foundation.
PLOT: Williams is chatting with “old friends” in his home and becomes increasingly inebriated during the course of the visit. The author launches into myriad diatribes about life, love — or the lack and abuse of it, his viciously cruel father, his sister — who received the brunt of that cruelty, and his work in the theatre — or more likely — his work with actors.
Mr. Stillwaggon and Ms. Delinger appear courtesy of The Theatre Authority

Playwright Bernard J. Taylor had more than 100 worldwide productions of his plays and musicals in more than a dozen countries. His early works were chronicled in the Encyclopedia of Film and Stage Music. In 2013, he was made an Honorary Fellow by the Victoria College of Music and Drama for “services to music and the performing arts.” Recent years have been the most prolific. Six productions of his stage works in San Antonio won eleven awards at the 2015, 2016 and 2017 ATAC awards (San Antonio’s version of New York’s Tony Awards).
Playwright J. Bernard Taylor & Jay Michaels take JOHN STILLWAGGON as TENNESSEE WILLIAMS to LONDON
Wednesday, August 20 @ 7:00 pm at Old Diorama Arts Centre, Regents Place 201 Drummond Street, London NW1 3FE UK
Saturday, August 23 @ 7:00 pm at The Audition House, 129A Whitfield Street, London W1T 5EQ UK
TENNESSEE WILLIAMS: Portrait of a Gay Icon
Tennessee Williams: Portrait of a Gay Icon is a one man play about the playwright Tennessee Williams.
After a sold-out run at the historic American Theatre of Actors in New York, this one-man exploration of the private life of one of the 20th century’s greatest authors travels to London for a limited run.
The play will be part of the Camden Fringe

PLOT: Williams is chatting with “old friends” in his home and becomes increasingly inebriated during the course of the visit. The author launches into myriad diatribes about life, love — or the lack and abuse of it, his viciously cruel father, his sister — who received the brunt of that cruelty, and his work in the theatre — or more likely — his work with actors. The play had a wildly successful try-out in San Antonio, TX; a sold-out run Off-Broadway (NYC) and now, arrives here in London with John Stillwaggon returning to the role of Tennessee Williams.

John Stillwaggon has been a member of the professional theatrical community for more than a dozen years. His credits include Off & Off-Off-Broadway theater as well as national tours with the Magik Theater. In 2011, ReviewFix named him “one of the top 10 off-off B’way professionals in New York City.” Stillwaggon’s acumen runs the gamut from classical (the titular role in Shakepspare’s Hamlet and Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet) to new works like Christina Hemphill’s A Symphony for Portland (off-B’way premiere).

Playwright Bernard J. Taylor has had more than 100 worldwide productions of his shows – musicals and non-musical plays – in more than a dozen countries. His early works were chronicled in the Encyclopedia of Film and Stage Music. In 2013, he was made an Honorary Fellow by the Victoria College of Music and Drama for “services to music and the performing arts.” Recent years have been the most prolific creative period he has known. Six productions of his stage works in San Antonio won eleven awards at the 2015, 2016 and 2017 ATAC awards (San Antonio’s version of New York’s Tony Awards).

Award-winning director, Angie Kristic, founder and Artistic Director of The KBO Theatre Company has been invited back to The Camden Fringe Festival in London, England to present three new plays, “Tennessee Williams: Portrait of A Gay Icon”, “Music Between Us” and “The Dealers ” (playwright). She serves as co-producer of Tennessee Williams and producer of the latter two under her theatre company, directing as well, featuring John Stillwaggon in all three and Will Barton (West End’s “The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson). All will be presented inNYC prior to the London run as staged readings on Aug 24th at the new theatre, Arches Lane, in Battersea.

Jay Michaels is a prominent figure in the theater as a producer and promotional executive, known for his extensive work with independent artists and productions. Jay Michaels Global Communications (JMGC), is a boutique firm dedicated to creating visibility for independent theater, film, music, and literature. JMGC — through a diverse internal multi-media platform, can supply coverage to artists and their productions while growing its external network of promotional sites and groups. JMGC has clients on and off-Broadway, in film and television, across the country and around the world. Jay Michaels worked on the production teams for Broadway shows; served as a national tour manager for major productions such as Cats and Les Misérables; and as associate producer and on-air commentator for stage and screen on Spectrum Cable’s “Hi Drama” and ACW-TV’s “JayWatch.”
ALL-OUT ARTS honors NYC Councilman Erik Bottcher and Communications Professor Jay Michaels
Now in its 23rd year of presentation, All Out Arts is proud to announce the 2024 Fresh Fruit Festival Award WINNERS for Outstanding Productions in Playwrighting, Directing, Performances, and Technical Achievement.
Monday, December 2: Reception: 6:15 p.m. and Event: 7:00 p.m. at The Wild Project – 195 East 3rd St [btwn Ave. A and B]. The full list of winners can be found HERE and Tickets can be secured HERE. Seating is limited so you must reserve/purchase your seats in advance.
Edge Media called us “the most inclusive expression of LGBT arts ever held in the City of New York.” We present work that is fresh, exciting and insightful. Performers of all racial, religious, and ethnic backgrounds, sexuality, and gender orientations fill our stages. African-, Caribbean-, Chinese-, East Indian-,Filipino-, Hispanic-, Japanese-, Korean-, Native-, and even un-hyphenated Americans are among groups represented in our 20+ years of festivals.
HARRY WIEDER AWARD FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE
An individual or group that has worked extensively for Arts and LGBTQ Community. It is named in honor of Harry Wieder, a founding Fresh Fruit Board member and advocate for LGBTQ and disabled New Yorkers.

Erik Bottcher is a dedicated public servant and activist who has devoted his life to progressive causes and to the betterment of the community the loves.
In 2021, he was elected to represent New York City Council District 3, which includes the neighborhoods of the West Village, Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Times Square, Hudson Square, Flatiron, and the Garment District. He sees his mission as simple yet vital: making New York City a better place to live.
Growing up in a small town in the Adirondack Mountains as the only gay person he knew, Erik’s personal struggles with depression sparked in him a lifelong dedication to helping the most marginalized members of our society. His career in public service began in 2009 as the LGBTQ & HIV/AIDS Community Liaison in the City Council’s community outreach unit, where he organized grassroots campaigns on issues including hate crimes, transgender rights, housing for people with HIV/AIDS, and marriage equality.
Erik then served as the statewide LGBTQ Community Liaison in the governor’s office, where he helped organize the fight for marriage equality in New York State, working with activists from Buffalo to Montauk in an unprecedented grassroots campaign to garner support for the Marriage Equality Act. New York State made history as the largest state to legalize same sex marriage.
From 2015 to 2021, Erik served as Chief of Staff to his predecessor, Council Member Corey Johnson. In this role he gained an encyclopedic knowledge of every block of Council District 3 while providing constituent services to tens of thousands of residents and working alongside tenant associations, block associations, community boards, PTAs, parks groups and others to make our community a better place to live.
Erik has established a citywide reputation as one of the most active and effective members of the New York City Council, leading on critical issues such as the crises of mental health, housing, sanitation, sustainability, and more. He is working to reverse decades of failed policies and disinvestment in mental healthcare, authoring and passing landmark legislation that requires family homeless shelters to provide on-site mental health services, requiring the Department of Education to provide suicide prevention resources to students, fighting for adequate inpatient psychiatric treatment capacity, and more.
Recognizing the importance of clean and healthy neighborhoods, Erik has been at the forefront of sanitation improvement efforts in the city, leading the way on reforms such as the containerization of garbage, reduced usage of single-use plastics, increased corner basket service, and other initiatives to enhance the city’s cleanliness.
Few elected officials have been more vocal than Erik about the affordable housing crisis that poses an existential threat to New York City. With the lowest rental apartment vacancy rate since 1968 and the highest levels of homelessness since the Great Depression, Erik believes that an abundance of housing is needed to bring down housing costs. He has worked with his local community boards to create a pipeline of thousands of affordable housing units in Council District 3.
Environmental sustainability is also a key priority for Erik. He has funded the planting of hundreds of new street trees in Council District 3. His legislation creating the Urban Forest Master Plan aims to increase the tree canopy coverage to 30% by 2030. He has championed universal curbside composting, reduced renovated parks and playgrounds, [remove space here]waged war against single-use plastics, and promoted cycling as a form of transportation by creating new protected bike lanes on Tenth Avenue and Lower Sixth Avenue.
Erik is Co-Chair of the Council’s Manhattan Delegation and the LGBTQIA+ Caucus. He serves on the following City Council committees: Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addition; Public Housing; Small Business; Technology; Economic Development; Civil Service and Labor; Contracts; Higher Education; and Immigration.
PASSION FRUIT AWARD
To a person or organization in the arts “whose passion has led them to a life’s work that serves our community and enlarges our world.” Award Reads: “Serving the Community & Enlarging Our World.”

Jay Michaels began his career during the original off-off Broadway and underground movements in New York City and has become one of indie theatre and films’ most visible personalities.
Beginning as a special events assistant at the New York Daily News and PBS, he moved on to positions including promotional staff for The Joyce Theater’s Drama Desk Award-winning American Theater series; national tour manager for Cats, Edwin Drood, and Les Miserables; a television media buying associate; senior event marketing executive for international galas and fundraisers including speechwriting for the Weissler, Nederlander and Shubert organizations, James Earl Jones, Jon Stewart, Vera Wang, Mayors Lindsay and Dinkins; and Hillary Clinton to name a few. Michaels also managed promotional events for Broadway shows, Guys & Dolls (1992) Damn Yankees (1994), Vagina Monologues (2005) and Beginnings (2018) as well as Audra McDonald at Broadway’s Town Hall (2019). As a general manager, Michaels ran the events for Genesis Repertory Ensemble, Inc., The Jan Hus Playhouse, The Chelsea Opera Theater, The Mazer Theater in the Lower East Side, Queens’ Greek Cultural Center, and Brooklyn’s Block Arts Center. Michaels is a recipient of the Jean Dalrymple Award; the Robin H. Miller Award; the Federation’s Marketing STAR Award; the Performing Arts Society Award; an honorary board member of Pace University; a Directing Fellow with former Pearl Theater Company; and Fearcon‘s Film Festival‘s HOST Award two years in a row.
As a stage and film producer, Michaels has helmed productions as some of New York most respected theatres and worked with Daryl Roth, Jim Kierstead, Ken Davenport, Bill Oberst, Jr., David Canary, and Tovah Feldshuh. Michaels served as on-air film and classic TV commentator for Sun Television Studios; Octane Media; and currently, star of ACW-TV’s Jay Watch. He is also host of Under the Influence and In the PassionPit podcasts and the Classic Cinema Challenge. And also host of on-air events for the Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival’s channel.
Michaels serves as a professor of communications for over 20 years at several universities including Fordham, Kingsborough, Yeshiva, Staten Island, Berkley, and DeVry. He has a Masters in Communications and Public Relations and Certification from The Hollywood Film Institute.
His boutique PR firm, Jay Michaels Global Communications, services a vast array of independent international talent and their projects including some of New York’s most prominent indie stage companies and all of the NYC theatre festivals: the Midtown International, the Fringe, Planet Connections, the Downtown Urban Arts, NYTheatreFest, and his favorites: Spotlight-On and — of course — the Fresh Fruit Festival.
The Fresh Fruit SPIRIT Award will also be featured at the event and awarded to
When a Faggot Finds a Flower – A fable about a boy who’s sick of his bent wrist, and what he stands to lose by straightening it out. -by Jude Cramer, directed by Lucy Harrington
“The spirit of pride and survival, of history and progress, of a freedom and creativity that allows for respect and equality for all people.” Everything and anything in the arts that gets us closer to that world is: the Fresh Fruit Spirit“