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CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY
Written and performed by Steven Fales
Friday, January 20 at 8pm
The Vibe Room at The Complex at 8pm (doors open at 7pm)
536 West 100 South
Salt Lake City, Utah (near The Gateway with lots of parking)
Tickets $15 in advance ($20 at the door)
www.smithstix.com
21+ Only (fully stocked bar)
Confessions of a Mormon Boy returns to Salt Lake City on Friday, January 20th. From its sold-out world premiere in Salt Lake City, the play has gone on to critically acclaimed runs off Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse (directed by Tony Award Winner Jack Hofsiss, The Elephant Man), London’s West End at the Charing Cross Theatre, and in every major market in America and beyond, including the Edinburgh Festival and upcoming runs in Houston and Sao Paulo, Brazil (in Portuguese). It will be performed at the prestigious Phillips Academy Andover in February. The play is the subject of the upcoming documentary film Mormon Boy.
This 90-minute award-winning solo play recounts how Steven went from being the perfect Mormon boy in Utah to a high-priced call boy in New York City and how things got better once he found a middle ground. This provocative true story takes the audience from his Mormon mission to Portugal and temple marriage, through reparative therapy, excommunication, divorce, prostitution and crystal meth addiction as he struggles to reclaim his himself, his two children and his ‘Donny Osmond smile.’ Told with humor, song, and The Book of Mormon.
Says Fales, “This is my contribution to help end spiritual abuse and religious violence in our churches, mosques, and synagogues. It is also about how I first learned to stop being a victim, which transformed my life. It was originally written for my children.”
Steven Fales is the former son-in-law of celebrated Mormon poet Carol Lynn Pearson.
Steven Fales (playwright/performer) recently made his West End debut with Confessions of a Mormon Boy (Charing Cross Theatre) which he has performed at the Edinburgh Festival, off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse and Lincoln Center (Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance), International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival (Oscar Wilder Award Nomination for Outstanding New Writing for the Theatre), New York International Fringe Festival (Overall Excellence Award for Solo Show), and across the US in acclaimed, sell-out runs including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Miami and Salt Lake City (just to name a few). Other runs are currently being scheduled for Australia, South Africa, Canada, and Brazil (in Portuguese). The book of the play was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist. A memoir, documentary, and album titled “Mormon Boy” are currently in development.
Confessions of a Mormon Boy is Part One in The Mormon Boy Trilogy which also includes Missionary Position (New York International Fringe Festival) and Who’s Your Daddy? (United Solo Festival in New York City). Other solo work includes CULT!, a cabaret act Mormon American Princess (Joe’s Pub NY) and Songs of My People, a stand up show When All Else Fales, an historical solo play Joseph III, and a solo drag comedy Conversations with Heavenly Mother: An Uncommon Diva. Other plays include Cleft, Sacred Strain, and two musicals Saltair and Meet the Mormons. His adaptation of Everyman called Kate and Co. was commissioned by the Waterford School.
A national leader in solo performance, he is the founder of The Solo Performance Alliance and teaches his workshop Flying Solo: How to Create and Produce Your Own Solo Work (or Any Work) all over the country. He has coached solo performers all over the world from L.A. to Norway.
Before turning to writing and solo performance, Steven worked in regional theatres and Shakespeare festivals across America (including Pioneer Theatre and Utah Shakespeare Festival) and has played leading roles such as Edmund in King Lear, Ferdinand in The Tempest, Dr. Caius in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Buckingham in The Three Musketeers, Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, Gerry in Dancing at Lughnasa, Frederick in The Pirates of Penzance, Tony in The Boy Friend, Kodaly in She Loves Me, Tony in West Side Story. He has worked with such luminaries as Elaine Stritch, Len Cariou, Douglas Sills, Judy Kaye, Emily Loesser among others. He has also acted in television, film, and commercials. He is the founder of the Solo Performance Alliance and teaches workshops all over the country.
A member of Actors Equity Association , Steven first trained on scholarship at the Boston Conservatory. After serving as a Mormon missionary in Portugal for two years, he later transferred to Brigham Young University where he received a BFA in musical theatre and later his MFA in acting from the University of Connecticut. He has studied at the American Comedy Institute in New York and privately with acting coach Larry Moss.
Steven was born in Utah and raised in California and Las Vegas (where he was singing at Caesar’s Palace by the age of sixteen). He currently lives in Salt Lake City where he takes an active role in raising his two children and exports his oxy-Mormon work from his home in the Rocky Mountains. www.facebook.com/Fales.Steven, twitter @mormonboy, neverfales2@aol.com.
Reviews of Confessions of a Mormon Boy
“The stuff of great theatre.”
--Associated Press
“An exceptional achievement to rank beside the best of the solo genre.
Wrenchingly honest, hilariously jubilant, and utterly clear-eyed. ”
-- Los Angeles Times (Critic’s Choice)
“An astonishing generosity of spirit . . . with fierce comedy and sharp intelligence.
He bares his soul . . . feels like a sacred gift.”
-- Boston Globe (Critic’s Choice)
“An uncommonly powerful, gripping, and very moving piece of theatre.”
-- Chicago Tribune
“The story couldn’t be more timely.”
-- San Francisco Chronicle
“A masterful story teller and one hell of a writer. Sexy and harrowing. A play that transcends religion, gender, and sexuality.”
-- San Francisco Examiner
“Fales is such a perceptive writer. As moving as it is funny.”
-- New York Daily News
“Compelling confessional theatre. Fales knows how to sell it.”
-- New York Times
“Brokeback Mormon . . . a rare blast of lyricism.”
-- Variety
“A quintessentially American once-upon-a-time of sexual identity crisis and selfhood.”
-- Village Voice
“A tale about finding redemption in honesty.”
-- Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“A very funny, poignant, and surprising story of self-acceptance
and the happiness in finding spiritual connections.”
-- Las Vegas Review-Journal
“Steven Fales is a hero.”
--Austin Chronicle
“Breathtaking. Makes you want to say Amen.”
--San Diego Union-Tribune
“An absorbing tale about the universal human search for belonging.
Gay or not, Mormon or not, it is something we can all relate to.”
--Salt Lake Tribune
“Rare and skillful. A fine writer and actor.”
--Chicago Sun-Times
“Honest, moving, whimsical, sobering, tender and cathartic.”
--Miami Herald
“It’s impossible not to marvel.”
--The Scotsman
“All told with great verve and energy and with very engaging humour.
It is impossible not to warm to this man.”
ScotsGay Four Stars
“Brilliantly acted and beautifully written.”
--Irish Daily Mail
“Fales captivates his audience with a sometimes moving, often funny, and occasionally shocking odyssey from sexual denial to emotional salvation.”
--WhatsOnStage London (Four Stars)
“There’s something here that every gay man can relate to.
And, my, how the boy entertains.”
--London Gay Times (Five Stars)
“Breathtaking. A gripping story. That it’s touching and wise too only adds to the appeal.”
--Entertainment-Focus London
“As American as apple pie. It takes a healthy, open-minded approach to barrier busting. Its truth is its strong suit.”
--ExtraExtra (London)
“It is fantastic. One of the best one-man shows we’ve seen.”
--GAYDAR Radio UK
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