Drawing on the theatrical form of a cabaret, featuring original songs and stories laced with a bit of magic, two islanders, David Mielke and Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma, have written and will perform the premiere of their innovative show, “Gaybaret,” on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, November 22, 23, and 24 at Vashon Center for the Arts’ Kay Hall. After sharing their lives for close to a decade, last year Mielke and Pruiksma took the traditional steps to sanctify their partnership through marriage. Their wedding, however, was anything but conventional. As professional performers, storytellers, musicians, and writers, the couple told the story of how they met — honoring friends, teachers, and experiences that led to their meeting and readiness to commit to a life partner — and they did so using a cabaret-style form of story and song. They called it “Gaybaret.” “‘Gaybaret’ sounds campy and frivolous,” Mielke said, “but at the wedding, it quickly became not just that as the guests’ emotions started being tapped into. The best part was afterwards, when so many people wanted to talk about what came up for them that had nothing to do with gayness or LGBT stuff.” That’s when the duo realized what they had created might be meaningful to a wider audience. Because the first iteration concluded with their marriage, they had to write a new ending, adding other elements, to fashion a stand-alone performance. While the show is based on their lives, Pruiksma said, it is not just a work of nonfiction; it is also a work of art. “The artfulness opens it to other people,” he said, “so it is not just a show about LGBTQ experience, rather the art allows the specific to become universal. It is both a work of art and how art changes us and helps us grow into who we are, along with people and mentors who help us.” Though the show is like a cabaret, it also includes ritual. With Pruiksma on piano, each performer alternately tells their own story and sings songs — about letting go of old shame and acknowledging the mystery of life. As with many rituals honoring what is known but unseen, the show bows to the joyful play of what seems to be serendipity. “There’s a thread running through the show of openness to wonder, to the poetry of lived life,” Pruiksma said. “Our experiences may appear to be chaotic […]
