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Gina Young

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American dramatist
playwright and director Gina Young, in a black sweatshirt and beanie, with bleached blonde hair
Gina Young in New York City

Gina Young is an American writer, director, playwright, songwriter and performer. They are a vocal member of the LGBTQ community and are openly queer and nonbinary, using both she and they pronouns. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild, The Ring of Keys, and The Kilroys. They are a winner of the HUMANITAS/PLAY LA Prize, and the Jane Chambers Award for Playwriting for their play Femmes: A Tragedy. Their work has been presented by The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), REDCAT, and The Hammer Museum.

Theatre

Young wrote and directed her first plays at the longest-running women's theatre in the United States, the WOW Café Theatre in Manhattan's East Village. Early works all incorporated a live band on stage and included she cuts herself / she likes to write, phone|sex|cancer, and god in a girl. More recent works include Femmes: A Tragedy, a comedy set in the queer femme burlesque scene which is published by NoPassport Press, and sSISTERSs, the story of three sisters who may or may not be witches, which was presented by REDCAT and USC's Visions & Voices Series.

Young's project BUTCH BALLET, presented by REDCAT in the Summer of 2017, is a groundbreaking movement-theater piece created for and with a cast of butch women, trans men and gender nonconforming performers from diverse backgrounds. BUTCH BALLET is still in development into a full-length work.

Music

From 2001-2008, Young toured as a singer/songwriter and released three albums: Intractable, she's so androgynous, and 3am Voice. She was also known for recording and touring with the music and performance art group Team Gina, which disbanded in 2010. She is scheduled to release new music in 2024.

As a performer, Young has been called "hugely talented" and reviews of her performance on the National Tour of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles' It Gets Better musical said she "captivated the audience with her folksy mezzo sound and easily relatable performance as an actress."

Film

Young's first screenplay to be produced is a short film about a woman alone during the Covid-19 shelter-in-place, titled ROOM TONE. Directed by Whitney White, produced by We the Women and part of the anthology film Keep This Far Apart, ROOM TONE toured the film festival circuit starring Roberta Colindrez of VIDA and Amazon Prime's A League of Their Own.

She has created several independent musical shorts including Ballerinas and Take It, which can be seen on YouTube. They also directed the music video for Hangman by musician Torii Wolf.

Other projects

Young is the creator of SORORITY, a salon for new short performance works by women, trans, nonbinary and queer performing artists, which has presented hundreds of Los Angeles artists at venues including the Hammer Museum. She is also the creator of the conceptual project Feminist Acting Class, which has been presented by the Women's Center for Creative Work, and aims to undo systemic bias and teach acting from an intersectional feminist methodology. Academic Daisy Marsden says, "Young challenges the traditional, hierarchical structure of a learning environment and challenges conventional notions of gender, drawing attention to the oppressive structures in place."

Honors and awards

  • HUMANITAS/PLAY LA Prize
  • The Jane Chambers Award for Playwriting
  • Finalist, Center Theatre Group's Richard E. Sherwood Award
  • Kayenta New Play Lab Residency

References

  1. TRUNCLE JETT - Chats with Queer Creatives - Episode 7 - Gina Young, retrieved September 6, 2021
  2. Tran, Diep (December 11, 2018). "The Kilroys Welcome New Members". AMERICAN THEATRE. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  3. BWW News Desk. "The Kilroys Announce New Members". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  4. "Gina Young | New Play Exchange". newplayexchange.org. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  5. "Gina Young Wins the 2014 Jane Chambers Playwriting Award". AMERICAN THEATRE. November 19, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  6. "Femmes: A Tragedy: Theater Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  7. "playwright and director gina young | SORORITY | Feminist Acting Class". gina young. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  8. "Gina Young - Biography". IMDb. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  9. "sSISTERSs: An Experimental Musical Written and Directed by Gina Young". USC Event Calendar. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  10. "New original works festival 2017". Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  11. "Gina Young discusses BUTCH BALLET at NOW fest 2017". Retrieved March 28, 2023 – via vimeo.com.
  12. "Team Gina: Putting Away the Spandex". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  13. "The Wig Fits All Heads". www.thewigfitsallheads.com. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  14. "Review: It Gets Better Tour Brings LGBTQ Stories Full of Music, Laughter, Tears and Dancing". October 13, 2015.
  15. Correspondent, Drew Neneman / World-Herald. "Review: Gay Men's Chorus blends music with message in Omaha". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved March 28, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  16. Veitch, Mara (June 3, 2022). "We The Women Is Making Plays for The Digital Age". Interview Magazine. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  17. BALLERINAS by Gina Young: a queer experimental short film, retrieved December 27, 2023
  18. Gina Young - Take It, retrieved December 27, 2023
  19. Torii Wolf - Hangman (Official Music Video), retrieved December 27, 2023
  20. "SORORITY: THE WOODS and THE INTERNET | Hammer Museum".
  21. "Feminist Acting Class | WCCW".
  22. "Gina Young | SORORITY | Feminist Acting Class".
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