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4 FRONT MAGAZINE
Page 1|2|3
by
John
Price
From Prairie Sheriff to Weho Leading Man Chad Allen Comes
Home to the Theater!
At only 24 years of age, Chad Allen has already done more
than most people do in a lifetime. He's been on network television
almost non-stop since he was eight years old and just completed
a six year stint on the "Little House" of the 90's Dr Quinn
Medicine Woman Chad's career has been consistent and good
to him. Many child actors have a difficult time making the
transition from young actor to adult, Chad had the luxury
of making this transition during the run of Dr Quinn. America
got to watch his character grow up in their living rooms.
America and West Hollywood also got to watch Chad grow up
in the tabloids. What to most of us would be totally innocent
pictures of two guys at a pool party ended up, causing Chad
a lot of grief as he was "outed" by a tacky grocery store
tabloid. Chad had much to lose being on such a wholesome all-American
show. He was also under tons of pressure from the gay community
to come screaming out and make some kind of proclamation.
Despite a 20 year acting career, it didn't change the fact
that Chad was still a young man in his early twenties with
a family, personal issues and a life he wanted to lead - with
dignity. It was not an easy time for him. Young Chad Allen
dealt with the drama like a true champion. He pressed on with
his work on Dr. Quinn and shortly thereafter his TV family
did what we hope most real life families will do in such situations
- they showed support Dr Quinn aired an episode in which Wat
Whitman came to their. town and they all had to deal with
issues of homophobia and tolerance. Chad went on to participate
in the anniversary reading of The Boys in the Band and continued
unabashed in his work with AIDS related charities. Chad bravely
didn't give in to either side and now enjoys the freedom that
comes from that strength. His current project *change at Babylon,
is a play that by description hails back to The Boys in the
Band Another story about a group of gay men from New York
together for a summer holiday to party and deal with dramatic
issues including relationships, family, tolerance and, of
course, AIDS. Why would Chad choose this script that on the
surface sounds so gay and so over-done? Well, read on and
you'll find out. I had the privilege of seeing the first preview
performance of *change at Babylon at the West Hollywood Tiffany
Theater and met with Chad afterward. We were joined by author
Brian-Paul Mendoza (nicknamed Beeper) to discuss the play,
the world and the state of Chad.
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John Price: After
seeing *change at Babylon other shows immediately pop into
my head. The subject matter is quite similar to Love! Valour!
Compassion! or The End of the World Party. I think you've
got something more though - something different What drew
you to this material?
Chad
Allen: I'll tell you this. In
the last couple of years, I was looking, Creative Outlet was
looking for a play with a gay theme to do in L.A. I started
reading scripts and looking around. I've seen a ton of, theater
in town and a lot of shows that have gone before us. I thought
some of them were good. Some of them were weak. A lot of them
raised a lot of questions that I thought were good, but didn’t
have a lot of answers... for me. Then they brought me *change
at Babylon in New York. When I read it I said' "This is the
script that brings home all those points. It answers all the
questions that I wanted."
John
Price: It has closure.
Chad
Allen: Yeah, absolutely. Closure
- to address the issues of drug abuse, the issues of relationships,
of families, about how we pass on what we learn from one generation
to the next in a community that's lost a generation of its
forefathers. Where do we learn stuff from? That's why I fell
in love with it, and thought we oughta do it.
John
Price: (To Beeper) As a writer, obviously you're
aware, that this subject matter, has been tackled a lot. What
made you dedicate two years of your life to try to say something,
that's already been said, but to try to say it differently?
Beeper: Well, I'd
been in New York for eight years, and I was doing the Fire
Island scene and having a blast. I saw Love! Valour! Compassion!
and Angels, in America and as a gay male in my, twenties,
I didn't identify, with those people. Their struggle was not
my struggle. The media was calling these pieces the gay theater
for the next millennium and to me these aren't the stories
that I know in the circle of people that I surround myself
with. There's a select group of gay men that live for the
party. It's about being accepted and fitting in the, "A list"
events and circuit parties and drugs. I wanted to explore
"why?" Where that came from. I wanted in my head to justify
why we thought were good, but didn't have a party and carry
on and think about things.
"I so clearly identified with Eric... He found was a
gay community where he could become the leader of the pack...
They accepted him for who he was and he was able to become
their leader. He created a family around him to substitute
for a family that he lost."
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