The Philadelphia-based theater company The Wilma Theater, recipient of the 2024 Tony Award for Best Regional Theatre, welcomes a new performance Can I Be Frank? by comedian, musician, and writer Morgan Bassicchis, with original material by Frank Maya. Directed by Sam Pinkleton, Bassicchis’s new solo performance centers the work of queer comedian, musician, and performance artist Frank Maya, who was among the first out gay comedians to appear on network television. Can I Be Frank? is presented in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, and is set to run in the Wilma’s 300-seat theater on October 25 and 26.
Frank Maya was a comedian and performance artist who became known as one of the first openly gay male comics to gain a foothold in mainstream stand-up comedy. Born in Queens, NY, Maya began his career as a musician and songwriter who performed throughout the Manhattan club scene. By the 1980s, he became known as a performance artist who delivered musical monologues he dubbed “rants,” before eventually redefining himself again as an openly gay stand-up comedian in the 1990s. Maya became the first out comedian to appear on MTV’s “Half-Hour Comedy Hour” and starred in his own half-hour special on the Comedy Central network. He ultimately passed away in 1995 at the age of 45 due to AIDS-related complications.
In a desperate attempt to prove they can think about someone other than themself, Bassichis’s Can I Be Frank? revisits Maya’s 1987 show, Frank Maya Talks. The new “solo” performance humbly attempts to ensure Maya’s legacy is no longer overlooked while also resolving the bottomless queer search for laughter in times of crisis and for fame and father figures and intense attachment dynamics no matter how fleeting. Bassichis debuted Can I Be Frank? at The Club at La MaMa in June 2024, where Maya first performed his 1987 show, and went on to sellout and extend its run. Their performance was hailed The New Yorker’s Helen Shaw as “a bitingly funny tribute to a very different queer forebear,” highlighting Bassichis’s ability to recreate Maya’s frenetic routines in between confessions of “their own conflicting feelings of anxieties and grandeur.”
“Morgan Bassichis is one of those luminescent performers you simply can’t look away from,” said Morgan Green, Co-Artistic Director of the Wilma. “I find myself lingering on their every word. I can’t wait to bring their incredible interpretation of Frank Maya’s work to Philadelphia and share it with Wilma audiences.”
Morgan Bassichis (they/them) is a comedian and writer who has been described as “fiercely hilarious” by the New Yorker. They are the author of The Odd Years and co-editor with Jay Saper and Rachel Valinsky of Questions to Ask Before Your Bat Mitzvah, both from Wendy’s Subway. Recent shows include A Crowded Field (Abrons Arts Center, 2023), Questions to Ask Beforehand (Bridget Donahue, 2022), and Don’t Rain on My Bat Mitzvah (Creative Time, 2021). Morgan’s exhibition, More Little Ditties, was co-presented by the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University and the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Leading the production is American director and choreographer Sam Pinkleton. In addition to helming the La MaMa run of Can I Be Frank? last June, Pinkleton most recently directed the runaway hit off Broadway production of Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! at the Lucille Lortel Theater and choreographed Stephen Sondheim’s final musical Here We Are at The Shed in New York City. He is joined by New York City-based composer, sound designer, sound engineer, songwriter and performer Natasha Jacob, who performs instrumental reproductions of Frank Maya’s songs “He Loves You,” “Polaroid Children,” and “Boxes of You.” The scenic reproduction of Frank Maya’s 1987 lifesaver backdrop is created by Brooklyn based artist, curator, and organizer Eli Woods Harrison, with assistance by Jack Dunnington and Barbara Schulman.
For the 2024/25 season, Wilma Welcomes offers additional programs beyond the Wilma’s full theater season. Through these additional performances, the Wilma introduces artists and organizations to Philadelphia audiences by providing stage space and producing support as needed.
The Wilma’s presentation of Can I Be Frank is co-sponsored by the SNF Paideia Program at the University of Pennsylvania through the Fine Arts course titled Is This Really Happening? Performance and Contemporary Political Horizons. The course is co-taught by Sharon Hayes and Brooke O’Harra.
TICKET INFORMATION
The Wilma Theater presents two 8 p.m. performances of Can I Be Frank? on October 25 and 26. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at http://www.wilmatheater.org or by calling the Wilma’s box office at 215- 546-7824.
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