Horror Writers, Michael Urie, The LA LGBTQ Center, And More Unite To Entertain
We need a good laugh right about now, and tomorrow, and the next day. Stress relief and a break from you know what is just what the doctor ordered. Some great stars are offering to come to our rescue this Friday night.
In an exclusive livestream table read, horror writer Justin Elizabeth Sayre will be sharing Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds with the world as gay parody titled The Ducks.
Most of us tuned in for part of Lady Gaga’s massively marketed Together At Home, we’ve stumbled upon the Disney songs being rehashed by a handful of A-Listers, multiple digital drag shows are being offered up for our pleasure, all to offer a variety of options to keep us entertained … and to keep entertainers, local and at large, afloat. Even Bob Saget and the Full House cast (sans Olsen sisters) in an act of randomness remade their theme song into a 2020 version – Full Quarantine.
All those were fun, some more entertaining than others, but let’s be realistic, we ingested these offerings because we already completed the binging of numerous shows and now we kind of want something a little different. Enter Sayre and his offering of The Ducks.
Sayre, whose writing credits include 2 Broke Girls, The Cool Kids, and an appearance in Lisa Kudrow’s The Comeback, is paying homage to a Hitchcock classic. Sure … entertainment revolving around Mother Nature attacking humans may be a little too close to home right now, and no it’s not a repeat of The Happening where the plants attacked Mark Wahlberg, but the Sayre concept sounds like an entertaining one to watch. We’re going to give The Ducks a go not only to see how he can put his twist on The Birds, but we’ll be tuning in to see some of our favorite LGBTQ celebrities like cutie pie Michael Urie and the hysterical Alec Mapa. Yeah, we’re in!
We cannot wait to see all of those smiling faces! The official plot summary of The Ducks is:
Set in 1963, when the small town of Klimpner’s Bay is overrun by murderous Ducks, the residents are thrown into a battle with the elements and themselves. A loving send-up of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, The Ducks tracks the trials of Prump Cracker Heiress, Felicia Prump as she pursues the love of her life, playboy Beck Vandershlootn. Their romance is hurled into troubled waters when Felicia confronts Beck’s mother, Miriam, and his ex-lover, Carla Macaroni. A comedy thriller of the best order, this exciting company of actors is creating a new genre of entertainment using technology to connect us all in this time of crisis.
Let’s be honest, we all kind of want to act like we have Urie hunkered down with us and in our bedrooms through this whole lockdown, right? Urie sounds fully on board with this entertainment offering and recently gave some quacky commentary on why we should all be tuning in. Very tongue in cheek, Urie tells us:
Sayre has written something wicked and wonderful and I was delighted to waddle on board. In fact, I was literally reading his Golden Girls fan fiction on Facebook when I got the ask, so it was ducking fate.
What’s not to love?! It’s campy, it’s fun, and what else are you doing on your Friday night anyway? Everything will be closed … besides your laptop.
We are looking forward to be fully entertained, but in another generous twist, most of the participants are not only freely giving their time and energy, but also any funds or donations they’ll receive from The Ducks to benefit those severely affected by the current pandemic. The suggested ten dollar donation will go to help both the Los Angeles LGBTQ Center and the Ali Forney Center in New York.
The Ducks, directed by Tom DeTrinis, assistant directed by Luis AlvarezSchacht, and produced by Casey Deal will be presented via Zoom on Friday, April 24th, at 5pm PST. You can purchase your ticket to the event on brownpapertickets.com.
Writer’s Note: This is the opinion of one Instinct Magazine contributor and does not reflect the views of Instinct Magazine itself or fellow contributors.
