Finished Hat Productions

10/01/2026

Our Artistic Director has been working with the cast of Carrie on fight and intimacy and this production is going to be the perfect way to get into the spooky season! Get your tickets now!

Happy October 1st! We thought we’d kick off spooky season with a poster reveal!🩸🪣 Join us down at the Millspace in 15 days to see Carrie: The Musical live! It’s gunna be a night you’ll never forget!😈

🎭 Carrie The Musical
📍55 Main Street Newmarket, NH
🗓️ Oct 16-Nov 1st
🎬 Directed by Kat Mail
🪣 Produced by Jonesing for Theatre & Millspace: Center for Art, History & Culture
📸 Casey Dalke & Jillian Gordon
🎟️ link in bio or Millspace.org

Thank you to our sponsors: Climate Design Systems, Kennebunk Savings, and Chinburg Properties!

09/11/2026

We'd also like to send our Happy Opening wishes to Portland Players Theater for their production of Jesus Christ Superstar! Break all the legs!!

09/11/2026

We've been dark for a bit while we start to plan 2027! But we wanted to wish a wonderful opening night to our friends at Lyric Music Theater for their production of Finding Neverland! The rights only recently became available so be sure to check out this beautiful story!

06/30/2026

Q***r History Through Theatre Day 30: Angels in America by Tony Kushner

For our final selection this month, we saved what is arguably the most important piece of Q***r Theatre for our final day: Tony Kushner's epic play in 2 parts, Angels in America. Presented in Part 1: Millennium Approaches and Part 2: Perestroika, Angels is, at a glance, a complex and frequently metaphorical examination of the AIDS epidemic and homos*xuality in the United States in the 1980s. Each production on Broadway and the West End has brought home several Tonys/Oliviers including Best Play, Revival, Actor, Featured Actor, and Featured Actress.

Part 1: Millennium Approaches introduces several lives that become intertwined against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic in 1980s New York. Prior Walter's relationship with Louis Ironson begins to unravel after Prior is diagnosed with AIDS, and Louis, overwhelmed by fear, abandons him. At the same time, closeted Mormon lawyer Joe Pitt struggles to reconcile his s*xuality with his conservative beliefs and his troubled marriage to Harper, while his ruthless mentor, Roy Cohn (based on the real corrupt lawyer from the McCarthy era), learns that he is dying of AIDS but vehemently refuses to acknowledge either the disease or his homos*xuality. As Louis and Joe begin a relationship, Prior's worsening illness gives way to increasingly vivid visions, culminating in the arrival of an Angel who declares him a prophet and announces that "The Great Work" has begun.

Part 2: Perestroika follows the aftermath of the Angel's arrival as Prior rejects Heaven's demand that humanity cease progressing. Wrestling the Angel into submission, he earns an audience before the Council of Heaven, where he argues that change, even when painful, is the very thing that makes humanity worth saving. On Earth, the relationships formed in Millennium Approaches begin to unravel. Louis condemns Joe's hypocrisy before the two separate violently, while Louis's attempt to reconcile with Prior is met with well-earned anger and rejection. Meanwhile, Hannah Pitt (Joe's mother who moved to NYC to care for Harper) unexpectedly finds a new sense of purpose caring for Prior and forging friendships with Belize and Louis, creating the chosen family that ultimately surrounds him. As Roy Cohn dies from AIDS-related complications, Belize takes Roy's remaining supply of the experimental drug AZT and gives it to Prior, believing it belongs with someone who still has hope of surviving. The play concludes several years later at Bethesda Fountain, where Prior, living with AIDS rather than dying from it, blesses the audience with a message of hope, declaring that "the world only spins forward" and that "The Great Work Begins."

Angels in America is often regarded as the greatest work of q***r theatre because it refuses to tell a single story. Instead, it captures the AIDS epidemic from every angle: the patient, the caregiver, the activist, the coward, the closeted man, the grieving partner, the religious mother, and even the villain. Each character responds differently to fear, loss, and change, creating a portrait of a community that is messy, flawed, and profoundly human. It is this refusal to simplify either the epidemic or the people who lived through it that makes Angels in America not only a masterpiece of American theatre, but one of the most important works of q***r art ever created. It is also why we have saved it for last. More than any other work we have discussed this month, it encapsulates the countless stories, struggles, and triumphs that make up q***r history in one extraordinary epic. From the 2003 HBO Miniseries, here is Justin Kirk as Prior, delivering his monologue to the council of Angels: https://clip.cafe//but-still/

As we close out our series, we remember that Pride is not a one month event. For those of us in the q***r community, it is a daily occurrence. Our stories are happening around us every day and the 30 works we've shared this month all work to share those stories on a grander scale. Thank you for taking this journey with us. We hope that we have helped at least one person understand the stories of the LGBTQIA+ a little more and perhaps even encouraged others to join in on the research of Q***r History.

From the bottom of my proud bis*xual heart, thank you.
Kyle Aarons, founder/artistic director

Awesome Movie Clip & Quote Database with over 5 million movie clips. It will take you 200+ days to watch them all

06/30/2026

Q***r History Through Theatre Day 29: The Color Purple. Music and lyrics by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray and book by Marsha Norman

Before it became a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, The Color Purple began as Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel, chronicling the lives of Black women in the American South during the early twentieth century. Adapted into a musical in 2005 and later revived to win two Tonys in 2015, The Color Purple tells a story of resilience, self-discovery, and healing. While often remembered for its exploration of racism, misogyny, and abuse, the musical also contains one of the most significant q***r love stories in modern American theatre.

The story follows Celie, a young Black woman whose life has been shaped by years of violence, isolation, and emotional abuse. Forced into an abusive marriage with the domineering Mister, Celie struggles to find her own voice while believing she has little worth beyond surviving another day. Her world begins to change when she meets Shug Avery, a confident blues singer whose independence and compassion offer Celie a glimpse of a life built on love rather than fear. Through their growing friendship, and eventually their romance, Celie discovers the strength to reclaim her identity, stand up for herself, and imagine a future she never believed possible.

As the years pass, Celie builds a life defined not by the cruelty she endured but by the family and community she chooses for herself. Relationships once fractured begin to heal, long-separated loved ones are reunited, and Celie learns that forgiveness does not require forgetting. Rather than ending with revenge, the show concludes with hope, celebrating resilience, reconciliation, and the enduring power of love in all its forms.

The relationship between Celie and Shug Avery remains groundbreaking because it is never presented as a passing curiosity or a tragic consequence of suffering. Instead, their love becomes an essential part of Celie's journey toward self-worth and liberation. At a time when stories centering Black le***an relationships were exceptionally rare in mainstream theatre, The Color Purple affirmed that q***r love belongs alongside every other form of love worthy of being celebrated.

Throughout this month, we have explored stories of persecution, activism, joy, and resilience. The Color Purple reminds us that these histories do not exist in isolation. Q***r history is deeply interwoven with the histories of race, gender, poverty, and faith. By centering the experiences of Black women (and allowing its heroine not only to survive but to flourish) the musical stands as a powerful testament to the healing that becomes possible when people are finally free to love themselves and one another without fear.

Here is Cynthia Erivo's Tony winning performance of "I'm Here" from the 2015 Broadway revival, a song that has become one of the most powerful anthems of survival and self-acceptance in modern musical theatre.

I did not record this, all rights belong to the producers of The Co...

06/29/2026

Q***r History Through Theatre Day 28: The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer

Premiering Off-Broadway in 1985, The Normal Heart is one of the defining works of American theatre and one of the most important artistic responses to the AIDS epidemic. Written by activist Larry Kramer, the play is a slightly fictionalized account of his own experiences helping found the Gay Men's Health Crisis while desperately trying to draw public attention to a disease that governments, media outlets, and much of society refused to acknowledge. Raw, confrontational, and deeply personal, The Normal Heart transformed anger into art and demanded that audiences confront a crisis that could no longer be ignored.

The play follows Ned Weeks, a writer and outspoken activist living in New York City as a mysterious illness begins claiming the lives of gay men in the early 1980s. As friends and loved ones fall ill, Ned works tirelessly to organize the community, raise awareness, and pressure public officials to respond. His uncompromising personality frequently puts him at odds with fellow activists, doctors, and politicians who believe a more measured approach is necessary. At the same time, Ned begins a relationship with Felix Turner, a journalist whose own diagnosis forces the epidemic from the realm of politics into heartbreaking personal reality.

As the death toll rises, the divisions within the community become increasingly apparent. Some fear that demanding action will invite greater discrimination against gay men, while others believe silence is proving even more deadly. Ned's relentless advocacy ultimately costs him friendships and even his position within the organization he helped create, yet he refuses to stop speaking out. The play closes not with resolution, but with profound grief as Felix succumbs to AIDS-related complications, leaving Ned to grapple with the devastating human cost of indifference.

Unlike many plays inspired by the AIDS epidemic, The Normal Heart is not content simply to mourn those who were lost. It is an unapologetic indictment of political inaction (especially the abhorrent behavior of the Reagan administration), institutional neglect, and the societal prejudice that allowed thousands to die while those in power looked away. Larry Kramer believed that silence was complicity, and his play became a rallying cry for activism, helping transform outrage into organized action during one of the darkest chapters in LGBTQIA+ history.

We have spoken often this month about the pain our community has endured, and few works capture that pain more honestly than The Normal Heart. Yet its enduring legacy is not despair; it is courage. It reminds us that progress is rarely achieved through comfort alone, but through ordinary people willing to speak loudly, demand better, and refuse to let injustice go unanswered. The rights many of us enjoy today were secured not only by those who celebrated our community, but also by those who were willing to fight for it when doing so came at tremendous personal cost.

One of the most affecting moments from the 2014 HBO adaptation comes from Jim Parsons playing Tommy Boatwright. Here is his eulogy monologue, highlighting how funerals became the community events for the Q***r Community in the 80s.

An amazing performance by Jim Parsons.

06/27/2026

Q***r History Through Theatre Day 27: The Prom, Book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, Music by Mathew Sklar and Lyrics by Chad Beguelin.

In 2010, Constance McMillen, a student Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Fulton, Mississippi, was barred entrance to her prom because she was a le***an and wanted to bring her girlfriend as her date. When she pushed back, claiming discrimination, the PTA opted to cancel the entire prom, attempting to punish everyone because one girl stood up to them. The ACLU took up the case and it was seen in front of a US District Court, ultimately ruling in her favor, however, the school had offered a "private prom" as an alternative so the court did not require them to reinstate it. The school sponsored dance was only attended by 5 other student; Local parents quietly organized a separate prom for the rest of the students, making sure to keep the location secret to avoid media attention. The story gained massive media and celebrity attention. This story serves as the basis for The Prom.

We meet Dee Dee Allen and Barry Glickman, two actors of a failed Broadway musical, failed mostly in part to their narcissism. To save face, they scour the internet for a cause to garner positive attention. They find Emma, a le***an high school student who's prom was cancelled as she wanted to bring her girlfriend. Dee Dee, Barry, and other D list theatre celebrities come to town to help, but eventually make things worse. Emma is trying her best to fight her own fights with her ally in her principal Mr. Hawkins. It is revealed that Emma's girlfriend, Alyssa, is the daughter of the PTA president and still deeply closeted. The attorney general orders the PTA to organize a new prom. When Emma arrives with the celebrities and Mr. Hawkins, the gym is bare, the PTA having secretly moved the location without informing them. Dee Dee panics about the bad press, revealing her intentions are still selfish and Emma leaves, asking everyone to go home.

The media frenzy continues, with Emma showing resistance to step up and be the face of the movement. One of the actors, Trent, attempts to garner support with the local town, using his own small town upbringing to connect with them. Emma decides to fight her own battle her own way, posting a song to social media, talking about how she wants to be accepted for who she is, but despite evrything, she is proud of her identity and refuses to hide. The video goes viral and the actors plan an LGBTQ+ prom for q***r kids all over the state. The actors, led by Dee Dee, all donate the funds to make it happen. The PTA attempts to prevent it, but they are met with massive pushback, Trent's work having been successful in gathering student and local support. Alyssa finally comes out to her mother who is initially reluctant but attempts to be more open. Emma and Alyssa finally get their dance and share a kiss as the show closes.

So many q***r stories we see deal with the struggles and hardships of Q***r life and regularly deal with tragic endings or scenarios. Looking back, we see shows like Stop Kiss, The Children's Hour, etc where a simple kiss or mere suggestion of q***rness being enough to ruin the characters' lives. But The Prom is different: in 2018 we were finally seeing conflict reach a positive resolution, and our stories getting the happy endings we deserve. Not only that, but The Prom shows teenagers that they deserve those happy endings too, something we don't see in works like Bare.

At the 2018 Macy's Day Thanksgiving Day Parade, the cast of the Prom performed the Time to Dance on live national television, including the kiss between Emma and Alyssa (played here by Caitlin Kinnunen and Isabelle McCalla). It was the first LGBTQ+ kiss in the parade's televised history. Here is that history making moment:

"Time to Dance"from The Prom (theprommusical.com)Music by Matthew...

06/27/2026

Q***r History Through Theatre Day 26: The Drag by Mae West (yes, THAT Mae West)

When people think of Mae West, they often picture the glamorous Hollywood actress known for her sharp wit and double entendres. Long before becoming a film icon, however, West was a playwright unafraid to tackle controversial subjects. In 1927, she wrote The Drag, a play that openly depicted New York City's drag balls, featured gay and gender-nonconforming characters, and included one of the earliest same-s*x kisses in American theatre. Although it never received a Broadway production due to censorship, The Drag remains one of the boldest works of q***r theatre of its era.

The play follows socialite Rolly Kingsbury, a man trapped in an unhappy marriage to Clair while secretly involved in New York's underground gay community. As Rolly struggles to reconcile the expectations placed upon him with the life he truly wants, Clair becomes increasingly suspicious of his behavior. Seeking answers, she is drawn into a world she never knew existed, encountering drag performers, q***r social gatherings, and the vibrant nightlife hidden beneath the surface of respectable society. As the truth about Rolly's identity comes to light, the marriage unravels, forcing each character to confront questions of love, honesty, and the consequences of living a life shaped by secrecy.

The final act transports audiences to an extravagant drag ball inspired by the famous Hamilton Lodge Balls of Harlem, where performers, drag artists, and q***r patrons gather to celebrate openly and without fear of judgment. At a time when LGBTQIA+ people were often portrayed as criminals, deviants, or jokes, West instead presented a community filled with music, dancing, friendship, and joy. While some characters still wrestle with shame and societal expectations, the drag ball itself stands as a powerful reminder that q***r communities have always created spaces where they could exist authentically, even when the outside world refused to accept them.

The controversy surrounding The Drag had little to do with its artistic quality and everything to do with its subject matter. The play was condemned by censors before it could reach Broadway, with critics claiming its portrayal of homos*xuality and drag would corrupt public morals. Yet nearly a century later, many of the images that shocked audiences in 1927: a drag performance, same-s*x affection, and q***r people finding community... have all become celebrated parts of theatre history. The Drag reminds us that q***r stories did not suddenly appear in the twentieth century's later decades. They were always here. Often, they were simply denied the opportunity to be seen.

06/25/2026

Q***r History Through Theatre Day 25: A Man of No Importance Music by Stephen Flaherty, Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and book by Terrence McNally.

Based off the 1994 film of the same title, A Man of No Importance follows the life of a devoutly Catholic closeted gay man in 1960s Ireland. Where Bare talks about how religion fails q***r youth, this show tackles it from a different angle, where faith is the protagonists backbone.

Alfie Byrne is a middle aged bachelor, living at home with his sister Lily. He is a bus conductor who has a small community theatre troupe who will put on performances at the local church facilities, St. Imelda. Alfie, a closeted homos*xual, feels a deep kinship with the works of Oscar Wilde and see himself in Wilde's most scandalous work: Salome. A new young woman, Adele, comes to town and Alfie feels the time is right to produce Salome. He attempts to get his colleague, the young and handsome Robbie, to play John the Baptist to Adele's Salome. We can see Alfie's infatuation with Robbie.

The church sodality, led by Lily's beau, Mr. Carney, cancels the play and disbands the St. Imelda Players, citing the play is blasphemous. Distraught, he returns to the bus station and catches Robbie having s*x with a married woman, resulting in Robbie berating Alfie for being alone. Alfie leans into his love for Wilde's text, "the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it." He dresses up foppishly and approaches a man who had been propositioning him. When he is led outside, it is reveal to be a set up as a group of men descend upon him and beat him. Alfie returns to St. Imelda's to collect his things, contemplating his current state: the worst thing in the world has happened... and he is still standing. The players (except Carney) return, showing they love him regardless of who he is, including Robbie who joins to show support for his friend.

Alfie is an interesting character as he is closeted but he also values his relationship with God. He struggles with finding Robbie in a compromising position as adultery, to him, is worse than his own sin of being gay. The show is his journey to self acceptance, with him finding a pathway forward with his life in the end, living authentically. Here is Roger Rees as Alfie, singing Welcome to the World, where Alfie confronts his life as an out man:

Provided to YouTube by Music Video Distributors Inc.Welcome to th...

06/24/2026

Q***r History Through Theatre Day 24: I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright

Taking home the Tony in 2004 for Best Play and Best Leading Actor in a Play as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, I Am My Own Wife is a one person show compromised of a series of interview between Doug Wright and Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a German transgender woman who survived both N**i Germany and the Communist regime of East Germany while openly expressing her identity in a time and place where doing so could be dangerous.

Throughout the play, Charlotte recounts key moments from her life, including her childhood fascination with antiques, her strained relationship with her abusive father, and her decision to live openly in women's clothing despite the dangers posed by N**i Germany. She describes preserving furniture, phonographs, and household objects that others considered worthless, eventually transforming her collection into the Gründerzeit Museum. As governments rise and fall around her, Charlotte remains steadfast in her commitment to preserving history and maintaining her identity.

As playwright Doug Wright becomes increasingly fascinated by Charlotte's story, he begins investigating rumors that she may have cooperated with the East German secret police, the Stasi. The play gradually shifts from a straightforward biography into a search for the truth. Charlotte insists that many of the compromises she made were necessary for survival, while Wright struggles to reconcile the heroic figure he admires with the more complicated reality emerging from historical records. Rather than offering easy answers, the play invites audiences to consider how people navigate oppressive systems and whether survival itself sometimes requires moral compromises.

I Am My Own Wife does something few other stories do; instead of looking for q***r joy or liberation, it focuses on survival. Charlotte may have done some unsavory things, but to further her own survival as Trans woman. Which has been a story that Q***r folx know all too well; how many people stay closeted for years because it is the only way to protect themselves? Theatre is always asking us to examine life and the world around us, and Wright's unique one person show, with Jefferson Mays playing Charlotte, Wright, and all other characters, gives us the opportunity to truly examine a situation from all sides to draw our own conclusions about Charlotte's life, her choices, and also the choices we make ourselves to get us through from day to day.

In honor of Charlotte, we'd like to highlight MaineTransNet with today's post. They are a community based organization led by transgender people for transgender people. They offer support groups, social events, even training for medical and social providers. To learn more or support their cause, please visit their website:

MaineTransNet is Maine's only transgender led and focused community organization. We offer peer based support groups, educational programs, and policy advocacy.