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CHICAGO – Just in time for Pride Month, Strawdog Theatre Co. presents an updated staging of the Oscar Wilde classic, “The Importance of Being Earnest.” Strawdog policy … the tickets are FREE (donations encouraged), but you must put in a reservation by clicking EARNEST.
Podtalk: New Doc on HULU Expresses ‘We Live Here: The Midwest’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on December 5, 2023 - 11:58pm
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Denise, Courtney and Marek Skeeba in ‘We Live Here: The Midwest’
Photo credit: Cindy Naber for HULU
"We Live Here: The Midwest” premieres on HULU December 6th, 2023. Directed by Melinda Maerker. For more information, click WE LIVE HERE.
© 2023 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com
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CHICAGO – The scapegoating of LGBTQIA+ folks as a backlash to the community progress in the last decade has been swift, fear-based and uniquely unAmerican. In response, producer David Clayton Miller and director Melinda Maerker have created a new doc entitled “We Live Here: The Midwest,” streaming on HULU beginning December 6th, 2023.
“We Live Here: The Midwest” profiles families who hope to stay in a part of the country they love, and where they have often established deep roots, The doc highlights a trans/queer family with five children in Iowa who must find a new community after being expelled from their church; a gay Black couple with a young daughter who test the line of acceptance in Nebraska; a lesbian couple (interviewed below) homeschooling their bullied son while on a goat-raising farm in Kansas; a gay teacher and his husband in Ohio (interviewed below) creating a safe space for LGBTQIA+ students; and a couple in Minnesota struggling to rebuild their families following both of their transitions.
Denise, Courtney and Marek Skeeba in ‘We Live Here: The Midwest’
Photo credit: Cindy Naber for HULU
Meanwhile, Minnesota State Representative and queer mother, Heather Keeler, brings LGBTQIA+ rights to the political forefront despite ongoing death threats. Fundamentally, the film captures a crucial time where anti-queer legislation and sentiment is rapidly multiplying across the country, and because of this backlash the values of all midwestern families are put to the ultimate test.
In a series of Podtalks below, Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com interviewed two of the couples described above, as well as director Melinda Maerker and producer David Clayton Miller (married to Ryan Murphy, the creator of “Glee”) for this expressive and necessary film.
The Couples: Russ and Mark Exlos-Raber of Ohio plus Denise and Courtney Skeeba (with son Marek, identified) of Kansas …
The Director: Melinda Maerker …
The Producer: David Clayton Miller …
Trailer, “We Live Here: The Midwest” …
 | By PATRICK McDONALD |
