Choir Boy is the story of Berry, a 12 year old choirboy who wants to hold his voice back from changing at almost any cost. Berry tries unsuccessfully to castrate himself, then convinces a clinic to treat him as a transsexual. The pills Berry takes keep his voice from changing, but they also open a door Berry can't close. He faces a world of gender issues that he hadn't expected, and explores a universe way larger than anything he's experienced so far. Full of bizarre humour and surreal touches, this is Günther Grass' The Tin Drum mixed with Eugenides' Middlesex.
"An exhilarating, multi-layered new play."—The Guardian "Stirring and stylishly told . . . McCraney's crispest and most confident work."—Daily News "Greatly affecting. . . . It takes a brave writer to set his language against the plaintive beauty of the hymns and spirituals . . . but McCraney's speech holds its own, locating poetry even in casual vernacular and again demonstrating his gift for simile and metaphor."—The Village Voice The Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys is dedicated to the creation of strong, ethical black men. Pharus wants nothing more than to take his rightful place as leader of the school's legendary gospel choir, but can he find his way inside the hallowed halls of this institution if he sings in his own key? Known for his unique brand of urban lyricism, Tarrell Alvin McCraney follows up his acclaimed trilogy The Brother/Sister Plays with this affecting portrait of a gay youth trying to find the courage to let the truth about himself be known. Set against the sorrowful sounds of hymns and spirituals, Choir Boy premiered at the Royal Court in London before receiving its Off-Broadway premiere in summer 2013 to critical and popular acclaim. Tarell Alvin McCraney is author of The Brother/Sister Plays: The Brothers Size, In the Red and Brown Water, and Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet. Other works include Wig Out!, set in New York's drag clubs, and The Breach, which deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His awards include the 2009 Steinberg Playwrights Award and the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award.
“Each wears his cynicism like a bulletproof jockstrap—each has his horror story, his bad dream, his nightshriek. He is afraid of his friends—he is afraid of himself.”—New York Times Partners in the Los Angeles Police Department, they’re haunted by terrifying dark secrets of the nightwatch–shared predawn drink and sex sessions they call choir practice. “A master storyteller . . . authenticity oozes from this book . . . freewheeling and chilling and certainly Wambaugh's best.”—Houston Chronicle
Eric Schneider was one of the young victims in the notorious Boy Scout sexual abuse case that rocked Boston in the mid-1980s. By his teens, Eric was a drug dealer, arsonist, and small-time thief. By the age of twenty, he was a major crime figure, working under the umbrella of the notorious Whitey Bulger organized crime network.
"Young singers through the centuries have occupied a central position in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathedrals, collegiate churches, monasteries, guilds, and confraternities." "The training of singers for performance in religious services shaped the very structures of ecclesiastical institutions, which developed to meet the need for educating their youngest members. The development of musical repertories and styles also directly reflected the ubiquitous participation of children's voices in both chant and polyphony. There was even, frequently, a future for choristers after their voices broke."--BOOK JACKET.
An internationally acclaimed artist creates rich, jewel-toned paintings inspired by the soaring voices of the Boys Choir of Harlem. Includes a CD with five songs performed by the choir. Full color.
On a visit to his country home, Philip Luard, a young and idealistic Anglican curate working in London, a fan of cricket and church music, discovers that a local boy called Teddy Faircloth has a beautiful singing voice. Luard quickly develops a chaste but intensely romantic affection for Teddy and whisks him away to London where he supports the boy's enrollment in a choir school. Teddy's talents are nurtured in this new school and the young country boy suddenly finds himself with prospects which stretch far beyond the life of an agricultural labourer. The Romance of a Choir Boy follows the progress of this relationship through all its highs and lows, through moments both touching and awkward. Nicholson also presents what Andrew May describes in his introduction as "an achingly nostalgic portrait of England" and rural life in particular, which is made all the more poignant by the fact that the author and his characters have no idea that this entire way of life is shortly to be swept away by the violence of war and the onward march of technology.
