Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House
	In Stock, Ships Immediately!		DVD: $19.99

		gay-comedy-autobiography

Film Overview

Written By: Peterson Toscano View Official Website	Release Date: 2008-07-01 Running Time: 1:30 Content Rating: not yet rated	DVD Region: All Regions Media Format: NTSC-DVD Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Audio Language(s): English
Genres: Gay & Lesbian Influences: But I'm A Cheerleader

Synopsis

See for yourself what happens behind the doors of America’s zaniest ex-gay residential program. Peterson Toscano presents his one-man comedy, "Doin’ Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House--How I Survived the Ex-Gay Movement!"

Through seven characters Toscano takes you on a comic tour of the Homo No Mo Halfway House, a Christian residential 12-Step program that attempts to save men and women from the "evil snares of homosexuality" through bizarre rules, gender realignment, and brain numbing reconditioning.

From the daily rap sessions on appropriate male dress to the surreal Family and Friends Weekend, prepare yourself for a rocky and raucous tour of the Homo No Mo Halfway House, and see for yourself if our hero comes OUT alive!

Based on Toscano’s real life experience floundering in various Ex-gay ministries, he weaves together humor, program jargon and outrageous eye witness accounts to form a piece that is hilarious, poignant and inspirational.

Having premiered the play in Memphis in 2003, Peterson Toscano traveled for five years in North America and Europe presenting it hundreds of times. This DVD records the final performance (back in Memphis) before he retired it.

"The play is intelligently written, hysterical at times, poignant, and most of all, deeply spiritual because of its underlying themes of self-examination and self acceptance...Toscano’s acting skills as well as the format of the piece recall the one-woman shows of Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg whose character studies unearth the neurotic complications in all of us."
-John W. Sykes, in newsweekly

Cast

Chad/Tex/Pastor Meadows/Pete/Vlad/Marvin/Himself: Peterson Toscano | bio
Peterson Toscano is a playwright, comic, actor and LGBT activist. He has written and performed one-person shows including "Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House," "Queer 101-Now I Know My gAy,B,C's," "The Re-Education of George W. Bush-No President Left Behind!" and "Transfigurations-Transgressing Gender in the Bible," (a play about transgender Bible characters.) He performs widely at venues in North America, Europe and Africa. His web site is www.petersontoscano.com

Crew

Writer: Peterson Toscano | bio
Peterson Toscano is a playwright, comic, actor and LGBT activist. He has written and performed one-person shows including "Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House," "Queer 101-Now I Know My gAy,B,C's," "The Re-Education of George W. Bush-No President Left Behind!" and "Transfigurations-Transgressing Gender in the Bible," (a play about transgender Bible characters.)

He performs widely at venues in North America, Europe and Africa. His web site is www.petersontoscano.com
Executive Producer: Peterson Toscano | bio
Peterson Toscano is a playwright, comic, actor and LGBT activist. He has written and performed one-person shows including "Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House," "Queer 101-Now I Know My gAy,B,C's," "The Re-Education of George W. Bush-No President Left Behind!" and "Transfigurations-Transgressing Gender in the Bible," (a play about transgender Bible characters.)

He performs widely at venues in North America, Europe and Africa. His web site is www.petersontoscano.com
Copyright: Peterson Toscano | bio
Peterson Toscano is a playwright, comic, actor and LGBT activist. He has written and performed one-person shows including "Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House," "Queer 101-Now I Know My gAy,B,C's," "The Re-Education of George W. Bush-No President Left Behind!" and "Transfigurations-Transgressing Gender in the Bible," (a play about transgender Bible characters.)

He performs widely at venues in North America, Europe and Africa. His web site is www.petersontoscano.com
Picture Editor: Morgan Jon Fox | bio
A film school drop out who has gained his kicks amongst the rough and edgy stylings of the Memphis film scene, which has produced filmmakers like Craig Brewer, Ira Sachs, and John Michael McCarthy. Fox's Film Company, Sawed-Off Collaboratory is made of a group of very diverse filmmakers centered around the Memphis Digital Arts Co-operative. His first film, Blue Citrus Hearts, awarded "best feature film" at the Chicago Lesbian and Gay Film Fest, is a semi-autobiographical, un-glossed look at coming out in the south. A new feature, "away(A)wake", produced in the summer of 2004, is currently beginning a festival tour, and a new script, currently being "polished up" will be filmed in the summer of 2005. Morgan is a co-director and co-writer with Suzi Crashcourse, a transgendered photographer/musician also based out of Memphis.

Bonus Features

Deleted & Extended Scenes
Behind the Scenes
Cast Interviews

Accolades

Festivals

Women's History Conference (Sarah Lawrence)
Lavendar Language Conference (American University)
Literature, Language & Identity (Yaounde, Cameroon)
Transgressions and Taboos (Mayaquez, Puerto Rico)
True Colors (Hartford, CT)
Mid-South Pride (Memphis, TN)
Love Breaks Out (Palm Springs, CA)
WOW 2003 (Philadelphia, PA)
Opening Transformative Dialogues (McGill University)
Narratives Matters (Acadia University, Nova Scotia)
National Organization for Men Against Sexism Conference (Ramapo, NJ)
Greenbelt Festival (Cheltenham, England)
Lambeth Conference (Canterbury, England)

Press Reviews

Hartford Advocate | show/hide snippet
...the show plumbs the extent to which coming out means more than just being honest with oneself, and that honesty has communal repercussions,
-John W. Sykes, in newsweekly | show/hide snippet
The play is intelligently written, hysterical at times, poignant, and most of all, deeply spiritual because of its underlying themes of self-examination and self acceptance...Toscano’s acting skills as well as the format of the piece recall the one-woman shows of Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg whose character studies unearth the neurotic complications in all of us.
Steve Bose, Ex-Gay Watch | show/hide snippet
Looking for self-pity? Victimhood? Shrieks of blame? A ruined psyche in agonizingly slow recovery? You’ll have to look elsewhere.The play doesn’t preach and doesn’t judge. It demonstrates one guy’s approach for surviving the Ex-gay movement..
Kimberly Dark | show/hide snippet
It was a pleasure sharing the stage with Peterson Toscano! He is a wonderful actor, moving easily from one character to another in an intricately woven set of monologues that show, rather than tell the audience about the vital social justice themes he explores.
Steve Schalchlin | show/hide snippet
"Doin' Time" is unique in that, while it's very funny and you find yourself laughing almost uncomfortably at how blatantly honest it is, you can tell how much affection he feels for his fellow ex-inmates. Rather than ridiculing these deeply sincere people, something that's too easy and has been seen too often, "Doin' Time" sticks with you because you end up wanting to grab every last one of them and love them back into the wholeness they will never find a place where being yourself is proof of some kind of "brokenness." Peterson is a skillful performer, but what gives this piece its power is the fact that it's embued with so much compassion and love for the many characters he brings to achingly, resonant perfection.
Dr. John Corvino | show/hide snippet
Peterson Toscano's 'Homo No Mo' is consistently, hilariously funny, but it is also deeply thoughtful--without for a moment being 'preachy.' By poking fun at our human foibles, Toscano reminds us of our human dignity.
Jason & deMarco | show/hide snippet
Right before our eyes, Peterson Toscano, with the snap of a finger, brilliantly transformed himself into the many faces and personalities that most of us have encountered along our journey of reconciliation. Through the laughs and tears that his characters evoke from you, Peterson's message rings victorious in the hearts of those whom have been set free.
Rev. Candace Chellew-Hodge | show/hide snippet
It's brilliant and wonderful! It should be required viewing for anyone even thinking misguided thoughts about "ex-gay" programs.
Peggy Campolo | show/hide snippet
In a time when controversies rage over gay marriage, ordination of homosexuals in the church and the nature of sexuality, Toscano’s unique storytelling neither attacks nor forcibly instructs, but rather invites audiences to sift through various accounts and move beyond issues to the underlying human stories.