The Confusion of My Illusion

Written/performed:
Kelly Mantle
Directed:
Jon Imparato

Benefiting:
The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center

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About the show: Gender-bending actor Kelly Mantle has played both male and female roles on numerous hit television shows. Now he brings his own compelling story to the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Davidson/Valentini Theatre for a three-week run, beginning March 26. The Confusion of My Illusion, a play with music, is an intrepid and humorous expedition into the mercurial territory of gender duality and a powerful salvo in the revolution for gender equality.

A native of Oklahoma, Mantle (who is the nephew of New York Yankee great Mickey Mantle) learned early on how to use the power of gender duality to knock the conservative townsfolk out of their comfort zone. Hilarious, lyrical and moving, The Confusion of My Illusion seizes that power to confuse, illuminate and advance the ongoing drive for equality.

Mantle's story differs from most in that he has chosen to live as both male and female. He identifies himself as "an ever-changing, chameleonic gender-bender who exists somewhere between male and female, transgender and drag. More Boy George than Jorgensen!"
 
Sparkling with original songs and astutely chosen covers performed with a pair of sassy "Black Up" singers, The Confusion of My Illusion chronicles how Mantle embraces her two-spirit identity, how society reacts and how she navigates the inevitable confusion that arises both in herself and in the world she encounters. With tales that range from playing the Bible's Eve as transgendered to a true-life encounter with George W. Bush, The Confusion of My Illusion serves as Mantle's personal battle cry in the tradition of the gender-benders at Stonewall. Says Kelly, "It's a play about celebrating our complexities and challenging the mediocre double standards that plague us in this pop-crazed, pop-tart, pop-up-video, pop-smart society."

Kelly Mantle has appeared in theatres across the country, numerous independent films and such primetime television shows as The New Adventures of Old Christine, CSI, NYPD Blue, George Lopez, Judging Amy, Nip/Tuck and Cold Case, among others. He received his B.F.A. in Theatre from the University of Oklahoma and trained at Chicago's renowned Second City.

The play is directed by Jon Imparato, the award-winning Artistic Director of the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center and Director of the Gay & Lesbian Center's Cultural Arts & Education program.