Photo credits: (from top left) True Blood, Princess Cyd, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Were the World Mine
Happy Pride! In honor of Pride Month, we’ve put together a watchlist of queer-centered works that feature some of your favorite Steppenwolf ensemble members. With this eclectic mix of guilty pleasures and ground-breaking award winners, you’ll be ready to share the love and join us in celebrating our LGBTQ+ communities.
Pose (TV series, 2018–2021)
Featuring ensemble member Kathryn Erbe
Set in the 1980s, Pose is a dance musical that explores the juxtaposition of several segments of life and society in New York: the ball culture world, the rise of the luxury Trump-era universe and the downtown social and literary scene.
Henry Gamble's Birthday Party (2015)
Featuring ensemble member Francis Guinan
Henry Gamble, a 17-year-old preacher's son, wrestles with sexuality, alcoholism and faith during his birthday party.
David Makes Man (TV series, 2019–Present)
Story by ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney, featuring Alana Arenas
Set in South Florida, this lyrical coming-of-age story centers on a teenage prodigy named David who lives in the projects but attends a magnet school for academically gifted youngsters.
Moonlight (2016)
Story by ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney
A look at three defining chapters in the life of Chiron, a young Black man growing up in Miami. His epic journey to manhood is guided by the kindness, support and love of the community that helps raise him.
My So-Called Life (TV series, 1994–1995)
Featuring ensemble members Tom Irwin and Jeff Perry
A ground-breaking bastion of teen angst. Angela is a high schooler in constant turmoil over her exposure to boys, friends, drugs, sex... basically the normal 1990s teen trappings.
True Blood (2008–2014)
Featuring ensemble members Gary Cole and Lois Smith
The series revolves around Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress living in the fictional rural town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. It is set two years after the invention of a synthetic blood product that has allowed vampires to "come out of the coffin" and let their presence be known to mankind.
Alex Strangelove (2018)
Featuring ensemble member Kathryn Erbe
A high school senior plans on losing his virginity to his girlfriend. Things get complicated when he meets a handsome and charming gay kid from the other side of town who unwittingly sends him on a roller-coaster journey of sexual identity.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2003)
Featuring ensemble member K. Todd Freeman
Buffy is a Slayer, one in a long line of young women chosen for a specific mission: to seek out and destroy vampires, demons and other forces of darkness. Unlike her predecessors, Buffy establishes a group of supportive friends who aids her in her battles with evil.
Were the World Mine (2008)
Featuring ensemble member Ora Jones
In this queer musical spin on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a gay teen uses a love potion to turn close-minded townspeople into lovestruck romantics, including the handsome jock with whom he is secretly in love.
Saint Frances (2019)
Featuring ensemble members Francis Guinan and Jim True-Frost
Thirty-four-year-old aimless server Bridget hasn't yet achieved her goal of becoming a respected writer. When casual relations with a younger "nice guy" lead to an unexpected confrontation with potential motherhood, she manifests a job nannying a pint-sized spirit guide disguised as an obstinate six-year-old.
Princess Cyd (2017)
Featuring ensemble member James Vincent Meredith
A 16-year-old girl visits her aunt in Chicago for the summer. While there, she falls for another girl, and she and her aunt challenge each other's sex and spirit.
Lady Bird (2017)
Featuring ensemble members Tracy Letts, Laurie Metcalf and Lois Smith
An intrepid high schooler in Sacramento undergoes the trials of love, family and self-discovery as she dreams of escaping to college on the East Coast.
Knives and Skin (2019)
Featuring ensemble members Kate Arrington, Audrey Francis, Tim Hopper and James Vincent Meredith
In the wake of a high school student's mysterious disappearance, a collective awakening seems to overcome the town's teenage girls—gathering in force until it can no longer be contained.