{"id":423768,"date":"2025-12-04T09:06:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T09:06:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/423768\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T09:06:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T09:06:28","slug":"to-my-girls-at-diversionary-theatre-critiques-instagay-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/423768\/","title":{"rendered":"“To My Girls” at Diversionary Theatre critiques Instagay culture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>From left to right, Wil Bethmann, Zack King and Frank DiPalermo with Wilfred Paloma in front for a Spice Girls music video shoot. (Photo by Xing Photo Studio\/Diversionary)<\/p>\n

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS \u2013 I left \u201cTo My Girls,\u201d a show ostensibly about elder millennial gay men\u2019s friendships, feeling extremely grateful for my friends. It wasn\u2019t just that it was a few days past Thanksgiving<\/a> or that the sitcom-style play stirred warm feelings.<\/p>\n

This was a thankfulness borne of what my friends are not: catty, selfish, mean, destructive.<\/p>\n

During the intermission of the 120-minute play at Diversionary Theatre, I even texted the group chat that if we had our own reunion trip to Palm Springs, it would lead to epic fun and real community feeling \u2014 not the lying, cheating, manipulating and stealing of the partners seen on stage.<\/p>\n

In other words, Diversionary\u2019s 40th season<\/a> production of JC Lee\u2019s play is a ferocious critique of Instagay culture.<\/p>\n

\"\"Three friends descend on Palm Springs for a reunion trip with margaritas, dance numbers and hookups. From left to right, Wilfred Paloma, Zack King and Wil Bethmann. (Photo by Xing Photo Studio\/Diversionary)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a critique of wider LGBTQ+ culture or queer culture (although there are a few jabs about each). Instead, the mirror faces the racism<\/a>, shallowness, self-righteous fake wokeness, hedonism, social media obsession and hypocrisy of gay men in their late 30s.<\/p>\n

Yes, it is incredibly niche. But thankfully, it\u2019s also really funny.<\/p>\n

Cutting dialogue, blatant sexual humor and wild antics made the audience bust up so consistently that it sounded like a laugh track from the \u201880s in the small theater.<\/p>\n

Between witty repartee, the characters do wonder if they are wasting the liberation their forefathers fought for with lying and hiding their true selves even to their semblance of a community \u2013 just like gay men who were forced to do so in the past.<\/p>\n

The generational critiques come from two supporting characters: the boomer\/Trump voter\/drag queen\/AirBnB host Bernie (Frank DiPalermo) and a thoughtful Gen Z queer, Omar (Jocorey Mitchell), picked up at a bar.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a>Left to right, friends Zack King, Wilfred Paloma and Wil Bethmann. (Photo by Xing Photo Studio\/Diversionary)<\/p>\n

The core friend group includes the performatively flamboyant Asian-American writer\/barista Castor (Wilfred Paloma), who pines after the white, hot and rich influencer Curtis (Wil Bethmann), whose libido causes the most conflict in the play. New York City-based Black queer social media activist Leo (Zack King) is the only friend who has matured a bit since they met in their 20s, yet is as fabulous and offensive<\/a> as the rest. Late arrival Jeff, played by Luke Harvey Jacobs who also choreographed the play\u2019s dance numbers, serves as ridiculous humor and sad boy at the climax of the show.<\/p>\n

The earnest and effective actors made some of the insufferable characters more palatable than the script alone could. Each man could be a minor villain but are somehow as lovable as they are hateable \u2013 even the libidinous Curtis.<\/p>\n

But don\u2019t be fooled. \u201cTo My Girls\u201d might have the familiar beats, ensemble cast and humor of a sitcom, but it lacks the easy episodic resolution therein. For those who have watched \u201cMid-Century Modern,\u201d<\/a> a \u201cGolden Girls\u201d-inspired<\/a> show about gay men of a certain age in Palm Springs, don\u2019t expect the friends to hug out conflicts like Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer and Nathan Lee Graham. The friends might be chosen family, but the play reminds the audience why some people go no-contact with their families.<\/p>\n

\"AnWilfred Paloma as Castor in his revenge outfit. (Photo by Xing Photo Studio\/Diversionary)<\/p>\n

Debut Diversionary Theatre director Jesse Marchese kept the play moving sharply, even as Lee\u2019s script had some dragging monologues and muddled plot lines. Scenic designer Mathys Herbert captured the kitschy aesthetic of Palm Springs and lent into the sitcom-style setting of the play. Costume designer Denita Lee was spot-on accurate with neon speedos, caftans and a cheap revenge outfit. Lighting designer Joshua Heming was likewise excellent.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo My Girls\u201d has one weekend left at Diversionary Theatre in University Heights at 4545 Park Blvd. Tickets remain for Friday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 6 at 2 and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $55.50 at diversionary.org<\/a> or by calling the box office at 619-220-6830.<\/p>\n

READ NEXT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From left to right, Wil Bethmann, Zack King and Frank DiPalermo with Wilfred Paloma in front for a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":423769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,197657,5603,7260,3009,2290,3549,17737,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-423768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-diversionary-theatre","12":"tag-lgbtq","13":"tag-performing-arts","14":"tag-pride","15":"tag-review","16":"tag-san-diego","17":"tag-san-diego-theater","18":"tag-sandiego","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115660507916202354","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=423768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/423769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=423768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=423768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=423768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}