Queer Dramedy ‘The Hot Wing King’ Comes to Denver
Listen in, theatergoers and theater gays! The next play to hit the stage at Denver Center for the Performing Arts, entitled The Hot Wing King and written by Katori Hall, is a heartstring-tugging and knee-slapping piece about the intersection of race, queerness, and family. We were fortunate enough to speak with actor Curtis Wiley about his experience mounting the play and how he believes it will impact the hearts and minds of those who go to see it.
We wanted to kick off with how this piece of LGBTQ+ media may affect Denver theater patrons differently than other plays about queerness—The story takes place in the American South, where, especially as of late, the attitude towards the LGBTQ+ community tends to be more hostile. When asked if he thinks this could strike a different chord with the setting being so closely tied to the story, Wiley says, “It’s certainly possible, specifically in the language. Generally, gay culture stems from the major coastal cities. But I think this play demonstrates is that there are many commonalities that connect the community across the country, specifically for Black people.”
The play, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2021, tells the story of Cordell Crutchfield and his partner Dwayne scrambling on the eve of Memphis, Tennessee’s annual Hot Wang Festival. Cordell thinks he has finally found a recipe that will win him the envied Hot Wang King crown and has built a team—Dwayne, along with friends Big Charles and Isom—that he thinks is sure to guarantee his victory. However, when a family emergency interrupts prep night, tensions rise higher and higher—and the wing sauce recipe starts to veer off course.
When asked what his favorite part of production has been, Wiley, who’s taken on the role of Dwayne, says, “Honestly, I love that we’re at DCPA! The arts community here is incredible, and incredibly smart. My hope is that audiences will come to this play ready to laugh out loud and perhaps see themselves, and people they love, in each of these characters.” The DCPA are no strangers to producing plays centering the LGBTQ+ community, and the fact that the latest crackdowns on queerness from the Trump administration has not stopped them is a beacon of hope in these dark times.
Dwayne and Cordell spend the play fighting for their relationship and learning how to come to grips with the intersectionality of what it means to be Black, gay, and a father figure all at once when Cordell’s troubled nephew gets caught up in trouble. However, the depth of family in this story isn’t just blood; it also hones in on the theme of found/chosen family that comes up in LGBTQ+ discussions of familial ties often, due to people’s lack of acceptance of differing sexualities.
“At its core, (it’s) a family story,” Wilys said when we touched on this point. “An unconventional family, but a family nonetheless. The point of view is gay, and Black, but the struggle to care for and nurture family, well, that theme is as universal as it gets.”
The Hot Wing King will run from April 25 to May 25 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Kilstrom Theatre. Purchase your tickets at this link, and support your local arts programs while also getting a night out on the town!
Graphic courtesy of DCPA
