In some sense, it was a One-Night Stand. Pride Chorus Houston’s offering of love was so good, one must lament that it was only staged once.
The easiest way to think of this performance, entitled Queer Meets Queer: A Broadway Love Story, is to relate it to a gemstone. For gems, step-cut facets are four-sided, with the upper and lower edges being nearly parallel. Through a combination of song and speech, Queer Meets Queer shines a spotlight on four aspects of sexuality: gay, straight, bi and trans.
Most plays concentrate on relationships on the upper edge of the gem: gay and straight. This production brought to light the other side of relationships, which few pay attention to: the difficulties of transgender relationships and bi relationships. Told through the medium of songs made famous in Broadway plays, it emphasized the parallel nature of all these aspects of love, much like the step-cut faceted gem: they all combine to create something beautiful.
The format of the concert gave the opportunity of the individual members to shine in their own scenarios as opposed to singing in a group. Also, they were able to display their choreography (with some great dance moves) which is typically a secondary part of a pride concert. Here, it achieved equal footing with the singing members of the chorus, all decked out in red, with Valentine’s Day a recent memory from just a week prior.
Romantic and powerful songs I’ll Cover You (Rent), Can’t Help Falling in Love (All Shook Up) and the appropriately-titled One Night Only (Dreamgirls) were certainly fan favourites, but the biggest response from the audience was generated by a sterling performance of Defying Gravity, from the musical Wicked. Supercharged with a 9-person dancing group, it really took off!
Musical numbers were interspersed with dialogue, with one person each representing the four facets of love. The narrative was held together by one chorus member who acted as a narrator. A photo (above) shows all five of them together, but for most of the show two pairs on either side of the stage held sway, with different groupings as each of them tried to establish a relationship with another (such as in the photo below).
Through a deft handling of the spoken material and a curated selection of music that most nearly expressed the varying dynamics at play, it all held together to create a uniquely poised pride chorus performance that puts our Houston organisation in the top tier of Gay and Pride Chorus troupes in the country. Kudos to Artistic Director David York, and President Matthew Leslie (see photo below), who also took to the stage several times to add his dance moves to the uplifting vibe of Queer Meets Queer.
The concert was held Feb. 21, 2026, at Unity of Houston. Photos by C. Cunningham
For future performance tickets (June 20 is the concluding concert for the season), visit www.pridechorus.org