There’s a saying: “If life tosses you into manure, plant a garden.”
Performer/storyteller Steven Fales has done just that and watered it nicely. Nearly 20 years ago, the Mormon church formally tried Fales for being a homosexual. He was kicked out of the church, “left for dead,” as he puts it, and struggled to maintain family bonds. Somewhere down the spiritual road, something remarkable blossomed: renewal.
“I think we all have the opportunity to come back from the dead — like Taylor Swift,” Fales notes with a chuckle. “There’s always an opportunity to offer a generosity of spirit.”
Think of Confessions of a Mormon Boy then as one of Fales’ most generous offerings, a thought-provoking one-man show, originally born out of an artistic need to express what was happening to Fales and his gay brothers and sisters in the Mormon Church at the turn of the millennium. Through show and tell — make that song and tell — Fales traces his Mormon upbringing in a prominent family in Utah, the excommunication that followed, attempts at reparative therapy, his drug use, prostitution, redemption, and, ultimately, self-acceptance.
Confessions eventually found success off-Broadway and toured globally. It even played well here in the desert — at Rancho Mirage’s Desert Rose Playhouse earlier this year and later in sold-out performances at Oscar’s Cafe in Palm Springs.
Now Fales is launching a five-month residency at Hotel Zoso with its “Storytelling Tuesdays” series. Previews begin Sept. 10, leading up to a lavish opening night event Oct. 22. The show will run through January 2020.
Palm Springs Life caught up with Fales to learn more about what he calls “the new and improved, updated, unbridled and uninhibited Confessions.”\
PHOTOGRAPH BY JAY JORGENSEN
Steven Fales is launching a five-month residency at Hotel Zoso with its “Storytelling Tuesdays” series.
Let’s talk about how the show evolved over the years and what are you’re most excited about now.
I forged ahead telling the story, rewriting every time I did it after Bay Street Theater [in the Hamptons], and then in Oslo and Cape Town [South Africa]. The structure is pretty much the same, but there are nuances that make it better and I’ve upped the humor. But really, I am a different person. I’ve matured as a storyteller, I’m more interactive and more uninhibited in my performance. I feel freer as a performer.
What do you feel people resonate with?
It’s the human story. So, if you’re Afrikaans in South Africa, this is Confessions of a Dutch reform experience in a Dutch Reform church. They were like, “This is my story.” I’ve added more specificity to the story and the more I do that, it becomes any “outsider” story. The first decade I did this was really my mission to the gays and now, it’s for everybody. The audiences leave with what is possible for them. The show is about how I first learned to stop playing the victim and really get my life back. And anyone who has fallen from grace and tried to get their life back will appreciate the themes, the story, and the humor.
How do you feel the show has changed you?
It’s been an anchor. Every time I do it, it’s as if I’ve written a constitution for myself. It’s a way to hold me accountable. The show gives me reasons to stay creative and stay on my game and be transformational. I’m not perfect but it’s as if in my life I had to catch up to the writing.
What do you feel people resonate with?
It’s the human story. So, if you’re Afrikaans in South Africa, this is Confessions of a Dutch reform experience in a Dutch Reform church. They were like, “This is my story.” I’ve added more specificity to the story and the more I do that, it becomes any “outsider” story. The first decade I did this was really my mission to the gays and now, it’s for everybody. The audiences leave with what is possible for them. The show is about how I first learned to stop playing the victim and really get my life back. And anyone who has fallen from grace and tried to get their life back will appreciate the themes, the story, and the humor.
How do you feel the show has changed you?
It’s been an anchor. Every time I do it, it’s as if I’ve written a constitution for myself. It’s a way to hold me accountable. The show gives me reasons to stay creative and stay on my game and be transformational. I’m not perfect but it’s as if in my life I had to catch up to the writing.
PHOTOGRAPH BY CAROL ROSEGG
Steven Fales: “The show gives me reasons to stay creative and stay on my game and be transformational. I’m not perfect but it’s as if in my life I had to catch up to the writing.”
What wisdom do you hope to impart?
That we need to stay open to miracles of the heart. At the end of the show I say, “I am now a humanist with residual Judeo-Christian tendencies. I believe in justice, mercy, and miracles.” The miracles are things like … you know, my dad and I still have a hard time sometimes. But it was quite a miracle to get an email from him on the road this summer and have him say that he was he was so glad they were loving the show in South Africa. He said, “I’m sure they think they have found a new diamond.” Whoa. These are the things that are possible. I think that the spirit of generosity can really take us far.
Previews for Confessions of a Mormon Boy run Sept. 10 through Oct. 15 (5:30 p.m./door; 7:30 p.m./show) at Hotel Zoso, 150 S. Indian Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs. Opening night is Oct. 22. The show runs Tuesday evenings through Jan. 28. For tickets and additional information, visit hotelzosopalmsprings.com or mormonboyexperience.com.