Overview

• Can I Be Frank? officially opened on August 4 at SoHo Playhouse after previews beginning July 24 and will run through September 13
• Directed by Tony winner Sam Pinkleton, the production employs lean staging that highlights Bassichis’s energetic shifts between personal narrative and Maya’s archival material
• Bassichis re-creates Frank Maya’s 1987 routines such as the Diary of Anne Frank bit and the musical number Polaroid Children to illuminate the 1980s queer comedy scene
• Reviewers praise the show’s blend of biting humor and heartfelt tribute, noting its recognition of Maya’s pioneering role as one of the first openly gay stand-up comedians on national television
• The solo performance underscores the cultural toll of the AIDS crisis and the urgency of preserving underrecognized queer artistic legacies