Role-playing at Pride

Comedy cabaret troupe All The Kings Men takes the stage at Pride after eight years of wowing audiences.

The all-female comedy cabaret troupe All The Kings Men -- that has since toured internationally and won numerous awards -- began by accident eight years ago. "It sort of happened by mistake," said Leighsa Burgin, a troupe member and co-founder. After a series of impromptu shows at drag king slams, a group of performers were approached by a producer and asked to headline an upcoming show. "We were like, 'Oh, are we a group now?'" Burgin remembered. "We came up with [the name] 'All The Kings Men,' and our first performance was in April of 2002. It started out much different than it is now. We never really expected it to turn into this company that's been touring the United States and that's been over to London and Canada."

Today, a typical (and that word is open to interpretation here) All The Kings Men show includes comedy, cabaret, dance, and pop culture satire. The shows have become a mechanism for relevant social commentary about politics, society, and gender. "I think more people are familiar with drag queens and men performing in female outfits," Burgin said. "We don't want [our] characters...to be limited to what we were assigned gender-wise. We're an all-female troupe that plays all the roles, whether they're male or female or kids or what have you."

Already familiar faces in Provincetown at Girl Splash and Women's Week, All The Kings Men will be making their third appearance at Boston Pride this month. "We're excited we've been asked back," Burgin said. The Pride performance isn't the only thing Burgin is excited about this month. After two-and-a-half years of filming, the documentary about All The Kings Men -- Play in the Gray, a Planted Seeds Production in associated with Killswitch Productions -- was released in April, and makes its Boston debut June 3. "The film is more about gender and the individuals in our troupe and our own gender identity and the way that we walk in the world and how we live our lives," Burgin said. Not to mention the self-produced Pride Kick-off show All The Kings Men is hosting on June 6. "We wanted to do a big show at home for our community since we were going to be in the neighborhood," Burgin said.

It's understandable that All The Kings Men might be feeling a little homesick by now. They performed at London's "See You Next Tuesday Festival" held on International Women's Day to benefit women of the Congo as well as at the historic Stella Adler Theatre in Los Angeles. But Burgin agrees -- there's no place like home. "Our favorite new local venue is Oberon [in Harvard Square]," she said. "That's where we'll be on June 6." Burgin also noted proudly that All The Kings Men performed at Northampton's first Transgender Pride two years ago, calling the occasion "monumental."

"We hope to always continue to grow with what we do," Burgin said, but have no fear -- All The Kings Men won't forget their roots...or their Pride.

A black-tie optional screening of Play in the Gray will be held on Thursday, June 3 at 8 p.m. at the Stuart Street Playhouse, 200 Stuart St., Boston. For tickets, please visit http://bit.ly/cw2jn5. All The Kings Men will host a Pride Kick-off Party and Show (18+) on Sunday, June 6 at 8 p.m. at Oberon, 2 Arrow St., Boston. For tickets, please visit http://bit.ly/bHn8zb. Visit bostonpride.org for more information about All The Kings Men's Pride performance, and entertainment line-up.

For more information about Play in the Gray, please visit www.playinthegray.com. For more information about All The Kings Men, please visit www.atkm.com.