Equality Florida
Presents
The Full-Length Film
of Their New Stage Play

FROM HERE
A Musical Centered on the Pulse Nightclub Shootings

Book, Music, & Lyrics by DONALD RUPE
Directed by DONALD RUPE

Arrangements & Orchestrations by Musical Director JASON M. BAILEY
Video Editor: JAKE TEIXEIRA
Sound Production: MATT CRAIG

Featuring
BLAKE ABURN, SARAH-LEE DOBBS, PETER HEID, & ERICK PERAFAN

https://eqfl.org/fromhere

June 12 through June 28, 2020

This knock-out production was created to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the tragic Pulse Nightclub murders in Orlando, Florida. It was to be performed live in both New York City and Orlando, but those dates have been postponed due to COVID.

In his prelude to the video, playwright DONALD RUPE explains that he was not at Pulse that deadly night, but he and his friends frequented the club for its fun, excitement, and good vibes. The play is based on his inner struggles as a gay man, his inner growth, his fractured relationship with his mother, and ultimately with his shock at the senseless shootings.

Daniel is in a long-term relationship and hoping for marriage. His live-in lover is not on the same page. Heartbreak time. On the surface, Daniel accepts the break-up with wit, charm, and sarcasm. (Actor BLAKE ABURN is hilarious and totally endearing.) It doesn’t take long for us to realize his inner melancholy. He wears the mask of happiness very convincingly, but his close friends have x-ray vision. He loves this “family” he has created, and they love him.

Daniel’s love life takes an upturn, thanks to one friend and her bit of trickery. Mom remains to be dealt with. That’s some deep doo-doo. With help from his besties and a lot of sharing, he realizes that he is holding back his emotions and must learn to love totally and deeply.

FROM HERE is touching and silly and sentimental and beyond entertaining. The cast is outstanding in every way. The music is the best. The lesson is a lasting one…we are all “from here”.

-Karen D’Onofrio-