UNDERNEATH THE SKIN is a penetrative portrayal of a 20th century queer maverick of Samuel Steward (1909-1993), a gay novelist, tattoo artist, author of erotic fiction, and unabashed sexual adventurer, who lived a bold life pursuing his physical and erotic desires through his art
A promising novelist and gifted scholar, Steward abandoned his post as a staid university professor to reinvent himself as one of the 20th century’s most influential tattoo artists (aka Philip Sparrow), and as a writer of gay erotic fiction (aka Phil Andros). He attracted the friendships of Gertrude Stein and Andre Gide, was lovers with Thornton Wilder, and had trysts with Rudolph Valentino, Lord Alfred Douglas, and Roy Fitzgerald (aka Rock Hudson). An obsessive self-chronicler, he meticulously recorded his sexual encounters in his “Stud File,” and became an unofficial collaborator at The Kinsey Institute for Sex Research in the 1950s.

Mise-en-scène, direction, choreography, video design, set design by John Kelly
Original texts by Samuel Steward
Lighting design by Nicholas Houfek
Costume design by Ramona Ponce
Directorial consultation by Kevin Malony
Music by Russ Columbo, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Ludwig van Beethoven, Jean Lenoir, Judee Sill, Iron Butterfly, Bessie Smith, Lucille Bogan, Ma Rainey, George Hannah, Peg Leg Howell, Kokomo Arnold, Gene Malin, Gladys Bentley.

Premiere: NYU Skirball Center, NY, October 2019.
Revival: La MaMa, E.T.C., NY, November 2022.

With: John Kelly (Samuel Steward); Hucklefaery/ne’ Ken Mechler (Student, Buddy, Le Pigeon, Sailor, Phil Andros, Walt Whitman); John Watkins (Student, Buddy, La Licorne, Sailor, Gay Dude, Oscar Wilde); Alvaro Gonzalez (Student, Buddy, Le Cochon, Sailor, Gay Dude, Man in hospital gown); Lola Pashalinski (Gertrude Stein on video).