Mass Drag
How the Catholic Church Came to Bless Gay Love… Again.
Cast & Creative Team
James Lopata
James Lopata nearly entered the priesthood before finding his way to Harvard Divinity School, where he earned a Master of Theological Studies. He studied playwriting under Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott at Boston University and spent a decade as a cantor in Catholic parishes, including the landmark 1998 Rochester Mass celebrated for LGBTQ Catholics under Bishop Matthew Clark, for which he composed a commissioned piece. His work in the music industry made him a voting member of the Grammys. Between the pulpit and the stage, he has worked as a journalist, digital consultant, and executive coach in New York and Boston. Mass Drag is his third full-length musical, and the question at its center — what happens when the institution you love doesn't know what to do with you — is one he's been living with his whole life.
Katherine Snelling
A Rochester-based pianist, composer, and educator with a master's degree from the Eastman School of Music, Snelling accompanies and assistant-directs for Ruth-Henrietta's Spotlight Theatre and Spencerport High School's choirs, and serves as collaborative pianist for Mountain Rise UCC and Temple Sinai.
Dino Kolios
Dino is a Rochester native, a Niagara University alum, and an active member of the Rochester Gay Men's Chorus. He is excited to make his drag and stage debut as a part of this story.
Sean Scott, MFA
Sean Scott is a Rochester native excited to make his Rochester Fringe Festival debut in Mass Drag. Sean is currently a faculty member at Finger Lakes Community College, teaching theatre, and also performs as local drag entertainer Trixie Pleasures. He holds an MFA in Theatre Education from Mississippi University for Women, an MA in Theatre from Regent University, and a BA in English from Keuka College. Thank youth my family, friends, and my husband Cory for their love and support.
Tim Stuff
Tim Stuff (Sister Mercy) is thrilled to be a part of this World Premiere production where their love of musical theatre and drag can collide. Their favorite past roles include Pippin in Pippin and Stepmother in Cinderella. They also recently directed The Trip to Bountiful at Penfield Players, and are a member of the Rochester Gay Men's Chorus and Rochettes. You may also catch them around town in a wig and heels as Ms. Figgy Pudding. Much love to Joe for being the best husband and support system. This one is for their (very Catholic) grandmother who always made them feel loved, even when the church may not have.
Dylan Burley
Dylan Burley (Sister Thomas Dubious) is so excited to be making their professional debut with Mass Drag! Dylan is a recent graduate from SUNY Fredonia and was in shows such as Ruthless! (Sylvia St. Croix) and Oedipus (Priest/2nd Messenger). They were in Blackfriars Theatre’s production of RENT (Ensemble) and appeared in productions of Cabaret (Victor) and Little Shop of Horrors (Dentist) as well. Offstage they have worked in student films with Alumni from Fredonia (Love’s a Wash, Death’s a Toast) and Florida Southern University (Bewitched, The Heist, Sandisk_027). Dylan would like to thank Jim for trusting a novice professional (haha) with this role and for creating a piece of theatre that allows criticism and community to exist in tandem on stage and bringing the audience into a space where self acceptance is key. Thanks to rest of the cast and our music director for being so fun to work with and being dedicated to bringing new work to life. And lastly thanks to everyone who came to see the show and are supporting original works of theatre. Listen and enjoy!!
Terry Quataert
A 10-year member of the Rochester Gay Men's Chorus and its Rochettes dance ensemble.
Paul Scheib
A longtime member of the Rochester Gay Men's Chorus, Scheib brings decades of choral and liturgical performance experience to the role of Swing.
Production Credits
- Sound
- Dan Lopata
- Costume Design
- Tim Stuff
- Costume Donations
- Thanks to Paul Scheib
- Music Engraver
- Juan Pablo Oyola
- Venue
- Jacob Rakovan, Biltmore
- Executive Producer
- James Lopata, The Newman Project, with ESL Rochester Fringe Festival 2026
Special Thanks
Paul Scheib · Rev. Sam Kinsman · Tim Powers · Shane Kramer · Edgar Rodriguez · Matt Bereza · Sean Guerin · The Rochester Gay Men's Chorus · Andy Cirillo · Peggy Zorn, Everyone’s Theatre Company, Inc.
The Order of Service
Following along without a paper program? Here's the full text — every reading, response, and refrain — to follow during the show or revisit after. Bold lines are the congregation's — join in any time they return.
The Introductory Rites
Congregational responses appear in bold. Please sing — or speak — them lustily. Musical ability is neither presumed nor required.
Greeting
Sister Anita: “Some of you were here the last time we told this story. Some of you weren't born yet. Both of you need to hear it.”
Entrance Procession · “We Are the Church They Couldn't Kill”
Sung in procession by the Sisters, verse by verse. The refrain is yours. Join in every time it returns.
We are the church they couldn't kill,
We are the love they couldn't bury.
We held each other, hold each other still —
Come in, come in. All are welcome here.
Gloria · “Bless This Mess”
Sister Anita calls; the whole room answers:
— BLESS THIS MESS!
First Reading · A reading from the history they tried to lose
Sisters Tommy & Maggie: “For over a thousand years, the Church performed adelphopoiesis — brother-making — a rite that united two men before the altar of God. Seventy manuscripts survive, ninth century to the fourteenth. ‘Grant unto them unashamed fidelity and sincere love.’”
Psalm · The Brother-Making Song
Ballad of Sergius and Bacchus, Rome's first drag queens by imperial decree. Sing or hum along softly if it moves you — this one belongs to the Sisters.
The Church made brothers at the altar stone, and bound them, hand to hand.
They swore before the bread and wine. Now who will understand?
Sister Donna Wanna-Noh
You'll hear her name. You won't see her. Sister Donna is invoked, never cast — she is present the way Saints are present in a Mass.
Chapter Tradition holds she sat with the dying and wore Jungle Red lipstick to do it, tending the sick and the frightened when almost no one else would. She loved fiercely, kept her own counsel, and — Chapter lore insists — did one last quiet act of devotion near the very end that the official record never quite caught up to. You'll understand more by the time the lights come up.
Feast day: October 9th — same as Newman's. Order: Sisters of the Blessed Canon, Rochester Chapter. Signature: Jungle Red lipstick, carried by Sister Mercy. Status: invoked, never cast. Cause for canonization: open, Chapter votes annually. Her beatification is pending.
The Liturgy of the Word
Second Reading · The Book of Newman
Saint John Henry Newman, canonized 2019. “He came to me as Ruth came to Naomi.” They lived together for thirty-two years.
Gospel · The Love Story
Newman's own words, read by Sister Maggie: “I wish, with all my heart, to be buried in Father Ambrose St. John's grave. I give this as my last, my imperative will. This I confirm and insist on.”
Cor ad Cor Loquitur · “Heart Speaks to Heart”
Chanted, unaccompanied, by the Sisters — a private grief. Join quietly only if you feel it.
Cor ad cor loquitur; heart speaks unto heart.
The Homily · The Empty Grave
2008: one hundred eighteen years after Newman was buried in Ambrose's grave, exactly where he asked, the Vatican dug him up. When they opened the grave — there was nothing there.
The Ballad of the Empty Grave
The refrain is simple on purpose. Join in by the second time through.
But the grave was empty.
The grave was empty.
The earth had done what love had done —
Had made the two men one.
The Liturgy of the Eucharist
The Prayer of the Faithful · The Naming
Sister Mercy: “We don't have relics from the AIDS ward. We don't have sarcophagi from Hart Island. We have names. When I say a name, you say —”
Present.
Add names of your own aloud. Who is Sister Donna? See above.
Presentation of the Gifts
“I need a drink!” Bless This Mess returns, faster and wilder:
— BLESS THIS MESS!
The Blessing · Fiducia Supplicans
Dec. 18, 2023: the Vatican allows priests to bless same-sex couples. Not marriage. Blessing.
“We built our own altars out of whatever we had — bar stools, hospital beds, candles. This blessing was always here.”
Communion Rite · Laying On of Hands
No bread. No consecrated wine. One loaf, many bodies. When a hand rests on your shoulder, receive it. Then turn and bless the person beside.
Holy Matrimony
A soft hymn, hummed under the breath as the blessing passes hand to hand through the room.
Holy matrimony. The word we took for ours. Spoken in barrooms, in kitchens, in hours when no one gave permission. We blessed each other anyway. That's the oldest tradition.
The Rite of Profession · The Elevation of Sister Thomas Dubious
The Vote. Sister Maggie, to the novice: “More than anything else, you have been yourself. For that, you don't need my blessing.”
‘Remember you are stardust.’ — Sister Thomas Dubious
The Concluding Rites
We Break This Bread
Builds each time through; the refrain is always yours:
We break this bread. We share this cup.
We are the table they couldn't close.
We break this bread. We share this cup.
We are the body, we are the body — nobody owns.
Sending Forth · Present
“Not attendance. Not here. Present.”
Final Blessing
“You are the Church they could not kill. You are the body nobody owns.” Thanks be to God.
Dismissal
Ite, Missa Drag est.
Recessional · “We Are the Church They Couldn't Kill”
The last time through, a cappella, just voices.
We are the church they couldn't kill,
we are the love they couldn't bury.
We held each other, hold each other still —
come in, come in. All are welcome here.
Spread the Word · “Holy Matrimony”
Join in as the spirit moves you!
Holy matrimony!
Support the Sisters
Ticket sales cover just 25% of the cost of this production. If Mass Drag moved you, the Sisters would be grateful for your gift as they work toward the next chapter — including an eventual Off-Broadway run.
Give to Mass Drag