The Murder of Ramon Novarro

I just finished a play I hope to submit to two 10-minute play festivals this summer. It's called Collecting Strangers, and this docudrama depicts the shocking murder of film star Ramon Novarro; a murder that brutally outed a closeted Hollywood legend.

Due to the censorship of homosexuality in early Hollywood, as well as his inability to reconcile his religious beliefs with his love of men, silent film star Ramon Novarro sought comfort in alcohol and male hustlers. Sometime between the late evening/early morning hours of October 30th and October 31st of 1968, Novarro was murdered after hiring an escort who sought a large sum of money rumored to be hidden in his home.

Wish me luck as I send this work to the Scriptwriters Houston's Annual 10x10 Showcase, as well as the Q Collective's Coming Out Play Festival of 2019!

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Murder on Old Topanga Canyon Road

I haven't shared my good news on social media yet, so hear goes! One of my plays, Historical Mutilations, will be produced this summer by Theatre Off the Square in Weatherford, Texas. Along with Mike Byham's play, Arti Doll, my play will be produced on June 7-9, 2024. Both plays were winners of the 2023 New Works Contest, and I am thrilled that such a prestigious venue as Theatre Off the Square will be taking on this project! Historical Mutilations tells the story of the murder of Gary Hinman. A hippie renaissance figure in the 1960s, as well as the Manson Family's "forgotten victim," Hinman was found dead in his home on Old Topanga Canyon Road on July 31, 1969. This was eight days before Sharon Tate and four others were found murdered at Tate's Cielo Drive residence. My play, a biodrama, depicts a possible conversation that Hinman and cult-leader Charles Manson may have had prior to Hinman's murder. In doing so, Manson compares ...

Bradley Nies, Playwright

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