Jade Esteban Estrada recently saw the fast-food documentary "Super Size Me,"

and one idea really struck him.

     It was the idea of developing a food that people will take in and then crave again within a couple of hours.

     That, translated into theatre context, is exactly what he tries to do with the trilogy of one-man plays he's written and stars in.

     The first two volumes of "ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World," each feature about a half-dozen players in that story including Ellen DeGeneres, Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, Sappho, Billie Jean King, Susan B. Anthony, Queen Christina of Sweden and Alexander the Great. The third volume is upcoming.

     Estrada's wish is that audience members become addicted by this portrayals and go on to research the real-life figures on their own. He said it's just like what his grandmother told him whenever he asked what a word meant as a child: "Look it up!"

     Estrada said he began writing the "ICONS" plays when "I was searching for what I loved, because I wasn't 'loving' what I was doing. I liked it, but I didn't love it, and I'm squinting when I say that."

     "ICONS" combines almost all of the things Estrada loves and excels at: history, tap-dancing, character transitions, suspending reality for an audience. It also allows him to be bold, creative and focused.

     "I put everything I loved into a little melting pot," he said.

     He's broken out of his beloved New York and taken Vols. 1 and 2 on the road, staging as many as three shows a day and waiving his fees so that proceeds can go to local causes.

     Sure, a regular off-Broadway commercial run would be great, he said, but New York's typical theatre-goers aren't the crowd he's trying to reach.

     "Taking something like the project that I have to the red-hot states---I mean, that's the reason I created it," he said. "I want to inspire conversation. I want to inspire oppressed people."

     He's in the midst of a string of Nebraska shows, with performances scheduled in Omaha, Lincoln and Norfolk.

     Monday night, he'll perform both 70-minute volumes, with an intermission between at Nebraska Wesleyan University's O'Donnell Auditorium, 50th Street and Huntington Avenue.

     One of the things Estrada loves most about performing "ICONS" happens before the show even begins, when he wanders the aisles and sneaks up on audience members to ask them, "My show's about icons and role models. So, off the top of your heard, without thinking about it, who is your top role model? Doesn't have to be gay and doesn't have to be famous."

     "Everybody will come from so many different angles, and I feel like it elevates me spiritually so much before I even step on the stage," he said. "If I ever have a blah day, it's immediately swept away."

     Older gay men often say Judy Garland or Mae West. Older lesbians say Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart.

     Younger people often tag Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.

     Intellectuals sometimes offer obscure poets Estrada's never heard of. Many people from all walks of life cite Martin Luther King, Jr.

     Once, he was even startled to receive the reply, "Oh, I'll tell ya, but you're not gonna like it: Ronald Reagan."

     It seems Estrada is getting an education from "ICONS," too.

     "Oh, you have no idea," he said.

©2005 Lincoln Star-Journal