The Gold Dust Orphans is a fringe theater company based in Boston and Provincetown, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1995 by writer/performer Ryan Landry, Scott Martino, Afrodite (aka Andre Shoals), and Billy Hough. It is a group of actors, musicians, dancers, writers and visual artists dedicated to the production of shows that are often based on works of film, theater, and popular culture. Many of the roles are played in the classical tradition by men in drag.