By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Can a guy who impersonates Elvis turn his talents to impersonating a woman?
With a pregnant wife and the rent overdue, for Casey (Ean McIntosh) this is a matter of “lip-synch or swim,” as his drag queen mentor tells him. Becoming a drag queen, though, involves more baggage, not to mention make up.
In “The Legend of Georgia McBride” we follow his reluctant transition into the titular character under the mentorship of Tracy (Aria Evans).
“The Legend of Georgia McBride” by Matthew Lopez opens Thursday Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. in the Eva Marie Saint Theatre in the Wolfe Center for the Arts on campus. Directed by James Stover, the show continues Friday, Feb. 14, and Saturday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. with matinees Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. and Feb. 20-22 at 8 p.m. closing with a 2 p.m. matinee on Feb. 22.
From the opening snippet of Casey’s performance at Cleo’s, a rundown Florida bar ,it’s clear his act probably needs more than a new jump suit revive it. And from his conversation with his wife Jo (Ore Okonrende) their finances need more than a few extra bucks if they hope to stay afloat. Casey is good-natured guy who loves pizza, is careless with money, and deluded about the prospects for his career. When Jo tells him she’s pregnant , he’s delighted while she’s anxious about the responsibilities that entails.
And as Eddie (Danlo Lazariev ) Cleo’s manager and master of ceremonies telegraphs with his demeanor on stage, the club needs more than an Elvis imitator.
That boost comes in the form of his cousin Bob, who performs as the drag queen Miss Tracy Mills. She’s convinced Eddie to give her and her partner Rexy, Anorexia Nervosa, (Elijah Ackles), a chance. It’s a chance they need. They arrive at Cleo’s in Rexy’s car whichTracy says is held together with “duct tape and optimism.”
So Elvis is gone — though Casey convinces Eddie to keep him on as a bartender.
Then when Rexy goes on a bender, a desperate Tracy enlists the skeptical and reluctant Casey.
They haven’t even come up with a name as the newly minted queen is about to make her entrance. Where was your mother from? Tracy whispers from off stage.“Georgia,” Casey answers. Who was the first girl you kissed? Her last name is McBride. A star, Georgia McBride, is born.
Over the course of the play we see Casey developing the character, without ever becoming Georgia. His theater background dates back to high school when as a football player he’d go to theater rehearsals with his girlfriend, ending up playing the Pharaoh in “Joseph and his Technicolor Dreamcoat.” The Pharaoh’s Elvis inspired anthem is the start of his impersonator career. He was good enough to star as Sweeney Todd in his senior year.
That natural skill serves him well as Georgia McBride. The costuming plays up his evolution, from the initial comic scene where we see him stripped to his skivvies and then remolded by racy. His costumes evolve as Georgia’s little bit country, little bit rock ’n’ roll persona takes shape.
And Eddie’s attire reflects the rising fortunes of the club as he goes from t-shirt to tux as well as the passing seasons.
Rexy, who returns as arrogant and angry as ever, gives him a lesson both in the deeper meaning of drag. She tells a harrowing tale of being attacked for being gay, and connects that to the power of being a drag queen.
“Drag is a raised fist in a sequined glove,” Rexy snaps at him.
While he’s pleased with all the cash Georgia McBride brings in, Casey never tells his wife nor his best friend, and landlord, Jason (Chris Williams). Performing as Georgia stirs in him questions about his manhood.
Both Evans and Ackles are stunning, never breaking character. Whoever is behind that layer of high makeup and under the wig never peaks through. Even when Rexy talks of her past, she does so in Rexy’s voice as if that other person no longer exists. Neither Rexy nor Tracy is a caricature. Both are fully formed characters.
Tracy’s pride in her craft is impeccable as she guides Casey, being stern as needed, into finding his character. In the end Georgia finds her voice and uses it to tell Casey something about himself.
