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Gaga over divas

From Garland to Madonna, GMCW brings fierce women to life

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They’ve been waiting in the wings for three years now, until the right time for the curtain to rise.

That’s how long the show has been a twinkle in the eye of Jeff Burhman, artistic director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington (GMCW), together with his artistic team, waiting for the right time to stage their production of ā€˜DIVAS.ā€™

And that time has finally arrived ā€” beginning tomorrow night and then again on Sunday and then “poof!” DIVAS will be gone ā€” so move quickly if you wish to see these legends together at last on one stage.

At GWU’s Lisner Auditorium these two days only.

This “broads with their balls-to-the-wall” musicale is simply spectacular, a cycle of song and dance in tribute to the Glorious Gals about whom we are so “gaga,” plus a few guys who have risen to “diva” status. From Garland to Gaga, they are legends in our own minds as well as their own.

Because it’s all about them. As usual.

In the words of the show’s creator Jeff Buhrman ā€” now in his 10th season as GMCW’s artistic director ā€” “it’s so high energy and so off-the-top-of-the-charts” that DIVAS is almost destined to become a legend of its own as a show, a “diva” perhaps itself, and so, of course, attention must be paid.

“Our chorus, our dancers, our soloists, and our special guest star, Christopher Peterson, have the broads with balls attitude” that every diva should demand from those providing her with needed homage, said Buhrman.

How many divas? Lots, as it’s the night of shooting stars. And how do we love them? Let us count the ways.

There’s Garland, of course, with happiness always hovering just over the rainbow, the actress betrayed by her roles. A star is born, and the star then flies too close to the sun and perishes slowly, inch by booze-soaked inch.

And thereā€™s Karen Carpenter, too, a B-list echo of Garland’s study in addictive self-abuse.

More cheerfully, there’s Julie Andrews, Bette Midler and Cher. And standing so tall among her fellow divas that her shadow casts a thousand points of light for miles in every direction ā€” Barbra Streisand.

And Madonna. And Beyonce. And the diva du jour, Lady Gaga herself. But wait, there’s more.

According to Buhrman, several male divas will also be honored with impersonations – “the oldest and dearest being Liberace,” but Buhrman would not be cajoled into divulging the other names, except to say that they will be “very recognizable, but their names will not even appear in the programs,” he added with sly amusement. “We enjoy surprising the audience.”

The headliner of course is Christopher Peterson, described by Buhrman as “the foremost female impersonator” with regular shows in Key West, Provincetown and Rehoboth Beach.

Peterson is unique, says Buhrman, in that he not only morphs into each persona with costumes ā€” and there are nearly 15 such major costume changes in all, done rapid-fire ā€””but he also sings, not lip-synchs the stars in their actual voices.”

In addition to Peterson and the chorus and soloists, the GMCW dance troupe, ever light on their feet, will perform several homages, according to Buhrman, including one to Madonna’s “Vogue” persona and “this will be a real treat,” he promises. The 175 singers will also be joined by a small pit band and in some cases by musical tracks as accompaniment.

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Theater

Signatureā€™s fresh take on classic ā€˜Forumā€™

Actor Mike Millan says ā€˜itā€™s like a new work in many waysā€™

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ā€˜A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forumā€™
Through Jan. 12
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, Va.
$40-$126
sigtheatre.org

For out actor Mike Millan, Signature Theatreā€™s production of ā€œA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,ā€ couldnā€™t feel fresher. 

Set in ancient Rome, the 62-year-old Tony-winning hit (music with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart) borrows from Roman comedy, farce, and a dash of bawdy vaudeville to the tales of slaves, soldiers, courtesans, and a lovesick young man. 

Millan plays Hysterium, a nervous slave in the House of Senex, whose tagline reads ā€œI live to grovel.ā€

ā€œIā€™ve never done ā€˜Forum,ā€™ so to me itā€™s like a new work in many ways,ā€ he says. ā€œAnd because itā€™s older and has a classic musical point of view and weā€™re doing it now, itā€™s as if weā€™ve been given a lovely opportunity to make it our own.ā€ 

And indeed, they are doing just that. Directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner, the Signature production is introducing new bits and playing with gender: the central character Pseudolus, a sly slave role created by Zero Mostel, is played by Erin Weaver; Erronius is played by Sherri Edelen in drag; and two male actors and one nonbinary actor play courtesans.

Though Millan, 35, is based with his partner in Los Angeles, he regularly travels to New York and is pleased to make Signature in Shirlington an additional destination on his bicoastal work journey. Recently, the affable actor took time to talk about Signature and ā€œForum.ā€ 

WASHINGTON BLADE: A little about the brilliantly named Hysterium, please. 

MIKE MILLAN: As a gay actor, I can say that Hysterium is one of the gayer characters Iā€™ve ever played. Heā€™s a sort of fop and heā€™s in drag most of the second act. How can you not see him as a queer character?ā€ 

When the part was written it was sort of gay coded and now itā€™s just abundantly clear, you donā€™t think twice about it. 

BLADE: ā€œForumā€ is unapologetically fun. Is now the right time for a romp? 

MILLAN: The show comes with a level of escapism that is really infectious. During these tense times, it feels great to be doing a silly musical. Weā€™re doing fart jokes in tunics, and the material and jokes really hold up. Youā€™ll feel better leaving than when you came in.

BLADE: All that and a Sondheim score too? 

MILLAN: Heā€™s the reason Iā€™m here. In high school, I discovered his ā€œInto the Woodsā€ and remember locking myself in my room until I knew every word to ā€œGiants in the Sky.ā€ 

ā€œPassion,ā€ ā€œFollies,ā€ I love it all. Heā€™s so singular because he writes from a perspective of acting and storytelling; Sondheim touches me in a way that feels quasi-religious. 

When I think about the number of times I sang ā€œLast Midnightā€ alone in my car, it fills me with a joy that Iā€™ve never gotten from any other composer or jukebox musical.

BLADE:  In 2022, you played Idina Menzel super fan Jeff in ā€œWhich Way to the Stageā€ at Signature. Are you glad to be back? 

MILLAN: Yes, Iā€™m happy to be employed. Itā€™s a tough business. Not only are we asked to be great singers, dancers, actors, and performers but weā€™re asked to have a social media presence and to be the most popular kid in school. 

Signature provides a safe environment to try something new and different, to experiment with a community that respects doing that. Also at Signature, it never feels like any audience members are being dragged by their partners to see a show. Itā€™s a supportive community. 

BLADE: Speaking of partners, do you miss being away from home?

MILLAN: Sometime itā€™s nice to have that time away from each other; it builds a little mystery.

BLADE: Will your performance change between now and January?

MILLAN: In recent years, Iā€™ve changed my acting approach from cracking the code on how to play a character to inviting the audience on a journey and making them part of the process. 

I was raised in musical theater, but by doing comedy, standup, and improv, Iā€™ve come to find the joy of failure freeing. And I like being part of a changing show. I like the idea of somebody being able to say ā€œI was there the night Patti LuPone yelled at the guy who took a picture.ā€

BLADE: An unexpected moment. 

MILLAN: Of course, I go in with certain things I have planned out, but I like the element of excitement that anything might happen. And I think the audience should feel that way too.

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Sexy, spooky werewolf tale comes to Congressional Cemetery

ā€˜LĆ½kos Ɓnthrōposā€™ explores story of men who live double lives

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Patrick Kilpatrick (left) and Nicholas Gerwitz inĀ LĆ½kos ƁnthrōposĀ at CongressionalĀ Cemetery

LĆ½kos Ɓnthrōpos
Oct. 31-Nov. 24
Thursday through Sunday at 8 p.m., 75 minutes without intermission
Congressional Cemetery
1801 E St., S.E.
Tickets: bob-bartlett.com

Just in time for Halloween, Bob Bartlett is reprising ā€œLĆ½kos Ɓnthrōpos.ā€ With his sexy, spooky werewolf tale, the gay playwright brings his passion for horror and site-specific productions to historic Congressional Cemetery on Capitol Hill.  

ā€œVampires are great and I love ghosts and kind of believe in the spirit world, but werewolves are my favorite,ā€ he says. 

Bartlett is interested in the duality of men who turn into wolves and consequently live double lives. The character heā€™s written is on the queer spectrum but not particularly discriminating. However, one night a month when the moon is full, he reliably leaves his wife and kids and hooks up with a guy. The playā€™s conceit starts off with two men cruising in the dark outdoors. 

Before penning ā€œLĆ½kos Ɓnthrōpos,ā€ Bartlett believed ā€œthere isnā€™t a lot of horror theater, and what there is, isnā€™t particularly sophisticated. Itā€™s kind of grand guignol, or tongue in cheek,ā€ and he was ā€” and remains ā€” eager to expand on that. 

So, he spent a month in the summer of 2022 in Rhodes, Greece, immersed in lycanthropy. Based in an Airbnb far from any touristy hubbub, he explored the countryside and wrote his werewolf-themed play. 

ā€œIt was sunny, dry summertime, and I wrote a good deal of the play in ruins and ancient amphitheaters; I looked at classical texts, including Ovidā€™s ā€˜Metamorphoses,ā€™ and included much of what I learned in my play.ā€ 

His characters talk about rocky landscape, the heavens, and the effect of the moon on the Earth ranging from tides to our moods and, of course, its impact on werewolves. Itā€™s all a bit more nuanced than the classic Hollywood take, i.e. Lon Chaney Jrā€™s 1941 horror hit ā€œThe Wolf Man.ā€  

In keeping with the playwrightā€™s love for site specific locales, ā€œLĆ½kos Ɓnthrōposā€ premiered around Halloween in 2022 in a clearing in the woods on a farm near Bartlettā€™s home in Davidsonville, Md.  

The team that opened the two-hander in the woods, director Alex Levy and cast members Patrick Kilpatrick and Nicholas Gerwitz, remain on board for the Congressional Cemetery version. 

Moving the story from the farm to an urban cemetery in the Nationā€™s Capital presented some amusing challenges: ā€œI definitely did some tweaking; rewrites include references to the city and all the dog walkers found in the cemetery. Itā€™s been fun.ā€  

A horror fanatic since childhood, Bartlett cut his teeth on George A. Romeroā€™s ā€œNight of the Living Dead,ā€ when his aunt let him stay up past his bedtime and watch the scary classic on TV, and though he only made it through the first five minutes, and didnā€™t didnā€™t sleep for a week, he was hooked.  

Growing up in Accokeek, Md., Bartlett was introduced to theater through his high school pit band. Later he acted, and did some directing at the community theater level. After returning to school for a second masterā€™s in playwrighting, he took up writing. 

With his current production, he says ā€œThe gods had my back. We open on Halloween and its first weekend will be performed under a full moon,ā€ says Bartlett. ā€œPeople (about 30 per performance) are asked to bring a fold up chair, blanket and lantern or flashlight. They will meet as a group and walk together, with a guide, to the performance site at the cemetery where the actors will be in place surrounded by a circle of eerie light. Death metal will be pounding from the woods.  

ā€œSometimes itā€™s more terrifying if the violence is offstage. I believe in the mantra donā€™t show the monster, so there are moments when the characters turn off the lights.ā€

Also, a longtime professor of theater at Bowie State University, Bartlett is a semester from retiring after which he intends on becoming ā€œa full-time creepy writer.ā€

Upcoming projects include a play about the controversial and closeted FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and his longtime romantic partner Clyde Tolson, who not incidentally are buried just a few yards apart in Congressional Cemetery. Largely fictional, the play wonā€™t be site specific, but, says Bartlett, will have its own monster in Hoover.

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A contemporary take on ā€˜Romeo and Julietā€™ at Folger

Creating a world that appeals to young audiences

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Fran Tapia as Lady Capulet, Caro Reyes Rivera as Juliet, and Luz Nicolas as Nurse in William Shakespeareā€™sĀ ā€˜Romeo and Juliet,ā€™ directed by Raymond O. Caldwell at the Folger Theatre through Nov. 10.Ā (Photo by Erika Nizborski)

ā€˜Romeo and Julietā€™
Through November 10
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St. S.E., Washington, D.C.
$20-$84
Folger.edu

In out director Raymond O. Caldwellā€™s production of ā€œRomeo and Julietā€ currently playing at Folger Theatre, the Capulet family are Puerto Rican except for Lord Capulet (Todd Scoffield) who is white with a Southern accent. 

Fran Tapia (Lady Capulet), Luz Nicolas (Nurse), and Caro Reyes Rivera (Juliet) all speak Spanish when they are together. Rosa Garay LĆ³pez (Translator and Interpreter) translated certain scenes into Spanish. The Montagues are played by a cast of multiracial and multiethnic actors.

Tapia, a Helen Hayes Award-winning actor, identifies as part of the LGBTQ community. She says, “I am Chilean, Latina, queer and a proud immigrant.”  

After receiving her acting degree in Santiago de Chile, Catholic University, Tapia started working professionally as an actor and a dancer with contemporary dance companies.

The newly single actor has been living in D.C. since 2019 and plans to remain based here. Recently, she shared her experiences playing Julietā€™s mother in Shakespeareā€™s story of the star-crossed lovers, a play she first read as a girl in Santiago. 

WASHINGTON BLADE:  Typically, Lady Capulet is portrayed as detached, a woman who canā€™t even remember her daughterā€™s age. Whatā€™s your spin on the Capulet matriarch?

FRAN TAPIA:  From what Iā€™ve read and seen, including productions and films, sheā€™s a woman who has distanced herself from her daughter.

I see the part differently. I want to make it special, to get away from the hard mother. She does care about her husband and daughter. Her expectations are shaped by society more than anything, she has conservative goals, but that doesnā€™t mean that she doesnā€™t love her daughter.

BLADE: What else about your Lady Capulet is unique?

TAPIA: First of all, sheā€™s Puerto Rican. She speaks in Spanish and English. She loves to sing. Sheā€™s a party girl. Sheā€™s a devoted wife and partner in crime with Lord Capulet, sharing both his ambition and devotion to family. 

Lady Capulet wants to look pretty and she loves money. And she wants to be blonde, of course. I wear 26-inch blonde extensions for the part. Iā€™m giving so much drama to it. Itā€™s fun and dramatic and over the top.

She can share secrets with the Nurse played by Luz [Nicolas]. There are nuances with how she speaks to her. Lady Capulet speaks English when she wants to be formal. Luz brings the comedy. Sheā€™s also, a very good dramatic actress.

BLADE: Itā€™s a contemporary take on the Bardā€™s masterpiece. 

TAPIA: Itā€™s super contemporary. Raymond [Caldwell] is looking to create a world that appeals to young audiences. Heā€™s working with so many designers doing projection, lighting, and sound. There are so many surprises for you. 

BLADE: Am I right in guessing itā€™s not set in Verona.

TAPIA: Itā€™s set in a fictionalized Washington, D.C., inspired by the election year. The Capulets are a conservative political family based on nobody in particular. Theyā€™re struggling for power through the marriage of their daughter. Unlike the source material, theyā€™re not trying to marry off a teenager. Itā€™s more about preserving a legacy. Thatā€™s scary to lose when youā€™re used to having it.

BLADE: How is working with Raymond? Iā€™ve heard so many good things about him. 

TAPIA: Prior to joining the cast, Iā€™d heard from friends that he was good, but I had no idea how good. When I got this part, I gave myself the opportunity to offer my resources like singing. And heā€™s been super receptive. 

Raymond is very clear and bold. Lady Capulet has problems with addiction more intense than I imagined. I wonā€™t specify but weā€™re diving into all of that. There are so many kinds of addiction including social media for instance. In real life, Iā€™m addicted to Diet Coke as anyone in the cast can tell you. 

BLADE: Is Lady Capulet a part youā€™ve longed to play? 

TAPIA: Not really, but under the direction of Raymond Iā€™m loving every second of it. His view of things has given me a lot of freedom that I didnā€™t expect.

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