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Coming out on tune

Musical follows middle-aged man’s discoveries in ’60s-era Ireland

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Keegan Theatreā€™s latest offering ā€” ā€œA Man of No Importanceā€ ā€” is the coming out story of a middle-aged gay man set to a melodic score. Under Mark A. Rhea and Christina Coakleyā€™s deft co-direction, what might have been something a little sappy is instead unabashedly sentimental but not treacly.

Alfie Byrne (Buzz Mauro), the musicalā€™s title character, spends his days collecting tickets on a Dublin bus, but his mind is rarely on his work. When not reading aloud to daily commuters from the pages of his literary hero Oscar Wilde, the closeted bus conductor is either thinking about the St. Imeldaā€™s Players, a local amateur theatrical troupe whose productions he directs, or mooning over his co-worker Robbie Fay (John Robert Keena), a cute bus driver about 20 years his junior.

Created by the Broadway trio behind ā€œRagtimeā€ (composer-lyricist team Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, and gay playwright Terrence McNally), the musical is adapted from the 1994 same-titled Albert Finney film, and for the most part faithfully follows that storyline: Itā€™s working class Ireland circa 1964. Alfie wants to mount a production of Wildeā€™s ā€œSalomeā€ featuring lovely bus passenger Adele Rice (talented newcomer Madeline Botteri), as the veil-dancing princess opposite young Robbie in the part of John the Baptist. Alfieā€™s plans go awry when the parish board deems “Salome” ā€œa dirty playā€ and shuts down the show.

On top of his very public struggle with the church, Alfie is also grappling privately with his sexuality. Unable to discuss ā€œthe love that dare not speak its nameā€ with anyone, including his domineering but goodhearted sister Lily (Kristen Jepperson), Alfie turns to an imaginary confidante, Wilde (Harv Lester). Like a scepter turned out in full Edwardian regalia, the legendary gay wit comes to Alfie offering support and inspiration in two somewhat disconcerting scenes.

Smartly, Mauro underplays Alfie. With all the recitation of Wildeā€™s prose and theatricality involved in the role, a lesser actor might have gone over the top. Instead, Mauro gives a powerfully quiet performance; he convincingly portrays a thoughtful but repressed man, well-practiced at deflecting inquiries about girlfriends and resigned to a life without love. Over the course of the longish but quick-paced musical, Mauro subtly conveys the changes that accompany Alfieā€™s growing self acceptance.

Flaherty and Ahrenā€™s pretty score mixes Irish folk with pop and Broadway sounds. Particular highlights from this production include Alfieā€™s oft-reprised waltz ā€œLove Who You Love,ā€ and Baldy Oā€™Sheaā€™s (Tim Lynch) sweet paean to his late wife, ā€œThe Cuddles Mary Grave.ā€ Bigger fun numbers like ā€œGoing Upā€ and ā€œArtā€ show off some of the excellent 17-person cast as they delightfully assay the quirky and dubiously talented members of the St. Imeldaā€™s Players.

Church Street Theater (Keeganā€™s permanent home) is both intimate and versatile ā€” not long ago the small space transformed handily into a derelict East Village loft for the companyā€™s Helen Hayes Award winning production of ā€œRent,ā€ and now itā€™s magically morphed into set designer George Lucasā€™ take on a no-frills Irish church hall. Michael Innocentiā€™s moody lighting and Kelly Peacockā€™s spot on costumes successfully add to the illusion.

ā€œA Man of No Importanceā€ ends sweetly and perhaps too neatly. But in Keegan Theatreā€™s skillful hands, Alfieā€™s story ends just right.

‘A Man of No Importance’
Through July 11
Keegan Theatre at
The Church Street Theatre
1742 Church Street, N.W.
$30-$35
www.keegantheatre.com

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ā€˜Acting their asses offā€™ in ā€˜Exception to the Ruleā€™

Studio production takes place during after-school detention

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Cast of ā€˜Exception to the Ruleā€™ at Studio Theatre (Shana Lee Hill, Khalia Muhammad, Jacques Jean-Mary, Sabrina Lynne Sawyer, Khouri St.Surin, and Steven Taylor Jr.) (Photo by Margot Schulman)

ā€˜Exception to the Ruleā€™
Through Sunday, October 27
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
$40-$95
Studiotheatre.org

After-school detention is a bore, but itā€™s especially tiresome on the last day of classes before a holiday.  

In Dave Harrisā€™s provocative new play ā€œException to the Ruleā€ (now at Studio Theatre) thatā€™s just the case. 

Itā€™s Friday, and the usual suspects are reporting to room 111 for detention before enjoying the long MLK weekend. First on the scene are blaring ā€œbad girlā€ Mikayla (Khalia Muhammad) and nerdy stoner Tommy (Steven Taylor Jr.), followed by mercurial player Dayrin (Jacques Jean-Mary), kind Dasani (Shana Lee Hill), and unreadable Abdul (Khouri St.Surin).Ā 

The familiar is jaw-droppingly altered by the entrance of ā€œCollege Bound Erikaā€ (Sabrina Lynne Sawyer), a detention first timer whose bookworm presence elicits jokes from the others: What happened? You fail a test? 

Dasani (whoā€™s teased for being named for designer water) dubs Erika ā€œSweet Peaā€ and welcomes her to the rule-breaking fold. Together the regulars explain how detention works: The moderator, Mr. Bernie, shows up, signs their slips, and then they go. But today the teacher is tardy. 

As they wait, the kids pass the time laughing, trash talking, flirting, and yelling. When not bouncing around the classroom, Dayrin is grooming his hair, while Dasani endlessly reapplies blush and lip gloss. At one point two boys almost come to blows, nearly repeating the cafeteria brawl that landed them in detention in the first place.  

Itā€™s loud. Itā€™s confrontational. And itā€™s funny.

Erika is naively perplexed: ā€œI thought detention was quiet. A place where everyone remembers the mistakes that got them here and then learns how to not make the same mistakes again.ā€ 

For room 111, the only connection to the outside world is an increasingly glitchy and creepy intercom system. Announcements (bus passes, the schoolā€™s dismal ranking, the impending weekend lockdown, etc.) are spoken by the unseen but unmistakably stentorian-voiced Craig Wallace. 

Dave Harris first conceived ā€œException to the Ruleā€ in 2014 during his junior year at Yale University. In the program notes, the Black playwright describes ā€œException to the Ruleā€ as ā€œa single set / six actors on a stage, just acting their asses off.ā€ Itā€™s true, and they do it well. 

Miranda Haymon is reprising their role as director (they finely helmed the playā€™s 2022 off-Broadway debut at Roundabout Theatre Company in New York). Haymon orchestrates a natural feel to movement in the classroom, and without entirely stilling the action on stage (makeup applying, scribbling, etc.), the out director gives each member of the terrific cast their revelatory moment. In a busy room, we learn that Tommyā€™s goofiness belies trauma, that Mikayla is admirably resourceful, and most startling, why Erika, the schoolā€™s top student, is in detention.   

Mr. Bernie is clearly a no-show. And despite his absence, the regulars are bizarrely loath to leave the confines of 111 for fear of catching yet another detention. Of course, itā€™s emblematic of something bigger. Still, things happen within the room.

While initially treated as a sort of mascot, awkwardly quiet Erika becomes rather direct in her questions and observations. Suddenly, sheā€™s rather stiffly doling out unsolicited advice. 

Itā€™s as if an entirely new person has been thrown into the mix.  

Not all of her guidance goes unheeded. Take fighting for instance. At Erikaā€™s suggestion, St.Surinā€™s Abdul refrains from kicking Dayrinā€™s ass. (Just feet from the audience gathered for a recent matinee in Studioā€™s intimate Mead Theatre, Abdulā€™s frustration resulting from anger while yearning for a world of principled order is palpable as evidenced when a single tear rolled down the actorā€™s right cheek) 

Set designer Tony Cisek renders a no-frills classroom with cinder block walls, a high and horizontal row of frosted fixed windows that become eerily prison like when overhead fluorescent lighting is threateningly dimmed.  

Still, no matter how dark, beyond the classroom door, a light remains aglow, encouraging the kids to ponder an exit plan. 

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Theater

Broadening space for gender nonconforming singers

Robin McGinness, a transfemme baritone, featured in ā€˜Cradle Will Rockā€™

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ā€˜The Cradle Will Rockā€™Ā 
Goldman Theater DCJCC (10/5-13) and
Baltimore Theatre Project (10/18-20)
Inseries.org

Robin McGinness, an accomplished Baltimore-based transfemme baritone, knows a lot about music. Also, as a gender nonconforming performer sheā€™s learned how to navigate and carve out a career in opera. 

Currently, she is playing Mr. Mister in the IN Series production of ā€œThe Cradle Will Rock,ā€ a 1937 Brechtian allegory of corporate greed written and composed by Marc Blitzstein who was openly gay when that wasnā€™t an easy thing to be.

IN Series, D.C.ā€™s innovative opera theater, which happens to rank high among McGinnessā€™s favorite companies, infuses its take on a seldom seen classic with new energy, humor, melody, and a thirst for justice. The production features a cast of some the areaā€™s best young vocalists and is helmed by Shanara Gabrielle (stage direction) and Emily Baltzer (musical direction).

Growing up in southern New Hampshire, McGinness started off performing in Waldorf school, followed by Vermontā€™s progressive Putney boarding school, and then Oberlin College where she focused in vocal performance after having been singled out as a well-rounded baritone. 

WASHINGTON BLADE: What drew you to IN Series?   

ROBIN MCGINNESS: They [out artistic director Timothy Nelson and other company members] were doing work that didnā€™t take opera too preciously. No kid gloves. The theater world has large productions collapsed down to smaller audiences. Thatā€™s a mode that opera might follow. IN Series was doing things that excited me. 

My first show with them was two years ago. Iā€™d just moved back from being a young artist with an opera company in Arizona when IN Series needed someone for ā€œNightsong of Orpheus.ā€ Truly a wild piece of theater that I loved. Since then, Iā€™ve been talking them up with everyone I meet, and enthusiastically engaging with them when I can. 

BLADE: How is it to be transfemme in the opera world?

MCGINNESS: Performing hasnā€™t always been easy for me. There was a time when my self-image and identity aligned with composing, to produce beautiful complex music behind the scenes and not have to be center of attention.

Coming into my undergrad years, my intention was to pursue music and divorce myself from certain parts of identity including my gender identity that I didnā€™t think would help my career. But that would change. 

I had awareness and had for years but made a choice that being a musician was the most important part of my identity. As I got to the end of undergrad my picture of what success meant had changed and I couldnā€™t live with this absolutist way of living my life. 

BLADE: And how has that worked out? 

MCGINNESS: Iā€™ve been trying to break down barriers between the personal and professional sides and try to combine that into something more functional. It can feel dangerous. 

Early on when trying to figure out how to present as a female baritone in the opera, the question I got most was wonā€™t that effect your voice? People are more understanding now. And Iā€™m grateful to those who have broadened this space for gender nonconforming singers. 

BLADE: Does it take courage?

MCGINNESS: Yes, but Iā€™m not pursuing the same career that I was. Iā€™m interested in performing with IN Series now. Iā€™m not trying to pursue a full-time touring opera career. 

It seems that either opera companies wouldnā€™t want to hire because they feel they couldnā€™t bring you out to donors or companies would want to hire but for the identity politics of it. Both would be anathema to me. 

Itā€™s a ridiculously competitive industry. But Iā€™m building a career in the area where I am now, and itā€™s going well. With people who know my work and hire me for the work. 

BLADE: What can we expect from ā€œThe Cradle Will Rockā€? 

MCGINNESS: If youā€™re expecting Puccini, it wonā€™t be that. Itā€™s gritty. A lot of spoken dialogue. Closer to spoken theater with some music thrown in than it is an opera.

It pokes out power and dynamics that queer audiences might enjoy seeing be deconstructed, particularly when itā€™s done in a really smart way. 

BLADE: Whatā€™s ahead for you? 

MCGINNESS: Iā€™m 33. Musically, Iā€™m just hitting my prime so I have some good years of singing ahead of me.

I like my work to be complex, interwoven and layered. In addition to performing, I teach career courses and work in the career office mentoring students at Peabody Institute in Baltimore. All of us who do that here are practicing performers. As long as I have performance work coming in and have money to put bread on the table, Iā€™m happy ā€” way too busy ā€” but happy.

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Theater

A busy season underway in local theater scene

Something for everyone indeed

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Carlos Castillo as Hugo and Victor Salinas as Elmar in ā€˜The 22+ Weddings of Hugo.ā€™ (Photo by Stan Weinstein)

ā€œSomething for everyone.ā€ Itā€™s a tired tagline, but in the case of this fallā€™s DMV theater season, it happens to be pretty much true. And a lot of the work is queer, directly or tangentially. Hereā€™s a sliver of whatā€™s already opened and whatā€™s in store. 

Theater J jumps into the new season with ā€œHow to Be a Korean Womanā€ (through Sept. 22), Sun Mee Chometā€™s comic and heartfelt telling of searching for her birth family in Seoul, South Korea. edcjcc.org

Woolly Mammoth Theatre opens with ā€œThe Comeuppanceā€ (through Oct. 6), the latest work from Tony-winning out playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.Ā 

ā€œOn the night of their 20th high school reunion, the self-proclaimed ā€œMulti-Ethnic Reject Groupā€ reconnects while they pregame in Prince Georgeā€™s County, Md. But amid the flow of reminiscing, an otherworldly presence forces these former classmates to face the past head-on and reckon with an unknowable future.ā€ Woollymammoth.netĀ 

Signature Theatre kicks off with the D.C. premiere of Eboni Boothā€™s Pulitzer-winning play ā€œPrimary Trustā€ (through Oct. 20). Boothā€™s contemporary humor-filled tender tale of self-discovery and connection is followed by Signatureā€™s big musical ā€œA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forumā€ (Oct. 29-Jan. 12), Stephen Sondheimā€™s classic Roman-set musical comedy staged by Signatureā€™s out artistic director Matthew Gardiner. Sigtheatre.orgĀ 

GALA Hispanic Theatreā€™s season opener, Gustavo Ottā€™s ā€œThe 22+ Weddings of Hugoā€ (through Sept. 29), is based on a true story. Performed in Spanish with easy-to-follow English surtitles, Ottā€™s raucous tale seeks to cover the various scenarios immigrants experience through many weddings. The cast features out actors Carlos Castillo as Hugo, a quiet postal clerk, and Victor Salinas who plays Elmar, a gay writer seeking refuge. JosĆ© Zayas directs.Ā  Galatheatre.org.

Mosaic Theater Company at Atlas Performing Arts Center presents ā€œLady Day at Emersonā€™s Bar and Grillā€ (through Oct. 6), a play with music about jazz legend/queer icon Billie Holiday starring Roz White. Mosaicā€™s out artistic director Reginald L. Douglas directs. Mosaictheater.orgĀ 

Fordā€™s Theatre presents ā€œMister Lincolnā€ (Sept. 20-Oct. 13), a ā€œwitty and revelatoryā€ one-man show starring Scott Bakula (stage and screen actor famous for TVā€™s ā€œQuantum Leapā€). Fords.org Ā 

ExPats Theatre (also housed at Atlas) opens with ā€œMarleneā€ (Sept. 28 through Oct. 20) featuring Karin Rosnizeck as the legendary Dietrich, a great star who famously defied social and gender conventions while dazzling the world with her glamorous career. Expatstheate.comĀ 

Thereā€™s a lot on offer at George Mason Universityā€™s Center for Arts this autumn, not least of all ā€œAn Evening with Lea Salongaā€ (Saturday, Sept. 28).

Tony-winning singer and actress Lea Salonga headlines the 2024 ARTS by George! benefit concert, performing songs from a four-decade career on Broadway and in animated movie hits. Born in the Philippines, Salonga originated the lead role of Kim in Miss Saigon, and she was the first Asian cast member to perform the role of Eponine in Les MisĆ©rables on Broadway. 

Other promising one-day-only GMU entertainments include Ballet HispƔnico (Oct. 5) and Mark Morris Dance Group and Music Ensemble (Oct. 19). cfa.gmu.edu

Creative Cauldron in Falls Church presents ā€œSondheim Tribute Revueā€ (Oct. 3-27) a celebratory salute to musical giant Stephen Sondheim with eight performers singing 20 titles from the gay composerā€™s brilliant songbook including ā€œCompany,ā€ ā€œFollies,ā€ ā€œInto the Woods,ā€ ā€œA Little Night Music,ā€ ā€œSweeney Todd,ā€ and the recent Tony Award Winner, ā€œMerrily We Roll Along,ā€ and more. Creativecauldron.orgĀ 

Olney Theatre explores what makes a president great with ā€œEisenhower: This Piece of Ground,ā€ Sept. 27-Oct. 20. And for Disney fans, donā€™t miss ā€œFrozen,ā€ Oct. 24-Jan. 5. Olneytheatre.org

The Kennedy Center offers laughs and nostalgia with ā€œClueā€ (Sept.17 through Oct. 6), a whodunit based on the fan-favorite 1985 Paramount movie and inspired by the classic Hasbro board game. Next up is ā€œThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Beeā€ (Oct. 11 ā€“ 20). 

Other Kennedy Center treats include ā€œAn Evening with David Sedarisā€ (Oct. 15).Ā  The gay humorist is slated to share his inimitable brand of satire and hilarious observations, and then itā€™s out sound healing artist Davin Youngs with ā€œThe Resetā€ (Oct. 28), his take on a ā€œsound bathā€ including improvisational singing, looping devices, and healing instruments. Kennedy-center.orgĀ 

Fall is the best time at the beach, so plan a weekend in Rehoboth and visit the phenomenal Clear Space Theatre. ā€œVenus in Furā€ runs Sept. 19-29 followed by ā€œSweeney Toddā€ Oct. 11-27; and ā€œShrekā€ runs Nov. 8-10. Clearspacetheatre.org

Fall cabaret will be in full swing at the Gay Menā€™s Chorus of Washington, D.C., as soloists share heart-warming stories and songs about their travel adventures (Oct. 19 at 2, 5, and 8 p.m.). And, of course, no holiday season is complete without the Chorusā€™s annual holiday celebration set for Dec. 7, 14, and 15. Gmcw.org

Folger Theatre presents Shakespeareā€™s ā€œRomeo and Julietā€ (Oct. 1-Nov. 10) staged by inspiring out director Raymond O. Caldwell. A large, versatile cast features Cole Taylor and Caro Rayes Rivera as the star-crossed lovers, and a host of familiar local faces including Luz Nicolas, Deirdra LaWan Starnes, and out actor Fran Tapia as Lady Capulet. folger.edu

Studio Theatre serves up ā€œSummer, 1976,ā€ (opening Nov. 13), a memory play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Auburn (ā€œProofā€).Ā  Directed by Vivienne Benesch, the two-hander features longtime D.C. favorites Kate Eastwood Norris and out actor Holly Twyford playing disparate women whose unlikely friendship and ensuing connection changes the course of their lives. Studiotheatre.orgĀ 

And on Wednesday, Dec. 4, Strathmore in North Bethesda presents ā€œA Swinginā€™ Little Christmas,ā€ a fun takeoff on kitschy, classic ā€˜50s and ā€˜60s holiday specials, featuring out TV star Jane Lynch (ā€œGlee,ā€ ā€œThe Marvelous Mrs. Maiselā€) alongside Kate Flannery (ā€œThe Officeā€), Tim Davis (ā€œGlee’sā€ vocal arranger), and The Tony Guerrero Quintet. Strathmore.org

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