Arts & Entertainment
Standouts from the stage
Gay-fueled creativity abounds on local theater scene
The fall theater season is here. With that comes a deluge of new productions and for one longstanding local company, a new name. What was the Washington Shakespeare Company is now WSC Avant Bard, a clever adjustment better fitting the troupe’s mission to boldly interpret the classics.
WSC’s season opens with Samuel Beckett’s “Happy Days” (through Sept. 25). Mostly a monologue, the 1961 absurdist work spotlights Winnie, an upbeat, chirpy woman who passes her days chatting endlessly while becoming increasingly immobilized in the hot sun in the middle of nowhere. And yet she remains cheery, unfazed by her situation. As Winnie, Delia Taylor, who’s gay, brings intelligence, sensitivity and a lot of humor to the tough role.
Beckett calls for his heroine to be stuck in a mound and most productions comply with some sort of sandy or rocky pile, but not here. Set designer Tony Cisek, also gay, takes another tack ingeniously locking Winnie into endless yards of fabric. Trapped in her dress like a little doll in a giant doll cake, she sits atop her sartorial prison talking, arranging her cocktail hat and rummaging through a capacious satchel in search of necessities ranging from a toothbrush to a long barreled pistol. Her confined world is backed by an endless curve of beautiful blue sky.
Splendidly staged by director Jose Carrasquillo (gay too), the surprisingly poignant production comments on optimism and the fleeting nature of life. Carrasquillo also displays terrific timing as Winnie’s uncommunicative, slug-like husband Willie who makes his home in a hole behind his wife’s skirts. (wscavantbard.org)
Up-and-coming No Rules Theatre Company kicks off its season with Diane Son’s “Stop Kiss” (through Oct. 2) at the H Street Playhouse. It’s the story of two young women who are brutally assaulted after kissing in public. Acclaimed local actor Holly Twyford (who’s gay) makes her directorial debut. (norulestheatre.org)
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s gay artistic director Michael Kahn begins his season with a world premiere production of Jean-François Regnard’s 1708 farce “The Heir Apparent” (through Oct. 23) adapted by the brilliant David Ives. (shakespearetheatre.org)
Venus Theatre opens with the world premiere of “The Stenographer” (through Sept. 25) by Greek playwright Zoe Mavroudi. The two-hander featuring local bi actor Frank Britton and Amy Rhodes is essentially a tale about writing and what happens when writing implicates the writer. Housed in an intimate storefront venue in Laurel, Md., Venus’ mission is to foster the voices of women and children in the theater. (venustheatre.org)
Ganymede Arts may have closed its doors, but the LGBT-centric company’s former artistic director Jeffrey Johnson remains active. In October, Johnson and singer/songwriter Tom Goss (both gay) are joining forces for two nights of music titled “Under the Covers” (Oct. 21-22) at the Black Fox Lounge. The show offers a rare chance to see Johnson perform as himself and not his pink-haired alter ego. (pinkhairedone.com).
The Studio Theatre starts off with “The Habit of Art” (through Oct. 16) by Alan Bennett, the gay playwright who wrote “The History Boys.” Based on a fictional meeting between poet W.H. Auden and composer Benjamin Britten (both Brits, both gay), the 2009 work is described as “wistful and filthily funny.” The strong cast includes a talented trio: Ted van Griethuysen, Patxon Whitehead and gay actor Cameron Folmar.
In November, Studio’s gay artistic producing director Serge Seiden stages German playwright Roland Schimmelpfennig’s “The Golden Dragon” (Nov. 2- Dec. 11), a comic look at people whose lives are interconnected by a Chinese restaurant. The five- person cast (including the terrific Sarah Marshall, who’s — you guessed it — gay) cross age, race, and gender to play 15 characters. (studiotheatre.org)
At Gala Hispanic Theatre, Spain-based gay director José Luis Arellano-García is staging “¡Ay, Carmela!” (Sept. 15-Oct. 9), the story of a vaudeville team forced to perform for Franco’s fascist troops during the Spanish Civil War. According to Gala’s associate producing director Abel Lopez, “The playwright [José Sanchis Sinisterra] pays homage to gay Spanish poet and playwright Federico García Lorca by referring to him in a scene when Carmela speaks about meeting Lorca in the afterlife. The similarities surrounding Lorca’s assassination by the fascists and Carmela’s execution are striking. Both stood up for their beliefs and paid dearly for it.” (galatheatre.org)
The green-eyed monster is poised to stride the boards at Folger Theatre. Staged by Robert Richmond, the company’s “Othello” (Oct. 16–Nov. 27) features Owiso Odera in the title role, and reunites members of the creative team behind last season’s “Henry VIII” including celebrated gay designers William Ivey Long (costumes) and busy Tony Cisek (sets). Zehra Fazal who’s best known for her one woman tour de force “Headscarf and the Angry Bitch” plays Bianca. (folger.edu)
Signature Theatre’s fall season begins with two musical premieres: “The Boy Detective Fails” (through Oct. 16), the story of a kid sleuth who grows up to investigate the mystery surrounding his own sister’s death. It’s staged by Joe Calarco and composed by Adam Gwon (both gay). “The Hollow” — based on Washington Irving’s classic tale — is staged by Matthew Gardiner and composed by Matt Conner (also both gay).
Next up at Signature, E. Patrick Johnson performs his one-man play “Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South” (Sept. 13-Oct .9). In this new work based on his acclaimed book, Johnson, chair of the Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University, relays his own story and those of a dozen other men he’s interviewed and come to know.
And later in the season, Signature’s gay artistic director Eric Schaeffer stages the musical “Hairspray” (Nov. 21-Jan. 29) adapted from John Waters’ 1988 Baltimore-set flick about big girls, big hair and racial segregation. In what might prove a stroke of casting genius, Schaeffer has tapped radio personality Robert Aubry Davis to play Edna, everyone’s favorite plus size house frau. We’ll just have to wait and see. (signature-theatre.org)
Citrine, Andromeda and Silver Ware Sidora celebrated their birthdays at JR.’s Bar with a drag show on Saturday, Nov. 2.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Theater
Signature’s fresh take on classic ‘Forum’
Actor Mike Millan says ‘it’s like a new work in many ways’
‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’
Through Jan. 12
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, Va.
$40-$126
sigtheatre.org
For out actor Mike Millan, Signature Theatre’s production of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” couldn’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 “I live to grovel.”
“I’ve never done ‘Forum,’ so to me it’s like a new work in many ways,” he says. “And because it’s older and has a classic musical point of view and we’re doing it now, it’s as if we’ve been given a lovely opportunity to make it our own.”
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 “Forum.”
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 I’ve ever played. He’s a sort of fop and he’s in drag most of the second act. How can you not see him as a queer character?”
When the part was written it was sort of gay coded and now it’s just abundantly clear, you don’t think twice about it.
BLADE: “Forum” 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. We’re doing fart jokes in tunics, and the material and jokes really hold up. You’ll feel better leaving than when you came in.
BLADE: All that and a Sondheim score too?
MILLAN: He’s the reason I’m here. In high school, I discovered his “Into the Woods” and remember locking myself in my room until I knew every word to “Giants in the Sky.”
“Passion,” “Follies,” I love it all. He’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 “Last Midnight” alone in my car, it fills me with a joy that I’ve never gotten from any other composer or jukebox musical.
BLADE: In 2022, you played Idina Menzel super fan Jeff in “Which Way to the Stage” at Signature. Are you glad to be back?
MILLAN: Yes, I’m happy to be employed. It’s a tough business. Not only are we asked to be great singers, dancers, actors, and performers but we’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. It’s a supportive community.
BLADE: Speaking of partners, do you miss being away from home?
MILLAN: Sometime it’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, I’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, I’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 “I was there the night Patti LuPone yelled at the guy who took a picture.”
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.
The flight over to Barcelona was uneventful and landed on-time in this beautiful city. I was met at the airport by a very nice taxi driver I had pre-arranged through booking.com. He drove me to my hotel, the Barcelona Continental, on the Ramblas. It was a little disappointing. They neglected to tell those booking the road in front of the hotel was dug up and therefore you needed to be let out of the taxi across the Ramblas and had a long walk with your luggage. It is really old and not redone, except for the bathrooms, those are nice. But I would not recommend it.
I was early and they couldn’t get me checked in for a few hours, so had coffee and then met my friend Simone, also staying at the hotel. She had checked in a couple of days earlier and had the same reaction to the hotel I did. But that didn’t stop either one of us from enjoying Barcelona in all its beauty. I don’t sleep on planes, so the first day was spent relaxing and wandering aimlessly past cathedrals, long shopping streets, and wonderful little side streets off the Ramblas. Simone took off to do her shopping with more specific plans. It was an early night for me and we met again in the morning for coffee and spent a wonderful day together, shopping, walking, and seeing some great street performers. Then it was dinner with friends who we would be boarding the ship with the next morning. They kept predicting rain. It did come late at night and continued through us heading to the port to board the ASCENT. Because of the broken-up roadway we got a little wet heading to the taxi stand, which didn’t make us feel any better about the hotel.
It was a short ride to the port, and soon the beautiful ASCENT came into view. Boarding was easy and then suddenly the cruise was beginning. A walk around the ship unveiled some beautiful artwork, and small changes from the rest of the EDGE series ships I have been on. But it still felt like a welcome home. I headed to deck 15 and the Retreat lounge to meet some of the 70 people I would be traveling with. Scott and Dustin of My Lux Cruise had planned a sail-away party for all of us in their beautiful Iconic suite. They will be hosting a number of events during the cruise, which makes them such great travel agents, and friends. Another friend, the extraordinarily talented Andrew Derbyshire, who would be performing that evening, was there. He was on the ship for only one night, getting off in Alicante to head home to the UK the next day.
I joined friends, Scott, Mike, and the irrepressible Jason, for dinner in Luminae, the dining room for the retreat. It was to be a night where dinner came first and then the show. At 9 p.m. we were seated in the third row of the beautiful theater, to hear Andrew. He didn’t disappoint. He is better than ever. He has an incredible voice and such great stage presence. I, and everyone else, were just so sorry he wouldn’t be staying on the cruise with us. He reminded us he has been working with Celebrity for more than eight years and is one of their biggest stars. He also hosts their Pride month events doing so with great panache. As a young man Andrew performed in the West End in London, and has been a star performer for much of his life. Then it was off to The Club for a little disco music, and then off to bed with a satisfied smile on my face to complete day one on the ASCENT.
Day two began with a knock on the door of my cabin with delivery of coffee, juice, and a bagel. I sat down to write, which I do every morning, and then headed to the gym for my first workout on the ship. It was empty, which was great, and the sun had come out and the view from the lifecycle made it fun. After the gym I headed to the retreat lounge and met some friends and had a cappuccino. The sky started to get gray and clearly it was going to rain in Alicante, our first stop. But that didn’t stop anyone from walking around the town. I was getting the best feeling this was going to be a great cruise.
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