Theater
A Rose is still a Rose
Out actor spins friendship into art with new self-penned show
‘Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose’
Through Feb. 7
4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington
$25-45
703-820-9771
Ed Dixon is a compelling storyteller.
His memoir “Secrets of a life Onstage … And Off,” includes tales of a difficult childhood, big Broadway success and overcoming drug addiction. And now with his new one-man show “Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose,” currently playing at Signature Theatre, Dixon puts the spotlight on his close friendship with famed English character actor George Rose that began with a national tour of “The Student Prince” in the early ‘70s and ended abruptly when Rose was murdered by his adopted son at his vacation home in the Dominican Republic in 1988.
“When I met George, I was a dumb kid from Oklahoma. I didn’t know anything,” says Dixon, 67. “And he was a powerful, successful man who was openly gay. That was life changing for me. I’d never seen that before. And George was openly hilariously gay. He’d refer to himself that oldest white woman in show business and things like that. As a young gay man, it was astounding to me that he could feel free enough to express himself in that way, but he could.”
After “The Student Prince” tour ended, Dixon and Rose’s paths continued to cross in New York and summer stock. Soon, a close friendship forged. When the established Rose went to Dixon for voice lessons (in addition to successful actor, composer and playwright, Dixon is a highly sought after voice coach) and the bond further intensified.
And while Rose was a Tony Award-winning Broadway actor, he was also an eccentric (he kept a pet lynx in his New York apartment) and a first class raconteur, says Dixon. He’d been everywhere and knew everyone. He would drop into the voices of famous friends like Noel Coward, Gladys Cooper, Laurence Olivier or Ralph Richardson when they’d show up in his conversation. Two years ago, Dixon started putting his memories of Rose to paper.
Told in the first person, “Georgie” recounts 25 years of friendship. Like Rose, Dixon adroitly slips into the voices of about 30 characters including Rose and some of his storied pals.
“Ed does all the voices,” says “Georgie’s” director and Signature’s out artistic director Eric Schaeffer. “A longtime voice teacher and an actor, Ed knows the instrument and how to manipulate it. He makes it look easy.”
“The show is especially interesting because it’s so personal,” Schaeffer says. “It’s about George Rose yes, but it’s also and the personal friendship and working and living in the theater. Fittingly the set is an old back stage with a wall of hemp lines, ghost lights and a dilapidated proscenium. It’s evocative of that world. It’s also about thinking you know someone when you really don’t. There are many layers to it and Ed has given it an unpredictable structure.”
Midway through, the play takes a dark turn. On a visit to Rose’s Caribbean retreat, Dixon learns unsettling things about his longtime friend, which ultimately contribute to Rose’s violent death.
“I’d been quoting George all my life but it takes time to be in a place where you can tell this kind of story. I’ve lost friends in my life, but having a close friend be murdered is an inexpressible thing. And I needed a place to do it where I’d feel comfortable. At Signature, the rehearsal process has been so gracious. Eric [Schaeffer] and lighting designer Chris Lee are my good friends. I’m telling my most personal story and get to do it with people I love. There’s nothing quite like it.”
Dixon doesn’t expect all of today’s audiences to be familiar with Rose and his cast of famous and fascinating friends.
“I hope it’s like when you look at the characters in the bar in the ‘Star Wars’ movie, you don’t need to know anything about them except that they’re interesting characters. Writing about the past is truly a healing experience. It’s amazing the details that return and how you re-experience the relationship. Initially I didn’t think I’d remember enough and then the memories came flooding back.”
Theater
Second City brings ‘Dance Like There’s Black People Watching’ to D.C.
‘The full spectrum of Blackness and queerness represented’
‘Dance Like There’s Black People Watching’
Through Dec. 22
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
641 D St., N.W.
$40 – $83
woollymammoth.net
The Second City, Chicago’s famed improv proving ground, makes a timely return to Woolly Mammoth with “Dance Like There’s Black People Watching,” a humor-loaded and sharp show especially tailored to D.C.
Breon Arzell who’s Black and gay, has been a part of Second City and “Dance Like There’s Black People Watching” since 2022, first as choreographer and now as both cast member and choreographer. He says although the show is highlighting Black culture, it’s geared for everyone. In short, “if you don’t know about [Black culture], learn about it; and if you’re a part of it, come celebrate with us.”
He adds, “There are some things Black audiences will instantly get and appreciate more. But there’s something for everyone to enjoy. It’s rooted in joy and comedy.”
Performed by six talented and versatile Black actors, the show consists of sketches derived from improvisation, audience participation improv, monologues, songs, and rap solos.
As the title suggests, Arzell’s choreography is a vital part of what’s happening on stage, too. The dance (inspired by TV’s “In Living Color” and its unforgettable Fly Girls) peppers the show’s 90 minutes with bursts of backup and transitional moves.
“Dance Like There’s Black People Watching” was created and premiered in Chicago, and it was “very Chicago,” says Arzell, adding “there were some references that wouldn’t have worked here, so we slotted in some D.C. specific things including political references and there’s a cast member [Julius Shanks II] who’s currently in his senior year at Howard University. He shouts out the school.”
It’s opening in D.C. at an undeniably hot time, and there’s no guarantee that election results will be settled anytime soon. Arzell says, “We know nothing will be wrapped up neatly with a bow. We have contingency plans depending on how things go and how that might play into the material.”
Any queer aspects to the show? “Oh, it’s so gay in a lot of ways,” he says without hesitation. “I don’t shy away from queerness at all and I make sure it’s infused in my character work.”
For instance, during songs he changes lyrics, mostly pronouns, and intention. Also, his costuming is gender fluid and close to his preferred real life masc-femme style.
And his funniest bit? He says it’s his praise dance, “a good old Black church moment. It’s very fun, comes out of nowhere, and audiences love it.”
While based in the Windy City, Arzell, 41, is no stranger to Woolly Mammoth. In both 2022 and 2023, he memorably acted in “Ain’t No Mo’” and “Incendiary,” respectively.
“I’m an actor first and foremost,” he says. “I was a theater major in college [Miami University in Oxford, Ohio] but choreography sort of just happened to me. I’ve always had an affinity for movement. As a kid growing up in Detroit, it was me dancing in front of the TV doing a little show for company. I was that little chubby Black kid.
Watching videos when MTV actually was music television, he learned to dance and developed a vision. Now with regard to professional employment, choreography is on par with acting. His “absolute jam” is acting in a show that he’s also choreographed.
Beyond the comedy and the fun, says Arzell, are the perspective and inclusiveness that come with the work and its troupe of players.
“As Black people we’re not a monolith; there’s not a specific way to operate as a Black person in this world. And the same goes for queer people.
“At Woolly, you’ll see the full spectrum of Blackness and queerness represented.”
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.
Theater
Sexy, spooky werewolf tale comes to Congressional Cemetery
‘Lýkos Ánthrōpos’ explores story of men who live double lives
Lýkos Ánthrōpos
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 “Lýkos Ánthrōpos.” 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.
“Vampires are great and I love ghosts and kind of believe in the spirit world, but werewolves are my favorite,” he says.
Bartlett is interested in the duality of men who turn into wolves and consequently live double lives. The character he’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 play’s conceit starts off with two men cruising in the dark outdoors.
Before penning “Lýkos Ánthrōpos,” Bartlett believed “there isn’t a lot of horror theater, and what there is, isn’t particularly sophisticated. It’s kind of grand guignol, or tongue in cheek,” and he was — and remains — 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.
“It was sunny, dry summertime, and I wrote a good deal of the play in ruins and ancient amphitheaters; I looked at classical texts, including Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses,’ and included much of what I learned in my play.”
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. It’s all a bit more nuanced than the classic Hollywood take, i.e. Lon Chaney Jr’s 1941 horror hit “The Wolf Man.”
In keeping with the playwright’s love for site specific locales, “Lýkos Ánthrōpos” premiered around Halloween in 2022 in a clearing in the woods on a farm near Bartlett’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 Nation’s Capital presented some amusing challenges: “I definitely did some tweaking; rewrites include references to the city and all the dog walkers found in the cemetery. It’s been fun.”
A horror fanatic since childhood, Bartlett cut his teeth on George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” 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 didn’t didn’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 master’s in playwrighting, he took up writing.
With his current production, he says “The gods had my back. We open on Halloween and its first weekend will be performed under a full moon,” says Bartlett. “People (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.
“Sometimes it’s more terrifying if the violence is offstage. I believe in the mantra don’t show the monster, so there are moments when the characters turn off the lights.”
Also, a longtime professor of theater at Bowie State University, Bartlett is a semester from retiring after which he intends on becoming “a full-time creepy writer.”
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 won’t be site specific, but, says Bartlett, will have its own monster in Hoover.
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