Theater
Director Alan Paul enjoying frothy romp ‘The Comedy of Errors’
Theater bug bit Michael Kahn protege at young age
Alan Paul says a ‘60s Greek aesthetic has informed much of his work. (Photo courtesy STC)
‘The Comedy of Errors’
Through Oct. 28
Shakespeare Theatre Company
at Lansburgh Theatre
450 7th St., N.W.
$44-118
Director Alan Paul came out at just 15. He was the last of his group at performing arts camp to come clean on his sexuality. The rest had all come out at about 12, he says. Paul felt quite left behind. Certainly he’s never been behind professionally.
At 25, Paul was named Shakespeare Theatre Company associate artistic director under the auspices of legendary STC Artistic Director Michael Kahn. Now 34, Paul boasts an impressive CV crammed with work on classics, opera and musicals. He’s been nominated for several Helen Hayes Awards for directing and won for STC’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” His more recent production of “Camelot” has broken STC box office records.
Growing up in nearby Potomac, Md., Paul made frequent trips to New York to see Broadway musicals. He loved “Sunset Boulevard” with Glenn Close as Norma Desmond but was verily obsessed with the London cast recording featuring Patti LuPone as the reclusive silent film star. From an early age, Paul longed to be a part of the theater world and struck up correspondences with many Broadway professionals. After graduating from Northwestern University where he was in the musical theater program, Paul returned to his hometown to pursue a career in earnest. He splits his time between Washington and New York where he’s often called to meet with designers and audition actors.
Currently, Paul is staging STC’s production of Shakespeare’s early work “The Comedy of Errors,” a farce jam-packed with slapstick and mistaken identity revolving around two sets of identical twins. A twin himself, Paul felt instantly at home with the work’s situations and possibilities.
Recently he took a break from tech week to talk about his latest directorial effort and other things.
WASHINGTON BLADE: I read that you wanted to plumb the work for its romantic and elegant elements. True?
ALAN PAUL: Those were early words. When you see the fart jokes you won’t think elegance. It’s a difficult play because it has to be funny but it also has to be about real people. The characters are searching for lost loved ones. The premise is deep. The comedy of it is what happens in the course of this crazy 24 hours. But there is elegance in the physical production. I wanted a mostly black-and-white set and costumes. I’m inspired by films from the early ‘60s like the Greek romantic comedy “Never on a Sunday” starring Melina Mercouri.
BLADE: Is it wrong to associate you primarily with musicals?
PAUL: I’ve directed many plays but musicals have been the most visible thing I’ve done. I love both. It’s fun to jump back and forth. In addition to Michael (Kahn), my heroes include Jack O’Brien. He directed “Hairspray” and “Henry IV” on Broadway in the same year. And Michael Blakemore who on the same night won Tony Awards for directing a play and a musical, “Copenhagen” and a revival of “Kiss Me, Kate,” respectively. People mistakenly think a director of musicals can’t be serious or real. Or a play director can’t be fun. I try really hard to play both sides of that. For “The Comedy of Errors,” we’re including some original music. It’s about creating that ‘60s Greek feeling. Also, the cast includes Eleasha Gamble who plays the courtesan and owner of the Porcupine Club. How could I not give her a song?
BLADE: You’re a twin. Has that been your way into “The Comedy of Errors”?
PAUL: Yes, I have a twin sister. For me, I understand the bond with my sister. The bond is different from what I have with anyone else. We share a sense of humor. If you looked at our text messages you’d have no idea what it means but we think it’s hilarious. Twins figure into so many of Shakespeare’s plays. I think Shakespeare had twins and one of them died. This play, and “Twelfth Night” especially, is about needing to find your other half. Shakespeare had a fantasy of family coming back together that never happened. I believe it comes from an extraordinary sense of loss.
BLADE: How did you go about casting twins?
PAUL: I’ve cast two sets of twins who look nothing alike. Put the same hat on them and who cares? We get it.
BLADE: Tell me about how Michael Kahn hired you.
PAUL: It was over drinks at Playbill Café. I miss that place so much. Not a big deal for him, but life changing for me.
BLADE: This is Michael Kahn’s last season at STC. What has he taught you?
PAUL: He pushed me very hard when I was very young to run the department. He gave me a lot of responsibility and expected me to know what I was doing. I figured out how to do it and I think that he gave me a lot of confidence early on. Also, I will take away his incredibly high standards. He won’t let anything go that does meet a certain standard. And I have that myself. An internal GPS that says “not good enough.”
BLADE: Will you work under Kahn’s appointed successor, Simon Godwin?
PAUL: That’s an ongoing conversation. I like him and am excited to see what he’ll do.
BLADE: Was directing The Comedy of Errors your choice?
PAUL: STC wasn’t doing a musical this season so I knew I’d do a play. I really wanted to do Shakespeare so Michael and I talked about a lot of different titles. Comedies to dramas. We hadn’t done this one in a long time. I thought it was a great way to open the season and I wanted to assemble a group of funny people that the audience would know. It’s always fun to have artists on stage together who have contributed to the success of STC. People like Tom Story, Nancy Robinette, Ted van Griethuysen, Sarah Marshall.
BLADE: And don’t forget Veanne Cox as Adriana.
PAUL: Yes, wait until you see her arguing with a parrot. She has a pet bird that talks to her.
BLADE: Last season you broke Shakespeare Theatre Company sales record with your production of “Camelot.” How do you explain that?
PAUL: The election. I’d been uncertain about doing “Camelot.” People love the music but not so much the book. But when Hillary Clinton lost the election, I couldn’t help but wonder what Obama was thinking about his legacy. That’s what King Arthur goes through at the end of the play. When the Round table is cracked he says that barbarism is the natural state of man. Then at the end of the scene he meets the kid and his spirit is revived. I thought that’s the story Washington needed to hear. And I was right.
BLADE: There are so many shows opening right about now. Why see “The Comedy of Errors”?
PAUL: Well, it’s short — 95 action-packed minutes. Nobody wants to see a really long play. With this production, you’re out in time to get drinks or supper. Also, it’s funny. In these times of the stressful news cycle, I want to give people some entertainment and joy.
BLADE: Tell me about your childhood letter writing.
PAUL: Yes, I have a whole book of correspondence, about one hundred letters. I started writing letter c/o the stage door when I was a kid. I wrote stage managers, a dance captain and actors like George Hearn. I have letters from Audra McDonald before she was famous. Bob Mackie wrote me. I wanted to know how things worked.
BLADE: How does being gay figure into your work?
PAUL: Freedom to have fun with sexuality. Someone in the show accused me of trying to make this into a John Waters’ movie. I said that’s a good thing. There’s lots of drag. Sarah Marshall plays a man, Dr. Pinch. Three men double as female characters.
BLADE Any directorial projects you’re itching to tackle?
PAUL Yes, two musical and a play. In keeping with my Greek ‘60s film thing, I’d like to do the musical “Zorba.” And another is “Golden Boy,” the musical based the Clifford Odets play about a young man from Harlem who pursues prizefighting despite his family’s objections. It needs a little doctoring, but I think that would make a wonderful Broadway revival. And the play is “Teenage Dick.” It’s got a provocative title but it’s actually a version of Shakespeare’s “Richard III” set in an American high school. It played at the Public Theater in New York this summer. Please someone in Washington let me do this. It will be a huge hit in this town, I’m certain.
The cast of ‘The Comedy of Errors,’ a brisk farce now on the boards at Shakespeare Theatre Co. (Photo by Scott Suchman; courtesy STC)
Theater
‘Inherit the Wind’ isn’t about science vs. religion, but the right to think
Holly Twyford on new role and importance of listening to different opinions
‘Inherit the Wind’
Through April 5
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
Tickets start at $73
Arenastage.org
When “Inherit the Wind” premiered on Broadway in 1955 with a cast of 50, its fictional setting of Hillsboro, an obscure country town described as the buckle on the Bible Belt, was filled with townspeople. And now at Arena Stage, director Ryan Guzzo Purcell has somehow crowded Arena’s large Fichandler space with just 10 actors, five principals and a delightful ensemble of five playing multiple roles.
Inspired by the real-life Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s fictionalized work pits intellectual freedom against McCarthyism via the imagined trial of Bertram Cates (Noah Plomgren), a Tennessee educator charged with teaching evolution. Drawn into the fracas are big shot lawyers, defense attorney Henry Drummond (Billy Eugene Jones), and conservative prosecutor, Matthew Harrison Brady (Dakin Matthew). On hand to cover the closely watched story is wisecracking city slicker and Baltimore reporter E.K. Horneck (played by nonbinary actor Alyssa Keegan).
Out actor Holly Twyford, a four-time Helen Hayes Award winner who has appeared in more than 80 Washington area plays, is part of the ensemble. In jeans and boots, she memorably plays Meeker, the bailiff at the Hillsboro courthouse and the jailer responsible for holding Cates in the days leading to his trial.
Twyford also plays Sillers, a slack jawed earnest employee at the local feed store who’s called to serve on the jury. And more importantly she plays Brady’s quietly strong wife Sarah whom he affectionately calls “Mother.”
When Twyford makes her memorable first entrance as Meeker, she’s wiping shaving cream from her face with a hand towel. With shades of Mayberry R.F.D., the jail is run casually. Meeker says Cates isn’t the criminal type, and he’s not.
“There’s a joke among actors,” says Twyford. “When an actor gets his shoes, they know who their character is. And it’s sort of true. When you put on boots, heels, or flip flops, there’s a different feeling, and you walk differently.”
Similarly, shares Twyford, it goes for clothes too: “When Mother slips a pink coat dress over her cowboy boots, dons a little hat and ties her scarf, or Meeker puts on his work shirt, I know where I am. And all of that is thanks to a remarkable wardrobe crew.
“Additionally, some of the ensemble characters are played broadly which is helpful to the actors and super identifying for the audience too.”
During intermission, an audience member loudly described the production as “a proper play” filled with beautifully written passages. And it’s true. Twyford agrees, adding “That’s all true, and it’s also been was fun for us to be a part of the Arena legacy as well. Arena took ‘Inherit the Wind’ to the Soviet Union in the early ‘70s when the respective governments did a cultural exchange. At the time, the iron curtain was very much in place, and they traveled with a play about a man with his own thoughts.”
When the ensemble was cast, actors didn’t know which tracts exactly they were going to play. “What came together was a cast, diverse in different ways. Some directors, including myself when I direct, are interested in assembling a cast that’s a good group. No time for egos. It’s more about who will make the best group to help me tell this story.”
At one point during rehearsal, ensemble members began to help one another with minor onstage costume changes, like jackets and hats: “We just started doing it and Ryan [Guzzo Purcell] picked up on it, saying things really began to come alive when we helped each other, so we went with that.”
“For me, it was reminiscent of ‘The Laramie Project’ [Ford’s Theatre in 2013] when we played five different parts and we’d help each other with a vest or jacket in a similar way. It worked so well then too,” says Twyford.
“Inherit the Wind” isn’t about science versus religion. It’s about the right to think, playwright Jerome Lawrrence has been quoted as saying. And it’s a quote that makes the play that much more relevant today.
Twford remembers a chat in a hair salon: “I was getting my hair cut and the woman next to me shared that she was tired of message plays. Understandably there are theater makers who believe that message plays are the point, while others think it’s all about entertainment. I feel like ‘Inherit the Wind’ sits in a nice place in the middle.”
She adds “the work is a creative way of showing different opinions and that, I think, is what we should be paying attention to right now. Clearly, it’s not right or wrong to express what you think.”
Ideally, spring is our season of renewal – personal, emotional, and social. Lucky for those in the DMV, there’s a lot of exhilarating new theater to help make it happen.
At Arena Stage, there’s still time to catch the world premiere production of “Chez Joey” (extended through March 22). Set around the 1940s Chicago jazz scene, this smart reboot of the Broadway classic “Pal Joey” effervesces with music by Rodgers and Hart and a terrific cast brimming with big talent (including Myles Frost, Awa Sal Secka, and out comedic actor Kevin Cahoon).
Also at Arena, is “Inherit the Wind” (through April 5), the extraordinarily timely work based on the real-life Scopes “Monkey” Trial. It’s a courtroom drama that pits two towering legal minds against each other in a small-town battle over science, religion, and the right to think. The large, talented cast includes Billy Eugene Jones, Dakin Matthews, and out actors Holly Twyford and Alyssa Keegan. Arenastage.org
La Pluma Theatre, a queer Latin company housed in Dupont Underground, presents “The Ladybird of Saint John” (April 6-12), a powerful story about two sisters navigating immigration, separation, and the fragile bonds of family. @laplumatheatre – Instagram
Great gay playwright Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” (April 20–May 4) is also coming to the Dupont Underground space. Directed by out actor/director Nick Westrate, the touring production of Williams’s classic work set in New Orlean’s steamy Vieux Carré is performed with neither set nor props. It focuses on the words. Lucy Owen and Brad Koed star as fragile Blanche Dubois and her brutal brother-in-law Stanley. Dupontunderground.org
Folger Theatre is serving up one of the Bard’s best comedies, “As You Like It” (through April 12). Staged by out director Timothy Douglas, Folger’s production “offers a love note to D.C., imbuing the forest of Arden with the familiar vibes, culture, and characters that mark the District as a singular, resilient, and redemptive place of belonging.” Folger.edu
As part of the country’s semi-quincentennial celebrations, Ford’s Theatre presents “1776” (through May 16), a Tony Award-winning musical about the Second Continental Congress’s struggle to adopt the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. Directed by Luis Salgado, the show features a large cast including queer talent like Tom Story, Jake Loewenthal, Jimmy Mavrikes, and Wood Van Meter. Fords.org
In Falls Church, Creative Cauldron presents “Twelve Dancing Princesses” (through March 29), a Learning Theater Production targeting both kids and adults. Adapted from a Brothers Grimm tale, the eerie story features Spanish language elements and original music by husbands Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith. Creativecauldron.org
The National Theatre presents “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” (March 18–April 5). This musical “tale as old as time” is a love story involving Belle, a cursed beast, and the arrogant and famously spurned Gaston played out actor Stephen Mark Lukas, a beauty in his own right. Broadwayatthenational.com
At Mosaic Theater Company, Michael Bahsil-Cook plays the titular activist/congressman in Psalmayene 24’s “Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest.” (March 26–May 3). Staged by Mosaic’s out artistic director Reginald L. Douglas, focuses on Lewis’s formative years of ages 18-28, revealing the budding humanity and heart of this mighty historic figure. Talented out actor Vaughn Ryan Midder plays legendary civil rights activist Medgar Evers and other parts. Mosaictheater.org
At Olney Theatre Center, it’s the anticipated area premiere of “Appropriate” (March 18–April 19). Penned by Tony Award-winning out playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the darkly comic work follows a dysfunctional white family that gathers on a plantation home to liquidate their late father’s estate where they uncover a dark history of racism.
Excellent area actors Kimberly Gilbert and Cody Nickell play siblings battling over possessions as well as their father’s shady legacy. Performed in Olney’s black box Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, the company promises a unique staging of this important American play. Jason Loewith directs.
Also at Olney Theatre, celebrity chef and longtime queer ally Carla Hall debuts her one-woman show, “Carla Hall — Please Underestimate Me” (June 3–July 12). Olneytheatre.org
British imports are striding the boards at Shakespeare Theatre Company this spring. The first is “Hamnet” (March 17–April 12), the U.S. premiere of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2023 stage adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel about the life of Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes, and the death of their son.
And then it’s “Eddie Izzard in the Tragedy of Hamlet” (March 27–April 11), a one-woman show in which the British comedian takes on 23 characters in a unique re-telling of the renowned work. Shakespearetheatre.org
Woolly Mammoth Theatre presents “Travesty” (March 24–April 12). Created and performed by gender fluid drag performer Sasha Velour, the one-person show is part performance art, part history, and part call to action.
Also at Woolly, out actor Justin Weaks stars in his solo piece “A Fine Madness” (June 2–21), in which the Helen Hayes Award-winning actor shares his personal experience as a Black gay man receiving a positive HIV diagnosis. Woollymammoth.net
Spring at Studio Theatre is Rachel Bonds’ “Jonah” (through April 19), an exploration of a woman’s life through relationships with three men. Directed by Taylor Reynolds, the four-person cast includes Rohan Maletira in the title role and Ismena Mendes as Ana. Mendes is an accomplished stage and screen actor whose described as bisexual/queer in her IMBD bio. Studiotheatre.org
In Arlington, Signature Theatre’s out artistic director Matthew Gardiner stages “Pippin” (May 12–July 26), Stephen Schwartz’s musical about a young prince searching for a terrific life guided by a theatrical troupe. The original 1972 production featured stars like Ben Vereen and Irene Ryan (best known as TV’s Granny Clampett). Signature’s production’s big names have yet to be shared. Sigtheatre.org
Exciting stuff ahead.
Theater
Out actor Kevin Cahoon on starring role in ‘Chez Joey’
Arena production adapted from Broadway classic ‘Pal Joey’
‘Chez Joey’
Through March 15
Arena Stage
1101 Sixth St., S.W.
Tickets start at $93
Arenastage.org
As Melvin Snyder in the new musical “Chez Joey,” out actor Kevin Cahoon plays a showbiz society columnist who goes by the name Mrs. Knickerbocker. He functions as a sort of liaison between café society and Chicago’s Black jazz scene circa 1940s. It’s a fun part replete with varied insights, music, and dance.
“Chez Joey” is adapted from the Broadway classic “Pal Joey” by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. It’s inspired by John O’Hara’s stories based on the exploits of a small-time nightclub singer published in The New Yorker.
A warm and humorous man, Cahoon loves his work. At just six, he began his career as a rodeo clown in Houston. He won the Star Search teen division at 13 singing songs like “Some People” from “Gypsy.” He studied theater at New York University and soon after graduating set to work playing sidekicks and comedic roles.
Over the years, Cahoon has played numerous queer parts in stage productions including “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “La Cage aux Folles,” “Rocky Horror” as well as Peanut in “Shucked,” and George the keyboardist in “The Wedding Singer,” “a sort of unicorn of its time,” says Cahoon.
Co-directed by Tony Goldwyn and the great Savion Glover, “Chez Joey” is a terrific and fun show filled with loads of talent. Its relevant new book is by Richard Lagravenese.
On a recent Monday off from work, Cahoon shared some thoughts on past and current happenings.
WASHINGTON BLADE: Is there a through line from Kevin, the six-year-old rodeo clown, to who we see now at Arena Stage?
KEVIN CAHOON: Anytime I want to land a joke in a theater piece it goes back to that rodeo clown. It doesn’t matter if it’s Arena’s intimate Kreeger Theatre or the big rodeo at the huge Houston Astrodome.
I was in the middle stadium and there was an announcer — a scene partner really. And we were doing a back and forth in hopes of getting laughs. At that young age I was trying to understand what it takes to get laughs. It’s all about timing. Every line.
BLADE: Originally, your part in “Chez Joey” Melvin was Melba who sings “Zip,” a clever woman reporter’s song. It was sort of a star feature, where they could just pop in a star in the run of “Pal Joey.”
CAHOON: That’s right. And in former versions it was played by Martha Plimpton and before her Elaine Stritch. For “Chez Joey,” we switched gender and storyline.
We attempted to do “Zip” up until two days before we had an audience at Arena. Unexpectedly they cut “Zip” and replaced it with a fun number called “I Like to Recognize the Tune,” a song more connected to the story.
BLADE: Wow. You must be a quick study.
CAHOON: Well, we’re working with a great band.
BLADE: You’ve played a lot of queer parts. Any thoughts on queer representation?
CAHOON: Oh yes, definitely. And I’ve been very lucky that I’ve had the chance to portray these characters and introduce them to the rest of the world. I feel honored.
After originating Edna, the hyena on Broadway in “The Lion King,” I left that to do “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” as standby for John Cameron Mitchell, doing one show a week for him.
Everyone thought I was crazy to leave the biggest musical of our time with a personal contract and getting paid more money that I’d ever made to get $400 a week at the downtown Jane Street Theatre in a dicey neighborhood.
At the time, I really felt like I was with cool kids. I guess I was. And I never regretted it.
BLADE: When you play new parts, do you create new backstories for the role?
CAHOON: Every single time! For Melvin, I suggested a line about chorus boys on Lakeshore Drive.
BLADE: What’s up next for Kevin Cahoon?
CAHOON: I’m about to do the New York Theatre Workshop Gala; I’ve been doing it for nine years in a row. It’s a huge job. I’ll also be producing the “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” opening on Broadway this spring; it’s a queer-centric uptown vogue ball with gay actor André de Shields reprising his role as “Old Deuteronomy.”
BLADE: There’s a huge amount of talent onstage in “Chez Joey.”
CAHOON: There is. I’m sharing a dressing room with Myles Frost who plays Joey. He won accolades for playing Michael Jackson on Broadway. We’ve become great friends. He’s a miracle to watch on stage. And Awa [Sal Secka], a D.C. local, is great. Every night the audience falls head over heels for her. When this show goes to New York, Awa will, no doubt, be a giant star.
BLADE: Do you think “Chez Joey” might be Broadway bound?
CAHOON: I have a good feeling it is. I’ve done shows out of town that have high hopes and pedigree, but don’t necessarily make it. “Chez Joey” is a small production, it’s funny, and audiences seem to love it.
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