Theater
Out actors shine in area productions ‘Anastasia,’ ‘As You Like It’
Jade Jones, Stephen Brower overcame insecurities to forge successful stage careers
Lila Coogan with Stephen Brower in the national tour of ‘Anastasia.’ (Photo by Evan Zimmerman)
‘Anastasia’
Through Nov. 25
The Kennedy Center
2700 F St., N.W.
$59-179
202-467-4600
Jade Jones in ‘As You Like It,’ at Keegan Theatre. (Photo by Cameron Whitman)
‘As You Like It’
Through Dec. 2
Keegan Theatre
1742 Church St., N.W.
$62
202-265-3767
Untraditional casting and breaking gender stereotypes on stage aren’t new concepts. And for younger out actors like Broadway vet Stephen Brower and local up-and-comer Jade Jones, it’s all part of the job. In recent interviews, the talented pair share their respective experiences.
As Dmitry, the young con man turned princely love interest in the national tour of “Anastasia” now at the Kennedy Center, Brower adds an unexpected vulnerability to the part that other actors might not. Still, as the leading man in the Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Aherns’ musical about the mystery surrounding the last tsar’s fabled daughter, Brower brings the chemistry and romance.
In his program bio, Brower, 25, thanks the production’s producers and creative team for their trust and open-mindedness.
“The guys who played Dmitri before me, Derek Clena and Zach Adkins, are traditional leading men — masculine, tall strapping guys,” he says. “Unlike them, I’m tall and skinny with bad posture. So when I auditioned for the part, I went in with my bag tricks. I was quirky and making jokes, but unafraid to show sensitivity. And they trusted my take on the role.”
Traditionally actors have been taught that leading men need to be sexually appealing to be successful, Brower says. “I’ve seen a lot of naturally sexy people get cast over more talented actors. I guess it has to do with ticket sales. As an actor, you face a challenge in being marketable while trying to be honest with yourself. My upbringing and background — being an opening gay man raised in conservative Tulsa, Oklahoma — has a lot do with what I bring to the part.”
Fortunately for actors who might come across as somewhat less than butch, things are changing Brower says. “We are currently in an age where can challenge those perceptions and I feel great to be a part of that. I honestly don’t think I would have been cast as Dimitri 10 years ago.
“Still,” he adds, “there remains a lingering fear that when you walk into an audition room that you have to put on that swagger to make them fall in love with you and casting directors only fall in love with guys who are hypermasculine. Most actors are plagued by insecurities. It’s important to me that stereotypes of leading men are changed.”
Growing up in Tulsa, Brower came out at 15.
“My family was very supportive and I think I knew they would be. What’s more I attended a diverse school. Magnet school for general education that created a loving and supportive environment.”
He went on to earn a degree in musical theater at Texas State University in three years before heading to New York City. Soon after, he landed a professional gig and has been employed ever since.
Prior to playing Dmitry, Brower toured with “Pippin” and “An American in Paris.” Luckily, he enjoys life on the road. His boyfriend, an actor/dancer, is touring with “Wicked.”
“We get together when our schedules permit. It’s tough but we manage. It’s part of what actors have to do.”
Jade Jones, 28, has played a hippy in “Hair” at Keegan Theatre, a munchkin in Ford’s Theatre “The Wiz” and recently that notorious meat piemaker Mrs. Lovett in Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Sweeney Todd” at Rep Stage in Howard County, an experience Jones describes as her principal accomplishment to date.
Currently Jones is playing Senior Duke in Keegan Theatre’s “As You Like It,” a pop/rock musical take on the Bard’s romantic comedy by New York singer/songwriter Shaina Taub. It’s the third time Jones has been cast in a role written for a man.
“It’s really interesting casting and makes me realize that the sky is the limit,” says Jones, who sums up her attitude in a quote attributed to African-American ballet dancer Lauren Anderson: “Do I fit this mold? No. There is no mold in art.”
In the spring, Jones tackles Little Red Ridinghood in Sondheim’s “Into the Woods” at Ford’s. Her future working wish list includes playing Tennessee William’s iconic creations Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski (though not in the same production).
Like Stephen Brower, Jones is familiar with insecurities.
“I never believed I had what it took to be a musical theater actor. I initially felt that I needed to separate my acting and vocal careers,” says Jones who’s often singled out for her magnetic stage presence and powerful, soulful voice. “But then fellow actors explained to me how I could, and really should, do both together. I also had a fear of dancing. Fellow actors helped me with that too. I’ve been fortunate to work with some very supportive people. I consider them my mentors.”
On Monday at Keegan Theatre’s annual gala held in their charming performance space on Church Street in Dupont, Jones will receive the company’s Emerging Artist Award given to younger artists who have performed on the Keegan stage and shown particular promise and demonstrated a collaborative spirit, a dedication to their craft, an exceptional work ethic and an ever-deepening love for the art form. Keegan Theatre Associate Artistic Director Susan Marie Rhea says, “Jade is a true triple threat, a performer of the highest caliber. But she’s more than that — she has passion, vision for her career and a love for life and her fellow artists that makes her a true joy to be around.”
Jones, who is single and lives in Dupont, says receiving the award is like “coming full circle.” As a Fairfax County high school student, Jones was introduced to the works of Tennessee Williams with Keegan’s “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
“I was blown away. It’s the reason why I’m an actor. After graduating from Ferrum College in Virginia, my first professional acting job was at Keegan in ‘Hair.’ That they’re celebrating my work is very exciting.”
Coming out to her religious parents wasn’t easy. Being gay was condemned from the pulpit and her parents agreed with that.
“But they’ve changed since then. When I look at them now and the way they have accepted me and other family members and my friends, it makes be believe that there is positive light in this world despite everything. It’s not hard to be LGBTQ in the theater community,” she says. “I don’t think there’s any profession that’s more accepting. It’s where I’m most comfortable.”
Theater
Out actor talks lead role in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Signature Theatre production runs through Jan. 25
‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Through Jan. 25
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, Va.
Tickets start at $47
Sigtheatre.org
Out actor Ariel Neydavoud is deep into a three-month run playing revolutionary student Perchick in the beloved 1964 musical “Fiddler on the Roof” at Signature Theatre in Arlington. And like his previous gigs, it’s been a learning experience.
This time, he’s gleaning knowledge from celebrated gay actor Douglas Sills who’s starring as the show’s central character Tevya, a poor Jewish milkman in the fictional village of Anatevka in tsarist Russia circa 1905.
In addition to anti-Semitism and expulsion, Tevya is struggling with waning traditions in a changing world where his daughters dare suggest marrying for love. Daughter Hodel (Lily Burka) falls for Perchick, an outsider who comes to town brandishing new ideas.
And along with its compelling and humor filled storyline, “Fiddler” boasts iconic numbers like “If I Were a Rich Man,” “Tradition,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” and “Sunrise, Sunset.”
Neydavoud, born and raised as an only child in the West Los Angeles neighborhood lightheartedly referred to as Tehrangeles (due to the large Iranian-American population), has always been passionate about performing. “It’s like I came out of the womb tap dancing,” he says. Fortunately, his mother, an accomplished pianist and composer, served as built-in accompanist.
He began acting and singing at kid camps and a private Jewish middle school alongside classmate Ben Platt. In his teens, Neydavoud spent three glorious weeks at Stagedoor Manor, a well-known theater camp in Upstate New York, where he solidified his desire to pursue theater as a profession, and started to feel comfortable with being queer.
Following high school, he studied at AMDA (American Musical and Dramatic Academy) and soon after morphed from theater student to professional actor.
WASHINGTON BLADE: Your entry into showbiz seems to have been a smooth one.
ARIEL NEYDAVOUD: I’m happy to hear it seems that way. I’d rarely describe anything about this profession as smooth; nonetheless, what I love about this work is that it gives opportunities to have so many new experiences: new shows, new parts, and new communities who come together in a moment’s notice purely for the sake of creating art.
BLADE: Tell us about Perchick.
NEYDAVOUD: He comes to Anatevka and challenges their ideals and way of life. That’s something I can relate to.
I’m Jewish on both sides, but I’m also queer, first generation American, [his mother and father are from Germany and Iran, respectively], and a person of color. I never feel like I belong to a single community. That’s what has emboldened my inner activist to speak up and challenge ideas that I don’t necessarily buy into.
BLADE: You sing beautifully. Perchick’s song is “Now I have Everything,” an Act II melody about finding love. Was it an instant fit for you?
NEYDAVOUD: Not instantly.I’m traditionally a first tenor. Perchick is baritone range, a little outside of my comfort zone. After being cast, I asked our director Joe Calarco if he would be comfortable raising the key, something they did with the recent Broadway revival. He was firm about not doing that.
As an artist I see challenges as opportunities to grow, so it’s been really good exploring my lower register.
BLADE: Audiences have commented on an intimacy surrounding this production.
TK: It’s performed in the round with a dining table at its center. It could be a sabbath or seder table, however you interpret it, but I find it a brilliant way to illustrate community and tradition.
It feels like the audience is invited to the table and join the residents of Anatevka. The show’s moments of joy like the betrothal song “To Life (L’Chaim)” are intensified, and conversely the pogrom scenes are made more difficult. It feels like we’re sharing space.
BLADE: Do your encompassing identities broaden casting possibilities for you?
NEYDAVOUD: Marketing yourself as ethnically ambiguous can be a helpful tool. After “Hamilton” and the pandemic there was more of a shift toward authenticity. I try to steer toward playing Middle Eastern, Southwest Asian, Jewish, and mixed-race characters without being too prescriptive.
BLADE: Tell us your dream roles?
NEYDAVOUD: I’d love to play the Emcee in Cabaret [often portrayed as a gender-fluid, queer-coded, or non-binary figure]. And I’d like to direct a production of “Godspell” with a fully Middle Eastern cast. I think portraying Jesus and disciples in Middle Eastern bodies as Bohemian idealists living under an oppressive regime could be especially impactful.
BLADE: Can today’s queer audiences relate to life on the shtetl?
NEYDAVOUD: As a piece, “Fiddler” is timeless. Beyond the magical score, it hits home with just about anyone who’s ever felt othered. There are relevant themes of displacement and persecution, and maintaining cultural identity in the wake of turbulence, all ideas that tend to resonate with queer people.
Theater
Studio’s ‘Mother Play’ draws from lesbian playwright’s past
A poignant memory piece laced with sadness and wry laughs
‘The Mother Play’
Through Jan. 4
Studio Theatre
1501 14th St., N.W.
$42 – $112
Studiotheatre.org
“The Mother Play” isn’t the first work by Pulitzer Prize-winning lesbian playwright Paula Vogel that draws from her past. It’s just the most recent.
Currently enjoying an extended run at Studio Theatre, “The Mother Play,” (also known as “The Mother Play: A Play in Five Evictions,” or more simply, “Mother Play”) is a 90-minute powerful and poignant memory piece laced with sadness and wry laughs.
The mother in question is Phyllis Herman (played exquisitely by Kate Eastwood Norris), a divorced government secretary bringing up two children under difficult circumstances. When we meet them it’s 1964 and the family is living in a depressing subterranean apartment adjacent to the building’s trash room.
Phyllis isn’t exactly cut out for single motherhood; an alcoholic chain-smoker with two gay offspring, Carl and Martha, both in their early teens, she seems beyond her depth.
In spite (or because of) the challenges, things are never dull in the Herman home. Phyllis is warring with landlords, drinking, or involved in some other domestic intrigue. At the same time, Carl is glued to books by authors like Jane Austen, and queer novelist Lytton Strachey, while Martha is charged with topping off mother’s drinks, not a mean feat.
Despite having an emotionally and physically withholding parent, adolescent Martha is finding her way. Fortunately, she has nurturing older brother Carl (the excellent Stanley Bahorek) who introduces her to queer classics like “The Well of Loneliness” by Radclyffe Hall, and encourages Martha to pursue lofty learning goals.
Zoe Mann’s Martha is just how you might imagine the young Vogel – bright, searching, and a tad awkward.
As the play moves through the decades, Martha becomes an increasingly confident young lesbian before sliding comfortably into early middle age. Over time, her attitude toward her mother becomes more sympathetic. It’s a convincing and pleasing performance.
Phyllis is big on appearances, mainly her own. She has good taste and a sharp eye for thrift store and Goodwill finds including Chanel or a Von Furstenberg wrap dress (which looks smashing on Eastwood Norris, by the way), crowned with the blonde wig of the moment.
Time and place figure heavily into Vogel’s play. The setting is specific: “A series of apartments in Prince George’s and Montgomery County from 1964 to the 21st century, from subbasement custodial units that would now be Section 8 housing to 3-bedroom units.”
Krit Robinson’s cunning set allows for quick costume and prop changes as decades seamlessly move from one to the next. And if by magic, projection designer Shawn Boyle periodically covers the walls with scurrying roaches, a persistent problem for these renters.
Margot Bordelon directs with sensitivity and nuance. Her take on Vogel’s tragicomedy hits all the marks.
Near the play’s end, there’s a scene sometimes referred to as “The Phyllis Ballet.” Here, mother sits onstage silently in front of her dressing table mirror. She is removed of artifice and oozes a mixture of vulnerability but not without some strength. It’s longish for a wordless scene, but Bordelon has paced it perfectly.
When Martha arranges a night of family fun with mom and now out and proud brother at Lost and Found (the legendary D.C. gay disco), the plan backfires spectacularly. Not long after, Phyllis’ desire for outside approval resurfaces tenfold, evidenced by extreme discomfort when Carl, her favorite child, becomes visibly ill with HIV/AIDS symptoms.
Other semi-autobiographical plays from the DMV native’s oeuvre include “The Baltimore Waltz,” a darkly funny, yet moving piece written in memory of her brother (Carl Vogel), who died of AIDS in 1988. The playwright additionally wrote “How I Learned to Drive,” an acclaimed play heavily inspired by her own experiences with sexual abuse as a teenager.
“The Mother Play” made its debut on Broadway in 2024, featuring Jessica Lange in the eponymous role, earning her a Tony Award nomination.
Like other real-life matriarch inspired characters (Mary Tyrone, Amanda Wingfield, Violet Weston to name a few) Phyllis Herman seems poised to join that pantheon of complicated, women.
Theater
D.C. theater scene has something for everyone this holiday season
‘Nutcracker,’ ‘A Christmas Carol,’ and much more
With its familiar music, yuletide imagery, and storytelling, theater can be a big part of the holidays. Add to that making memories and theater tickets wrapped as presents under the tree, and it’s a seasonal no brainer.
Folger Theatre presents “Resplendent Joy: Christmas Traditions from Spain and Portugal” (Dec. 5-14); the marvelous Folger Consort will perform early Spanish Christmas carols and traditional holiday music from early modern Spain and Portugal: folger.edu/resplendent
At Round House Theatre, playwright Sam Holcroft’s “Rules for Living” (Dec. 3-Jan. 4) makes its U.S. premiere. The darkly funny holiday comedy was a hit in London and is now hoping to repeat that success with a version tailored for the states. The seven-person cast includes versatile actors Naomi Jacobson and real-life spouse John Lescault. Ryan Rillette directs. roundhousetheatre.org
Theatre J presents “Chanukah in the Dark” (Dec. 6-21), an hour-long play ideal for ages five and up. “When the lights go out during Chanukah, Max and family begin sharing songs, stories, and traditions — only to discover the lights they needed and the miracles they searched for were in their midst all along.” edcjcc.org
The Cathedral Choral Society’s “Joy of Christmas” (Dec. 13-14) presents a wonderful program of carols and beloved holiday favorites at the festively decorated National Cathedral. The program features Seraph Brass, organist Edward Hewes, Carillonneur Edward M. Nassor, percussionist Mary La Blanc of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, and the Eastern Concert Choir from Eastern Senior High School. Cathedralchoralsociety.org
With “The Holiday Show,” (Dec. 13, 14, and 20), the Gay Men’s Chorus returns to entertain audiences with its annual and most popular show.
This year the holiday extravaganza is bigger than ever at historic Lincoln Theatre with new, soulful arrangements of favorite holiday carols: “The reindeer will be high-kicking and the snowflakes will sparkle. Songs include “O Holy Night,” “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Let It Snow,” “We Wish You the Merriest,” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain.’” gmcw.org
At Olney’s intimate Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, out actor Michael Russotto is back for the holiday season in his solo show “Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas” (through Dec. 28). The talented Russotto portrays nearly 50 different characters from the Charles Dickens classic, that proves “funnier and far more relevant than you might imagine.” Olneytheatre.org
Also on holiday offer in the DMV are a jolly bunch of musical chestnuts as well as reliable Christmas crowd-pleasers.
Included on the roster is Olney Theatre’s production of Jerry Herman’s “Hello, Dolly!” (through Jan. 4) starring the mega-talented Nova Y. Payton. Based on the play “The Matchmaker” by famed gay playwright Thornton Wilder, the musical has proved a vehicle for many a diva including Carol Channing, Pearl Bailey, Bette Midler, and Barbra Streisand. Now Payton dons the mantle and the buzz is good.
Another beloved musical is “Fiddler on the Roof” (through Jan. 25), the story of Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman, his family and their tight-knit community who honor tradition while contending with pogroms in Czarist Russia. Currently being performed intimately in the round at Signature Theatre in Arlington and directed by Joe Calarco, the large cast features actors Douglas Sills, Chrisopher Bloch, and terrific out actor Jake Loewenthal as the poor tailor Motel Kamzoil, all singing Broadway favorites like “Sunrise, Sunset” “If I Were a Rich Man” and “Matchmaker.” sigtheatre.org
At Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall is Frank Loesser’s “Guys and Dolls” (through Jan. 4). Based on tales from famed American journalist Damon Runyon, the show focuses on two overlapping love stories set in Depression-era Times Square. The terrific score includes songs like “Luck Be a Lady,” “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” “A Bushel and a Peck,” and more songs you’ll know. Directed by Francesca Zambello and choreographed by Joshua Bergasse.
The cast includes Julie Benko, Lamont Brown, and Holly Twyford as General Matilda B. Cartwright, which is reason enough to buy a ticket. shakespearetheatre.org
And for hardcore traditionalists there’s the Washington Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” (through Dec. 29) with its balletic magic at the charming gilded Warner Theatre. The beloved production of Tchaikovsky’s ballet, here set in 1882 Georgetown, features a retinue of agile partiers, children, soldiers, rats, and notable figures from American history. washingtonballet.org
And last but hardly least, historic Ford’s Theatre presents “A Christmas Carol” (through Dec. 31), an enduring Washington tradition since I was youngish. Conceived by Michael Baron, this charming Dickens’ moneymaker again spotlights Craig Wallace as miserly Ebenezer Scrooge who after a night of ghostly visits, rediscovers Christmas joy. Fords.org
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