Theater
‘Hamilton’ creators donate monetary damages to LGBTQ group
Texas church altered musical, added homophobic content
Capping a three-week conflict that attracted national media attention, the creators of āHamiltonā said they will donate monetary damages collected from a Texas church that performed an unauthorized production of the acclaimed Broadway musical and altered it with the addition of homophobic content.
A statement published on Instagram Tuesday on behalf of Door Christian Fellowship McAllen Church (Door McAllen) and its pastor, Roman Gutierrez, apologizes to the creator and producers of āHamiltonā for using the music and dialogue and changing them without permission.
While the post made no acknowledgement of Door McAllenās choice to liken homosexuality to drug and alcohol addiction in its unauthorized alteration of its unauthorized production on Aug. 5, āHamiltonā affirmed its support for the LGBTQ community with the decision to give the monetary damages to the South Texas Equality Project.
The LGBTQ group did not immediately respond to requests for comment on its pending receipt of the damages, whose value has not been disclosed.
āHamiltonā fans discovered the performance after Door McAllen streamed the show on its YouTube channel, where it was subsequently cut into clips that were widely circulated on Twitter and other social media platforms ā often accompanied by the hashtag #Scamalton and objections to musicalās adulteration.
Many of the clips show the scene in which Victor Lopez, another Door McAllen pastor, delivers a sermon in which he says: āMaybe you struggle with alcohol, with drugs ā with homosexuality ā maybe you struggle with other things in life, your finances, whatever. God can help you tonight.ā
In addition to its homophobia, the online attention exposed what theater blog OneStage called Door McAllenās āperfect stormā of copyright and intellectual property law violations: āThe church did not have permission to perform the show, make changes to its lyrics, use its logo, use copyrighted music as a backing track, advertise the production, and stream it on YouTube.ā
āHamiltonā creator Lin Manuel Miranda was made aware of the unauthorized production of his musical amid the growing backlash against it, issuing a statement where he said, āGrateful to all of you who reached out about this illegal, unauthorized production. Now lawyers do their work.ā
OneStage noted that Door McAllenās apology on Instagram ādoes not admit wrongdoingā with respect to the churchās unauthorized stage productions of āDisneyās ‘Beauty and the Beast,ā āDespicable Me,ā and āElf: The Musical,ā which contained similar anti-LGBTQ alterations.
Theater
Explore new venues, productions during D.C. Theatre Week
30 shows, including musicals, comedies, dramas, premieres, and more
2024 Theatre Week
Sept. 26-Oct. 13
Theatreweek.org
For Michael Ramirez, theater remains an ongoing source of inspiration and pleasure. As a little boy in El Paso, Texas, his mom took him to see lots of kidsā shows. And later in high school, he played one of the Sharks in āWest Side Story.ā All fond memories.
At the University of Texas in Austin for social work (undergraduate) and social work/public administration (graduate school) and then as a successful human resources professional and policy wonk in Washington, Ramirez continued to enjoy theater from the audience or behind the scenes. Now retired, he serves as a Helen Hayes Awards judge and board member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Theatre Washington is the umbrella organization that not only produces the Helen Hayes Awards but also Theatre Week, an annual celebratory launch of the season with shows at low prices, a free kickoff fest, and other fun events.
The 2024 Theatre Week, explains Ramirez, features about 30 varied productions in the DMV, including musicals, comedies, dramas, new works, premieres, and works geared to young audiences. And tickets are affordably discounted at $60, $40, and $20.
āItās a great opportunity to take a chance on a theater that you might not be familiar with,ā he says. āWhen it comes to seeing shows, a lot of people think Kennedy Center or Fordās. This can be an introduction to something entirely new. D.C. is a busy theater town with lots of companies and venues.ā
At the heart of Theatre Week are its plays and musicals. Ramirez has already made his list.
His picks include GALA Hispanic Theatreās āThe 22+ Weddings of Hugoā featuring out actor Carlos Castillo as Hugo and staged by out director JosĆ© Zayas; busy out playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkinsā āThe Comeuppanceā at Woolly Mammoth; and āRosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Deadā at Nu Sass Productions.
He also plans to see Mosaic Theatreās āLady Day at Emersonās Bar and Grill,ā a play with music about jazz legend/queer icon Billie Holiday starring Roz White; ExPats Theatreās āMarlene,ā featuring Karin Rosnizeck as legendary diva Marlene Dietrich; and Rorschach Theatreās āSleeping Giantā written by gay playwright Steve Yockey well known as the developer of the HBO Max comedy-drama television series āThe Flight Attendant.ā
Ramirez adds, āAnd as a good gay, I canāt miss āSondheim Tribute Revueā at Creative Cauldron.ā
There are also parties and outdoor events. He advises a few of his favorites.
On Monday, Sept. 9, Woolly Mammoth hosts a Theatre Week Launch Party replete with drinks and season sneak peaks (invitation only).
The Historic Theatre Walking Tour (Sept. 21) asks the public to check out downtown D.C. theaters with guides Farar Elliot and Chris Geidner (free). And with City on the River Concert (Sept. 22), Theatre Washington returns to the D.C. Wharf Transit Pier to present āmusical theater showstoppersā from a dozen of the seasonās upcoming shows (free).
Next up itās āDC Theatre at the Natsā (Sept. 24), a night out at the ballgame that baseball lover Ramirez is sure to attend. And typically, he says, performers from a local show or company are booked to sing the anthem ($20).
And big event Kickoff Fest 2024, an all-afternoon event for all ages, takes place on Sept. 28 at Arena Stage (also free).
Not surprisingly Ramirez fell for another theater aficionado. He and husband John Ralls got together in 1990 and married in 2014. Ralls is a board member at Rorschach.
As board members, they āfunction as ambassadors and marketers for the theater. We reach into our pockets and write the checks. We buy the season tickets, and encourage our friends to do the same.ā
Ramirez enthusiastically reiterates: āTheatre Week is especially fun. Again, tickets are reasonable. Thereās everything from puppet plays at Glen Echo Park to something more serious. Itās the perfect chance to try something new.ā
Theater
Mosaic kicks off 10th anniversary with āLady Day at Emersonās Bar and Grillā
Play set in nightclub where Billie Holiday gave one of her last performances
āLady Day at Emersonās Bar and Grillā
Sept. 5-Oct. 6
Mosaic Theater Company
1333 H St., N.E.Ā
$50ā$80
mosaictheater.org
Throughout a big career, jazz icon Billie Holiday experienced tremendous highs and lows. Unapologetically herself and openly bisexual, she made her mark with songs like the very popular “Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)” and successfully stepped into social activism with her performances and recording of āStrange Fruit,ā a searing protest anthem inspired by the photograph of a lynching.
On the downside, she was dogged by addiction and fell prey to users of various stripes (more often than not male), but fans and music experts agree that itās these less-than-sanguine life experiences that helped to shape the emotional content of her inimitable take on the blues.
Currently Mosaic Theater Company is kicking off its 10th anniversary season with Lanie Robertsonās āLady Day at Emersonās Bar and Grill,ā a play with music set in a seedy Philadelphia night spot where Holiday gave one of her last performances just months before dying from heart disease at just 44 in 1959.
Mosaicās immersive production is directed by the companyās out artistic director Reginald L. Douglas and stars D.C. favorite Roz White. At 90 minutes, the one-woman show features about a dozen of Holidayās songs, and tucked in between are book scenes touching on personal and political themes including racism, sexism, domestic abuse, and drug use. In many ways, says Douglas, itās the history of what Black female singing stars have had to endure to achieve success.
For Mosaicās season opener, a black box space at Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street, NE, is being reconfigured as a nightclub with cafĆ© seating and drinks. White as Holiday (affectionately nicknamed Lady Day by famed saxophonist Lester Young) sings with a standard jazz tiro: pianist (William Knowles), bassist (Mark Saltman), and drummer (Greg Holloway).
An avowed Holiday admirer, director Douglas says staging the production has only increased his devotion: He describes her as an all-gender loving woman, who possessed a love of life, and an openness about her struggle.
āWithout a doubt, she was a force of nature that queer audiences respond to and admire. Particularly for queer Black people, legends like Billie Holiday are vital for our ability to see ourselves.ā
And as a theater maker who goes in as a Billie fan, Douglas already knew the showās classics like āStrange Fruitā and āGod Bless the Child,ā and now heās excited to be learning more from her canon like āWhat a Little Moonlight Can Do,ā āCrazy He Calls Me,ā and āEasy Livingā which has become a special moment in the show.
And working with the powerful White as Holiday is proving āa dreamy collaboration.ā
āThe core is respect,ā says Douglas who began his tenure with Mosaic in November of 2021. āI trust the experts and Roz is an expert. She knows how to command a stage and she is Billie Holidayās biggest fan. She has a depth of knowledge about the artist and her music, jazz, the blues. I just want to listen and soak that up and elevate it and amplify it on stage.ā
The experience is filled with trust and admiration and give and take, he adds. And along with wonderful choreography and movement consultant Sandra L. Holloway who is a queer Black woman, the three of them are having a great time.
White recently returned to D.C. after completing a two-year national tour of āTINA: The Tina Turner Musical.ā And now with āLady Day at the Emerson Bar and Grill,ā she marks her return to Mosaic where, among other performances, she is remembered for her compelling portrayal of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the queer Black woman who invented rock ānā roll, in āMarie and Rosetta.ā
Holidayās voice is unmistakable. With its wonderfully unique phrasing and a gravel and hoarseness resulting from years of late nights and strain, itās often copied, but thatās not what theyāre going for here.
Douglas says, āWeāre not striving for an impersonation here. Weāre letting Roz be Roz; but while honoring the spirit of Billie, youāll notice some pronunciation and dialect work. Still, Roz brings her own kind of special sauce to the work.ā
Theater
Hillary Clinton like youāve never seen her before in āSoft Powerā
Musical fantasia employs humor to explore contrasting cultures
āSoft Powerā
Through Sept. 15
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave.
Arlington, Va.
Starting at $40
Sigtheatre.org
Thereās a wonderful scene in āSoft Powerā where Hillary Clinton goes underground. Sheās just lost the election and sheās eating a lot of bad takeout and seeing no one. But sheās willing to make an exception for one man. Heās Xue Xing, a Chinese theatrical producer from Shanghai whom she briefly but memorably met on the campaign trail.
Once he convinces her to venture outdoors, Hillary doffs the food-stained robe and dowdy sleeping cap to magically reveal a chic black shirt dress with full skirt and a bouncy bob of blonde tresses. Next, the duo elegantly dances across the stage (and presumably the country) for a better view of the romantic Golden Gate Bridge. Itās quite the moment.
Billed as a musical fantasia, āSoft Power,ā a terrific collaboration between playwright David Henry Hwang (āYellow Face,ā āM. Butterflyā) and composer Jeanine Tesori (āFun Home,ā āKimberly Akimboā), is currently playing at Signature Theatre in a revised, taut version of its earlier off-Broadway incarnation. At about 90 minutes, itās substantially shorter, and this time an Asian actor, the marvelous Grace Yoo, is playing Hillary.
The story unfolds at a rapid, highly entertaining pace. On the cusp of the 2016 election, Xue Xing (an all-around pitch perfect Daniel May) is eager to peddle some soft power (i.e. āto co-opt rather than coerceā). His mission in America is to put a pro-Chinese musical on the Great White Way. Sadly, DHH the playwright heās commissioned to do the job canāt find a viable way into the assignment.
Like David Henry Hwang, DHH (Steven Eng) is the son of immigrants. He possesses limited knowledge of China and doesnāt speak Chinese. Also, like Hwang, who was stabbed by a random stranger near his home in Brooklyn in 2015, DHH is violently attacked on the streets of New York. Itās while recovering in hospital that DHH falls into a prolonged fever dream in which he reconciles feelings about China and America set against a backdrop of ardor, and classic Broadway and Hollywood musicals. Like so many dreams, the characters are blends of real people and places.
Staged by Ethan Heard, Signatureās associate artistic director who also happens to be Chinese-American, queer, and proficient in Mandarin, āSoft Powerā boasts a top-notch, largely Asian cast that ably plays varied races from wide-ranging walks of life. Broadway costume designer Helen Q. Huang creates a rather soignĆ© look drawn from the real-life candidateās practical workaday uniform. Set designer Chika Shimizu cleverly creates distinct settings using straightforward signage, subtle graffiti, and some smoky glass.
Billy Bustamanteās choreography conveys energy and emotion ranging from a tiki torch bearing mob to a Fred and Ginger expression of budding romance. And music director Angie Benson skillfully conducts the 10-person orchestra beautifully rendering Tesoriās both eclectic and memorable score.
The showās razzle-dazzle number āIām With Her,ā features Hillary in full campaign mode at a busy McDonaldās restaurant. Initially, high above the crowd, dressed in an ivory-colored coat, she evokes Evita. As she descends into the adoring fray, itās more a blend of oily Harold Hill, brassy Reno Sweeney and a bit of Baby June really selling it on the Orpheum circuit. In short, all the glad-handing madness of an American election.
The feel-good fun is abruptly interrupted when a preppy kid in a red baseball cap, Holden Caufield (an aptly angsty Joey Urgino standing in for Nicholas Yenson), crashes the lovefest proclaiming how he canāt stand āphoniesā so heās voting for the other guy.
With varying degrees of success, the playwright employs humor to explore contrasting cultures, democracy, exceptionalism, and gun control. At one point, a delightfully fey Chief Justice (Andrew Crispi) musically lays out just how voting works including the Electoral College, which doesnāt ensure a victory for the candidate garnering the most votes. Xue Xing isnāt impressed.
Hwangās isnāt the only work about Asians suffering at the hands of emboldened racists. Chisa Hutchinsonās āRedeemed,ā a piece inspired by an uptick in anti-Asian hate crime in the early days of the pandemic (think ākung fluā), made its world premiere at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in West Virginia in the summer of 2023.
The Black bisexual playwrightās compelling two hander is set in the visiting room of a high security prison where an Asian American woman meets with the white man who murdered her gay brother when he heard him speaking Chinese in line at an ATM. Thereās no singular way to talk about domestic terrorism. Both pieces work but in different ways.
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Explore new venues, productions during D.C. Theatre Week