Theater
Signature’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ Mosaic’s ‘Ulysses’ use story to strong effect
Signature breathes new life into classic rock musical
āJesus Christ Superstarā
Through July 2
4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington
$40-114
703-820-9771
āUlysses on Bottlesā
Through June 11
Atlas Performing Arts Center
1333 H Street NE
$15-60
202-399-7993 ext. 2
Since seeing Signature Theatreās āJesus Christ Superstarā last week, Iāve been humming āI Donāt Know How to Love Him,ā Mary Magdaleneās moving ballad about her complicated relationship with Jesus. Yes, itās one of the best and most covered songs from the iconic rock operaās familiar score by Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), but itās Natascia Diazās breathtaking rendition at Signature thatās responsible for the current earworm.
Accompanied mostly by two acoustic guitars, she makes the song her own. Diaz is that actor who can both sing and act a song exquisitely. And here sheās absolutely terrific as the prostitute turned apostle whose intense love for her spiritual guru manifests as both a joy and a quiet torture.
When āJesus Christ Superstarā opened on Broadway in 1971 it was noted for its contemporary take on the Gospels. An account of the last week of Jesusā life focusing on his tetchy relationship with disciple Judas Iscariot, the sung-through musical ends with the crucifixion. Staged by Joe Calarco, Signatureās production doesnāt have a particularly revolutionary feel, but what the out director conveys so well is the enduringly divisive effect of religion, money and power. He interestingly emphasizes the concept of the Word with all of Jesusā followers carrying black books, their conduit to a new way of living.
The rock score, played by an off-stage, hard-driving, seven-person band led by musical director William Yanesh, gives the talented ensemble an opportunity to shine with āWhatās the Buzz,ā āHosannaā and more. Standout moments include Nicholas Edwardsā very human Jesus grappling with his fate in āGethsemaneā and Awa Sal Secka adding shades of powerful gospel with āSimon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem.ā
Luciana Stecconiās elegant white cruciform set is beautiful in its simplicity. Images reminiscent of Jerusalemās Old City architecture, segments of Renaissance art depicting the Last Supper and later contemporary images of all that ails the world today are projected on its bare walls. Further heightening the experience is Jason Lyonsā emotive lighting thatās at once striking yet not showy.
But the usually faultless Frank Labovitz serves up some confusing costume design ā garments appear to have been pulled from a grab bag of not-great street clothes, and the result adds little. There are a couple exceptions. Out actor Bobby Smith is handsomely suited up as a smooth Pontius Pilate and Diazās Mary makes sense in flattering basic black.
Thereās another Holy Land-set work in town. Mosaic Theater Company is kicking off its Voices From a Changing Middle East Festival marking 50 years of the Occupation with Israeli playwright Gilad Evronās āUlysses on Bottles.ā Itās the account of an Israeli-Arab ex-teacher, nicknamed Ulysses (Michael Kevin Darnall), who attempts to sail into Gaza on a raft made of plastic bottles, bearing with him a cargo of Dostoyevskyās āCrime and Punishment.ā He never makes it.
Arrested en route, Ulysses returns to Israel where he must face charges. An Israeli-Jewish lawyer Izakov (Matthew Boston) agrees to take on his case pro bono and from there the menās two very different worlds intersect. Itās a universal tale told with sympathy and humor. The cast includes out actor Sarah Marshall as an Israeli army secret service agent, Liz Perotti, and Chris Genebach.
Winner of Israel Theater Prizeās Best Original Play in 2012, āUllyses on Bottlesā was inspired by real-life events.
Theater
Miss Kitty tackles classical mythology in āMetamorphosesā
Folger production seen through the lens of the African diaspora
āMetamorphosesā
May 7-June 16
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu
Miss Kittyās words are thoughtful and measured, occasionally punctuated by flamboyant flourishes and uplifting proclamations. Her tried and tested tagline is ālive in fierce not fear.āĀ
She describes herself as āAMAB (assigned male at birth), nonbinary, genderqueer, transfemmeā as well as āchanteuse, noble blacktress, and dancer.ā
Currently, Miss Kitty is testing her talents in Mary Zimmermanās āMetamorphosesā at Folger Theatre on Capitol Hill.
At 90 minutes, āMetamorphoses,ā is made up of interwoven vignettes from classical mythology including the tales of Midas and his daughter, Alcyone and Ceyx, and Eros and Psyche.
āItās all stories that relate to the human condition: the follies, the happiness, the love, the loss,ā Miss Kitty explains. āAnd a thorough knowledge of mythology isnāt a requirement for enjoyment.ā
The language is contemporary and with its 11-person ensemble cast ā comprised exclusively of Black or indigenous people of color ā theyāre adding their own spin to its present-day feel, she adds.
In Zimmermanās famously staged premiere production, the actors performed in and around a pool of water. At Folger, director Psalmayene 24 has ditched actual aquatics; instead, he suggests the element by introducing Water Nymph, a new character constructed around Miss Kitty.
Water Nymph doesnāt speak, but sheās very visible from the opening number and throughout the play on stage and popping up in unexpected places around the venue.
āItās a lot of dancing; I havenāt danced the way Tony Thomas is choreographing me in a very long time. At 40, can she still make theater with just my body as her instrument?
The name āMiss Kittyā was born over a decade ago.
Miss Kitty recalls, āShe was still presenting as male and going by her dead name. Someone commented that with the wig she was wearing for a part, she looked like Eartha Kitt whom she deeply admires.ā
Her penchant for illeism (referring to oneself in third person) isnāt without good reason. She explains, āItās to reiterate that however she might look, sheās always there; and if you misgender, she will let you know.ā
Initially, the moniker was a drag persona at Capital Pride or the occasional fabulous cabaret performance at a nightclub.
But as time passed, she realized that Miss Kitty was something she couldnāt take off. She had always been a part of her.
āSheās helped me to grow and flourish; sheās given me the strength that I never would have had before. Iām so proud of myself for realizing that before it was too late.ā
Bringing Miss Kitty into her theatrical career presented some concerns. Would theater folks be open to the new her, especially those sheād worked with before?
Not always, but sheās found new companies whoāve welcomed Miss Kitty with open arms including Avant Bard, Spooky Action Theater, and now Folger.
Last fall, Miss Kitty appeared in Spooky Actionās Agreste (Drylands), a stunning queer story penned by gay Brazilian playwright Newton Moreno.
After being invited to audition and reading the script, Miss Kitty was determined to be a part of the production.
A work dealing with love and being trans, and transphobia, and how people can turn on a dime once they learn the truth about someone, resonated deeply with the actor.
āThe play speaks to the idea that if people just let people be who they are and love who they want to love weād all be a lot happier,ā she says.
For her sublime efforts, Miss Kitty nabbed a Helen Hayes Award nomination in the Outstanding Lead Performer category (winner to be determined on Monday, May 20 during a ceremony at The Anthem).
Itās her first time nominated and first time attending. Sheās thrilled.
Miss Kitty grew up in Oxen Hill, Md., and now lives near Washington Harbor. Her entry into performance was through music followed by high school plays. She graduated from Catholic University with a degree in music/concentration in musical theater, and from there dove directly into showbiz.
Looking back, Miss Kitty says, ābeing a person of color AND queer can be a double whammy of difficulty. You have to live in light and do the things youāre afraid to do. Thatās the game changer.ā
Presenting āMetamorphosesā through the lens of the African diaspora (the cast also includes Jon Hudson Odom and Billie Krishawn, among others) helps us to realize that every story can be universal, especially for marginalized people ā South Asian, Native American, or fully queer perspectives, she says.
āHaving an all-Black ensemble opens all new worlds for everyone.ā
Theater
Round House explores serious issues related to privilege
āA Jumping-Off Pointā is absorbing, timely, and funny
āA Jumping-Off Pointā
Through May 5
Round House Theatre
4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Md.
$46-$83
Roundhousetheatre.org
In Inda Craig-GalvĆ”nās new play āA Jumping-Off Point,ā protagonist Leslie Wallace, a rising Black dramatist, believes strongly in writing about what you know. Clearly, Craig-GalvĆ”n, a real-life successful Black playwright and television writer, adheres to the same maxim. Whether further details from the play are drawn from her life, is up for speculation.
Absorbing, timely, and often funny, the current Round House Theatre offering explores some serious issues surrounding privilege and who gets to write about what. Nimbly staged and acted by a pitch perfect cast, the play moves swiftly across what feels like familiar territory without being the least bit predictable.
After a tense wait, Leslie (Nikkole Salter) learns sheās been hired to be showrunner and head writer for a new HBO MAX prestige series. What ought to be a heady time for the ambitious young woman quickly goes sour when a white man bearing accusations shows up at her door.
The uninvited visitor is Andrew (Danny Gavigan), a fellow student from Leslieās graduate playwriting program. The pair were never friends. In fact, he pressed all of her buttons without even trying. She views him as a lazy, advantaged guy destined to fail up, and finds his choosing to dramatize the African American Mississippi Delta experience especially annoying.
Since grad school, Leslie has had a play successfully produced in New York and now sheās on the cusp of making it big in Los Angeles while Andrew is bagging groceries at Ralphās. (In fact, weāll discover that heās a held a series of wide-ranging temporary jobs, picking up a lot of information from each, a habit that will serve him later on, but I digress.)
Their conversation is awkward as Andrewās demeanor shifts back and forth from stiltedly polite to borderline threatening. Eventually, he makes his point: Andrew claims that Leslieās current success is entirely built on her having plagiarized his script.
This increasingly uncomfortable set-to is interrupted by Leslieās wisecracking best friend and roommate Miriam who has a knack for making things worse before making them better. Deliciously played by Cristina Pitter (whose program bio describes them as āa queer multi-spirit Afro-indigenous artist, abolitionist, and alchemistā), Miriam is the perfect third character in Craig-GalvĆ”nās deftly balanced three-hander.
Cast membersā performances are layered. Salterās Leslie is all charm, practicality, and controlled ambition, and Gaviganās Andrew is an organic amalgam of vulnerable, goofy, and menacing. Heās terrific.
The 90-minute dramedy isnāt without some improbable narrative turns, but fortunately they lead to some interesting places where provoking questions are representation, entitlement, what constitutes plagiarism, etc. Itās all discussion-worthy topics, here pleasingly tempered with humor.
New York-based director Jade King Carroll skillfully helms the production. Scenes transition smoothly in large part due to a top-notch design team. Scenic designer Meghan Rahamās revolving set seamlessly goes from Leslieās attractive apartment to smart cafes to an HBO writersā room with the requisite long table and essential white board. Adding to the graceful storytelling are sound and lighting design by Michael Keck and Amith Chandrashaker, respectively.
The passage of time and circumstances are perceptively reflected in costume designer Moyenda Kulemekaās sartorial choices: heels rise higher, baseball caps are doffed and jackets donned.
āA Jumping-Off Pointā is the centerpiece of the third National Capital New Play Festival, an annual event celebrating new work by some of the countryās leading playwrights and newer voices.
Theater
āAmm(i)goneā explores family, queerness, and faith
A āfully autobiographicalā work from out artist Adil Mansoor
āAmm(i)goneā
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.Ā
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net
āFully and utterly autobiographical.ā Thatās how Adil Mansoor describes āAmm(i)gone,ā his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, itās his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophoclesās Greek tragedy āAntigoneā into Urdu. Throughout the journey, thereās an exploration of family, queerness, and faith,as well as references to teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his Muslim mother.
Mansoor, 38, grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and is now based in Pittsburgh where heās a busy theater maker. Heās also the founding member of Pittsburghās Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.
WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create āAmm(i)goneā?
ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of āAntigoneā a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. Itās about a person for whom all aspirations are in the afterlife. And what does that do to the living when all of your hopes and dreams have to be reserved for the afterlife?
I found grant funding to pay my mom to do the translation. I wanted to engage in learning. I wanted to share theater but especially this ancient tragedy. My mother appreciated the characters were struggling between loving one another and their beliefs.
BLADE: Are you more director than actor?
MANSOOR: Iām primarily a director with an MFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon. I wrote, directed, and performed in this show, and had been working on it for four years. Iāve done different versions including Zoom. Woollyās is a new production with the same team whoāve been involved since the beginning.
I love solo performance. Iāve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward āperformanceā and I havenāt āactedā since I was in college. I feel good on stage. I was a tour guide and do a lot of public speaking. I enjoy the attention.
BLADE: Describe your mom.
MANSOOR: My mom is a wonderfully devout Muslim, single mother, social worker who discovered my queerness on Google. And she prays for me.
She and I are similar, the way we look at things, the way we laugh. But different too. And those are among the questions I ask in this show. Our relationship is both beautiful and complicated.
BLADE: So, you werenāt exactly hiding your sexuality?
MANSOOR: In my mid-20s, I took time to talk with friends about our being queer with relation to our careers. My sexuality is essential to the work. As the artistic director at Dreams of Hope, part of the work was to model what it means to be public. If Iām in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what Iām doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what Iām putting out there. And I want that to be expansive and full.
So much of my work involves fundraising and being a face in schools. Being out is about making safe space for queer young folks.
BLADE: Have you encountered much Islamophobia?
MANSOOR: When 9/11 happened, I was a sophomore in high school, so yes. I faced a lot then and now. Iāve been egged on the street in the last four months. I see it in the classroom. It shows up in all sorts of ways.
BLADE: What prompted you to lead your creative life in Pittsburgh?
MANSOOR: Iāve been here for 14 years. I breathe with ease in Pittsburgh. The hills and the valleys and the rust of the city do something to me. Itās beautiful, itā affordable, and there is support for local artists. Thereās a lot of opportunity.
Still, the plan was to move to New York in September of 2020 but that was cancelled. Then the pandemic showed me that I could live in Pittsburgh and still have a nationally viable career.
BLADE: What are you trying to achieve with āAmm(i)goneā?
MANSOOR: What Iām sharing in the show is so very specific but I hear people from other backgrounds say I totally see my mom in that. My partner is Catholic and we share so much in relation to this.
I hope the work is embracing the fullness of queerness and how means so many things. And I hope the show makes audiences want to call their parents or squeeze their partners.