Arts & Entertainment
Skating into Signature
Gay-helmed musical ‘Xanadu’ gets regional premiere
‘Xanadu’
May 8-July 1
Signature Theatre
4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington
$62-$86
703-820-9771
Charlie Brady and Erin Weaver in ‘Xanadu.’ (Photo by Christopher Mueller; courtesy of Signature)
Had the 1980 roller disco flick “Xanadu” never been made into the same-titled Broadway musical comedy, the clunky Olivia Newton-John vehicle would most likely have been relegated to the narrow shelf reserved for similar cult films.
A mostly awkward paean to mythology and passing fads, the movie’s saving distinctions include an ear worm-y pop score split between Newton-John’s personal composer John Farrar and Electric Light Orchestra’s Jeff Lynne, a parade of curiously hideous disco-era costumes and the fact that it features MGM’s dance legend Gene Kelly on skates in his final movie role.
Happily, the movie has been hilariously reimagined as “Xanadu,” the hit musical that’s poised to make its Washington premier at Signature Theatre this week. What’s most striking about the show is the way it pairs a sugary screen score (“Xanadu,” “Magic,” “Have You Ever Been Mellow,” etc.) with the sophisticated wit of gay playwright Douglas Carter Beane who’s also written librettos for “Sister Act” and “Lysistrata Jones.” He also wrote “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar,” “The Little Dog Laughed” and “As Bees in Honey Drown.”
Via phone from Manhattan, he describes “Xanadu’s” leap from screen to stage as the brainchild of the movie’s primary producer Rob Ahrens. After being let go by one of the major studios, Beane explains, Ahrens took a surfing trip to Central America. While lying on his board waiting for a wave, Ahrens formulated his next move — he needed to bring “Xanadu” to Broadway. Through mutual friends Ahrens was advised that Beane was the right man to pen the adaptation. Beane was skeptical.
“I knew the film,” he says. “In the early days of HBO, I think they played ‘Xanadu’ and ‘Clash of the Titans’ on an endless loop. Anyone who ever skipped school in those days knew them well. They’re not good. I remember telling my agent that the job sounded like a real résumé stopper. But Ahrens was relentless. He said I could do whatever I wanted, so I took another look at the film. It was still bad — it had become all nostalgia without the cumbersome taste.”
The plot is simple: Greek muse Clio leaves Mount Olympus for early 1980s Venice Beach, Calif., where, disguised as an Australian roller girl named Kira, she hopes to inspire artist Sonny in creating his decisive achievement, a roller disco. When Clio falls into forbidden love with Sonny, her jealous sisters see it as an opportunity to make trouble.
“Greek muses. Inspiration,” Beane says. “That’s the beginning of theater — everything we hold to be good, pure and beautiful. On the other hand, putting a bad movie on stage is the absolute butt hole end of theater. What would happen if I put classic Greek and ‘80s trashiness together? What would Aristophanes say? And I just started writing. I’d found my way in as they say. … I wrote the dialogue as if it were a good Edith Hamilton translation of the classics, but set in the 1980s. In turn, the set designer created a Greek amphitheater that was a really a disco roller rink. The choreographer fused Solid Gold with Martha Graham. The actors pulled out their best classical voices. Everything fell into place quickly; it all worked.”
Xanadu opened on Broadway May of 2007, ran for more than 500 performances and garnered Beane a Drama Desk Award for Best Book. Gay actor Cheyenne Jackson played Sonny.
Signature’s “Xanadu” is directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner, the company’s associate artistic director, and stars Helen Hayes Award-winner Erin Weaver and handsome Charlie Brady (“South Pacific” on Broadway) as Clio and Sonny. Local favorites Sherri L. Edelen and Harry A. Winter, and big-voiced recent Helen Hayes Award-winner Nova Y. Payton are also featured.
Gardiner, 28, first saw “Xanadu” with Signature’s artistic director Eric Schaeffer during its New York run.
“As we left the theater, I remember thinking it was the most joyous, funny smart work I’d seen in a long time. I said to Eric that I had to direct this show sometime, someplace,” Gardiner says. “Time passed and he [Schaeffer] randomly told me that we were putting ‘Xanadu’ in this season. He thought it would be a good fit and that I’d be directing.”
He says the show works for reasons that aren’t obvious.
“Audiences love it because it’s funny, but they probably won’t see — and I wouldn’t expect them to see — what a well-crafted piece of theater it is. With its satyr play and party at the end, it’s like a Greek drama. I noticed that when I saw the New York production.”
Gardiner admits a weird fondness for the film version. When they were about 5, Gardiner and his twin brother James Gardiner (a talented local actor) spent a lot of time watching it and “Grease,” also with Olivia Newton-John. Gardiner says to enjoy “Xanadu,” the musical, it’s not mandatory to know the movie, but a cursory knowledge of its leading lady and her music, and a sense of what the ‘80s were, certainly helps.
Native to the D.C. area, Gardiner grew up in the arts. He played Tiny Tim at Ford’s Theatre and danced in the “Nutcracker” for 10 years at the Washington School of Ballet. He successfully co-directed and choreographed the terrifically fun and campy “Reefer Madness” and “Jerry Springer: The Opera” at Studio 2ndstage. He was named Signature’s associate artistic director just prior to this year’s season. Most recently he staged Signature’s hit premier “Really Really,” Paul Downs Colaizzo’s play about self-serving young adults and an alleged date rape.
After “Really Really,” Gardiner, who’s gay, says he was ready for something fun. With “Xanadu,” a brisk 90-minute zany sendup of a really bad ‘80s movie, he found his antidote. “It’s been great finding beats, punch lines and gags, but I’ve also enjoyed exploring the show’s real intentions underneath — love and joy and real life emotions. The process has been joyous.”
Young actor Mark Chandler, a pop tenor whose voice is perfect for the score, is thrilled to be cast in the production. As part of the ensemble, he plays assorted characters including one of the Greek muses. And while he’s been singing, acting and dancing professionally for some time, this is his first time on skates before an audience. Luckily, a skating instructor (Gregory VanderPloeg) was brought to bring the actors up to speed.
“Before ‘Xanadu,’ the last time I skated was at a birthday party in L.A. a couple years ago, and nobody was entirely sober,” says Chandler, also gay. “I can tell you, learning to skate has been a bonding experience for the cast. Falling and embarrassing yourself repeatedly does that.”
He and the cast, says Chandler, have a come a long way in little time. Now he’s performing all sorts of tricks — jumps, leaps and cartwheels on skates — and he does them all in gold sequined and lamé booty shorts no less.
“I didn’t know much about the movie. I first watched it after I was cast. It’s interesting,” he says diplomatically. “But the musical is another story. It’s a good time. I promise you’ll walk out of the theater laughing, and you’ll probably have a little glitter on you too.”
Photos
PHOTOS: Taste of Point
Annual fundraiser held for LGBTQ youth scholarship, mentorship organization
The Point Foundation held its annual Taste of Point fundraiser at Room & Board on May 2.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Theater
Miss Kitty tackles classical mythology in ‘Metamorphoses’
Folger production seen through the lens of the African diaspora
‘Metamorphoses’
May 7-June 16
Folger Theatre
201 East Capitol St., S.E.
$20-$84
Folger.edu
Miss Kitty’s words are thoughtful and measured, occasionally punctuated by flamboyant flourishes and uplifting proclamations. Her tried and tested tagline is “live in fierce not fear.”
She describes herself as “AMAB (assigned male at birth), nonbinary, genderqueer, transfemme” as well as “chanteuse, noble blacktress, and dancer.”
Currently, Miss Kitty is testing her talents in Mary Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses” at Folger Theatre on Capitol Hill.
At 90 minutes, “Metamorphoses,” is made up of interwoven vignettes from classical mythology including the tales of Midas and his daughter, Alcyone and Ceyx, and Eros and Psyche.
“It’s all stories that relate to the human condition: the follies, the happiness, the love, the loss,” Miss Kitty explains. “And a thorough knowledge of mythology isn’t a requirement for enjoyment.”
The language is contemporary and with its 11-person ensemble cast – comprised exclusively of Black or indigenous people of color – they’re adding their own spin to its present-day feel, she adds.
In Zimmerman’s 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 doesn’t speak, but she’s very visible from the opening number and throughout the play on stage and popping up in unexpected places around the venue.
“It’s a lot of dancing; I haven’t 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 “Miss Kitty” was born over a decade ago.
Miss Kitty recalls, “She 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.”
Her penchant for illeism (referring to oneself in third person) isn’t without good reason. She explains, “It’s to reiterate that however she might look, she’s always there; and if you misgender, she will let you know.”
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 couldn’t take off. She had always been a part of her.
“She’s helped me to grow and flourish; she’s given me the strength that I never would have had before. I’m so proud of myself for realizing that before it was too late.”
Bringing Miss Kitty into her theatrical career presented some concerns. Would theater folks be open to the new her, especially those she’d worked with before?
Not always, but she’s found new companies who’ve welcomed Miss Kitty with open arms including Avant Bard, Spooky Action Theater, and now Folger.
Last fall, Miss Kitty appeared in Spooky Action’s 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.
“The play speaks to the idea that if people just let people be who they are and love who they want to love we’d all be a lot happier,” 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).
It’s her first time nominated and first time attending. She’s 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, “being a person of color AND queer can be a double whammy of difficulty. You have to live in light and do the things you’re afraid to do. That’s the game changer.”
Presenting “Metamorphoses” 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 — South Asian, Native American, or fully queer perspectives, she says.
“Having an all-Black ensemble opens all new worlds for everyone.”
Las Vegas, known for its vibrant and inclusive atmosphere, embraces LGBTQ culture with open arms, making it a thriving hub for the community. Iconic events like the annual Las Vegas Pride Parade and Festival bring together people from all walks of life to celebrate diversity and unity. The 2024 Las Vegas Pride festival is scheduled for Oct. 12, so start planning now.
The city’s commitment to inclusivity is reflected in the diverse range of LGBTQ-friendly accommodations, ensuring that visitors feel welcome and respected. Beyond the nightlife, Las Vegas hosts a variety of LGBTQ-focused community organizations, support groups, and cultural events that contribute to the rich tapestry of the city’s inclusive ethos. Whether exploring the famous entertainment offerings or participating in community-driven initiatives, LGBTQ individuals and allies alike find a warm and accepting home in the vibrant tapestry of LGBTQ culture in Las Vegas.
Ever since I was young, I have always wanted to stay at Bellagio. Its iconic foundations have fascinated me for decades. The hotel stands as an epitome of luxury and sophistication, offering an unparalleled experience that seamlessly blends opulence, entertainment, and fine dining. From the moment you step into the grand lobby, it’s evident that Bellagio is committed to providing a world-class stay, especially when you glance at the ceiling adorned with Chihuly glass sculptures.
I stayed in a recently renovated room in the Spa Tower with an unobstructed view of the Vegas Strip and the fountains. The attention to detail is evident in the tasteful decor, plush furnishings, and modern amenities. Beginning at 3 p.m. on weekdays and noon on weekends, the choreographed water show set against the backdrop of the Las Vegas Strip is a mesmerizing display of artistry, combining music, light, and water in perfect harmony. It sets the tone for the exquisite experiences that await within Bellagio.
Bellagio is also home to the famous Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, a lush oasis that undergoes seasonal transformations, displaying stunning floral displays and thematic installations. This botanical escape provides a serene contrast to the lively atmosphere of the casino and the bustling Strip. During our stay, the staff were completing the new springtime exhibition, which gave us Alice in Wonderland vibes.
For those seeking entertainment, Bellagio offers the spectacular “O” by Cirque du Soleil, a water-themed extravaganza that complements the hotel’s overall theme. Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is another cultural gem within the hotel, featuring rotating exhibitions that display masterpieces from around the world.
Although it is possible to never leave the hotel, we wanted to experience other MGM Resorts properties, so we headed to LPM at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for dinner. LPM offers an exquisite dining experience that effortlessly marries Mediterranean charm with the vibrant energy of the Strip. From the moment you step through the entrance, you are greeted by an ambiance that strikes a perfect balance between sophistication and conviviality.
LPM’s interior is a visual feast, adorned with chic decor, warm lighting, and an intimate atmosphere. The combination of contemporary design elements and classic French accents creates a welcoming space that feels both elegant and comfortable. Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or seeking a romantic dinner, LPM’s ambiance sets the stage for an unforgettable dining experience.
LPM’s menu is a culinary triumph, highlighting the rich and diverse flavors of the French Riviera. The emphasis on fresh, high-quality ingredients is evident in every dish. We began our meal with a variety of appetizers, including the Yellowtail Carpaccio, Escargots, and their signature Burrata prepared with heritage tomatoes and basil and topped with white truffles. For our main courses, we decided to focus on seafood entrees, so we tried the Lobster Risotto and grilled Chilean Bass. Both were prepared to perfection and paired very well together if you are looking to share entrees.
Of course, one of the biggest attractions of Las Vegas is the Strip itself. Spend a few hours meandering through each hotel and taking in the Vegas vibe. There is no other place in the world quite like it.
If you are in the mood for a little adventure, head to Area15, located about 10 minutes from the strip. Area15 is an immersive entertainment complex that blends art, technology, and entertainment in a unique and captivating way. Boasting an otherworldly exterior and a dynamic interior, Area15 is home to a variety of innovative experiences, including interactive art installations and virtual reality adventures. Its anchor tenant, the Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, is a surreal supermarket-like environment filled with mind-bending art and hidden mysteries. The venue also hosts concerts and live events including Beyond Brunch, a variety show hosted by drag queen extraordinaire Andrew Ryan. The two-hour spectacle includes a wonderful buffet and performances by talented acts ranging from hoop dancers to Cirque-style entertainers. The show is well worth the price of admission; it is not your typical drag brunch.
Spend the afternoon touring Area15 or head to The Sphere, Las Vegas’s newest concert venue. Rock icons U2 opened the venue with a 40-night run, but guests can purchase tickets to Darren Aronofsky’s multi-sensory film “Postcard from Earth.”
For a trip down memory lane, especially if you are in you were born in the ‘70s or ‘80s, check out Retro by Voltaggio at Mandalay Bay. The restaurant owned by Top Chef stars, Bryan and Michael Voltaggio, takes diners on a nostalgic journey through time, blending modern culinary techniques with comforting flavors reminiscent of classic American dishes set in a retro-chic environment. The space is adorned with quirky memorabilia, neon accents, and a colorful palette that captures a sense of nostalgia without feeling overly kitschy, creating a welcoming environment for diners to unwind and enjoy the culinary adventure.
Retro by Voltaggio’s menu is a playful exploration of classic American favorites. We started our dinner with the deviled eggs with smoked trout roe along with the beet steak tartare, which was incredible. Next came the bluefin tuna ceviche served over coconut crushed ice. For our entrees we tried the trout meuniere, which was served in a lemon and caper sauce, as well as the lobster thermidor with lobster waffles — yes, you read that correctly. It was as delicious as it sounds.
Save room for the dessert cart, which contains innovative creations that satisfy the sweet tooth. Whether you’re a fan of nostalgic flavors or simply seeking a unique and enjoyable meal, Retro by Voltaggio is worth the visit.
After dinner, catch a performance of Michael Jackson “ONE” by Cirque du Soleil also at Mandalay Bay. The show is a captivating tribute to the King of Pop that seamlessly blends the magic of Cirque du Soleil with the timeless music and iconic choreography of Michael Jackson. From the moment the lights dim to the final bow, the show is a high-energy, emotionally charged celebration of the legendary entertainer’s life and legacy. This isn’t your typical Cirque du Soleil show and is more like a concert featuring all of Michael’s greatest hits, memorable dance moves, and state-of-the-art production. I felt like “ONE” is the type of concert Michael would have wanted to perform if he were still with us.
The thing I like most about Vegas is it is always evolving. Every time you visit, there is something new to see or do. Viva Las Vegas!
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