Theater
New theater: ‘Pretty Woman’ and it’s Britney, bitch
Two musicals to check out on D.C. stages
After publication of this story, the theater announced that all performances of “Pretty Woman” have been canceled due to COVID.
Tony Award-winning choreographer/director Jerry Mitchell has had a long and loving relationship with the film “Pretty Woman.”
In a recent phone call, he recalls, “When I first saw the movie, I was dancing in ‘The Will Rogers Follies’ in the early 90s. It was the perfect Cinderella story, and I fell in love.”
From the start, Mitchell harbored the idea that “Pretty Woman” would make a good musical. And 30 years later, after successfully directing and/or choreographing movies to Broadway musicals (“Hairspray,” “Kinky Boots,” “Legally Blonde,” and “La Cage,” to name a few), Mitchell met “Pretty Woman’s” director, Gary Marshall, who asked him to tackle an adaptation of the popular flick that made Julia Roberts a star.
It wasn’t a hard choice for Mitchell, 61. “Pretty Woman” is essentially a two hander about unlikely couple Edward Lewis and Vivian Ward, a wealthy businessman and free-spirited prostitute, who find happiness together against the odds. Despite the trite aspects of the story, Mitchell sees more to it than that. “She’s in the ashes but gets herself out by finding some self-worth. It’s a good female empowerment story that I’d like to tell my own nieces. And we amplify that aspect in the musical.”
Helmed by Mitchell, “Pretty Woman: The Musical” premiered in Chicago before opening on Broadway in 2018, and closing over a year later after a successful run. And in just a few days, the touring production is coming to Washington’s National Theatre.
Mitchell sort of fell into directing movies to musicals. He has an explanation: “I don’t think most people read books like they used to. They watch movies and it’s a faster turnaround. A producer might think ‘this is great source material for a good musical.’ And that’s why I think so many movies are thrown at creative types rather than books.”
Born with a natural athleticism that compliments his dance ability, Mitchell began acting and dancing as a kid in community in theater in his hometown of Paw Paw, Mich. Once in college at Webster University in St. Louis, he immersed himself further in dance and acting, and, says Mitchell, “came out the minute [he] stepped on campus.” He left school early to pursue a professional dance career.
Moving from dancer to choreographer to director isn’t an easy task, he attests. “By 23, I knew that I wanted to be on the other side but I also knew that through dance I’d get to work with some of the great choreographers. And that came true in spades for me: Dancing allowed me to work with people like Agnes de Mille, Michael Bennett, and Jerome Robbins.”
Mitchell, who lives in New York with his fiancé actor Ricky Schroeder (“Not to be confused with Schroder the movie actor – my Ricky is younger and better looking,” says Mitchell), is an integral part of the national tour. He fills the production with people he admires and whose company he enjoys.
“We change up tours, and I like to get in there and do the changes. Also, I’ve had a ball with cast. Adam Pascal who plays Edward sings the shit out of the show. I wanted to give him the time he deserves. And the new Vivian, Olivia Valli (Frankie Valli’s granddaughter), is terrific. She’s brought a sense of humor to the show. The two are sensational together.”
There’s also some empowerment happening at Shakespeare Theatre Company where Broadway bound “Once Upon a One More Time” is making its world premiere. Penned by gay playwright Jon Hartmere, the musical employs familiar fairytale princesses and almost equally familiar Britney Spears’ tunes in telling a story about equality and elusive happiness.
The plot’s premise is promising. A group of fairytale heroines kill time backstage until they’re called on to act out their part when a child somewhere in the world is reading their story. Not surprisingly, Cinderella is the busiest of the storybook stars. She’s also the most dissatisfied. Overworked, underpaid, and not secure in her relationship with Prince Charming, she yearns for more.
Then enters Notorious OFG (Original Fairy Godmother) with a gift in tow – a copy of Betty Friedan’s 1963 bestseller “The Feminist Mystique.” Just what the princesses need to guide them from a life of obedience and dulcet tones to something better. Labor strikes, change, and bold moves ensue.
As Cinderella, standout Briga Heelan boldly leads the large cast as a burgeoning new woman. Justin Guarini makes for a nicely naughty Prince Charming. And amusingly turned out in a sequined mother-of-the-bride dress and sparkly running shoes, Brooke Dillman is more Hollywood’s aw-shucks Jane Withers than the famously abrasive Freidan.
When one of Spears’ more than 20 songs (“Lucky,” “Stronger,” “Toxic,” etc.) drop into the story, fans in the audience ‘ooh and ah’ in recognition and delight. Some fun instances include the Prince’s admission of infidelity with “Oops, I Did It Again,” and Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters’ “Work, Bitch.”
Sometimes glittery and loud and other times subdued, the production boasts colorful, witty costumes and artful, first rate projections. But despite good design, stellar voices, and a terrific band, something’s amiss.
And ultimately, as we knew they would, each of the princesses finds their own voice – including the mute Little Mermaid. But despite the occasional cleverness, it’s a tale that never lands. Like the old stories the musical wishes to rewrite, it’s all too predictable.
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.”
Theater
Round House explores serious issues related to privilege
‘A Jumping-Off Point’ is absorbing, timely, and funny
‘A Jumping-Off Point’
Through May 5
Round House Theatre
4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Md.
$46-$83
Roundhousetheatre.org
In Inda Craig-Galván’s new play “A Jumping-Off Point,” protagonist Leslie Wallace, a rising Black dramatist, believes strongly in writing about what you know. Clearly, Craig-Galván, 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 she’s 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 Leslie’s 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 she’s on the cusp of making it big in Los Angeles while Andrew is bagging groceries at Ralph’s. (In fact, we’ll discover that he’s 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 Andrew’s demeanor shifts back and forth from stiltedly polite to borderline threatening. Eventually, he makes his point: Andrew claims that Leslie’s current success is entirely built on her having plagiarized his script.
This increasingly uncomfortable set-to is interrupted by Leslie’s 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 “a queer multi-spirit Afro-indigenous artist, abolitionist, and alchemist”), Miriam is the perfect third character in Craig-Galván’s deftly balanced three-hander.
Cast members’ performances are layered. Salter’s Leslie is all charm, practicality, and controlled ambition, and Gavigan’s Andrew is an organic amalgam of vulnerable, goofy, and menacing. He’s terrific.
The 90-minute dramedy isn’t without some improbable narrative turns, but fortunately they lead to some interesting places where provoking questions are representation, entitlement, what constitutes plagiarism, etc. It’s 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 Raham’s revolving set seamlessly goes from Leslie’s attractive apartment to smart cafes to an HBO writers’ 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 Kulemeka’s sartorial choices: heels rise higher, baseball caps are doffed and jackets donned.
“A Jumping-Off Point” is the centerpiece of the third National Capital New Play Festival, an annual event celebrating new work by some of the country’s leading playwrights and newer voices.
Theater
‘Amm(i)gone’ explores family, queerness, and faith
A ‘fully autobiographical’ work from out artist Adil Mansoor
‘Amm(i)gone’
Thorough May 12
Woolly Mammoth Theatre
641 D St., N.W.
$60-$70
Woollymammoth.net
“Fully and utterly autobiographical.” That’s how Adil Mansoor describes “Amm(i)gone,” his one-man work currently playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
Both created and performed by out artist Mansoor, it’s his story about inviting his Pakistani mother to translate Sophocles’s Greek tragedy “Antigone” into Urdu. Throughout the journey, there’s 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 he’s a busy theater maker. He’s also the founding member of Pittsburgh’s Hatch Arts Collective and the former artistic director of Dreams of Hope, an LGBTQ youth arts organization.
WASHINGTON BLADE: What spurred you to create “Amm(i)gone”?
ADIL MANSOOR: I was reading a translation of “Antigone” a few years back and found myself emotionally overwhelmed. A Theban princess buries her brother knowing it will cost her, her own life. It’s 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: I’m 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. I’ve done different versions including Zoom. Woolly’s is a new production with the same team who’ve been involved since the beginning.
I love solo performance. I’ve produced and now teach solo performance and believe in its power. And I definitely lean toward “performance” and I haven’t “acted” 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 weren’t 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 I’m in a room with queer and trans teenagers, part of what I’m doing is modeling queer adulthood. The way they see me in the world is part of what I’m 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. I’ve 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: I’ve 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. It’s beautiful, it’ affordable, and there is support for local artists. There’s 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 “Amm(i)gone”?
MANSOOR: What I’m 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.
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