Interludes

VIEWPOINTS: Hall of Mirrors – Chronicling Drag Culture on Broadway

• By drediman
• March 17, 2014
• No Comments

For decades before Jared Leto won acclaim for his Oscar-winning performance in the film “Dallas Buyers Club”, drag has been prevalent on Broadway.  Drag’s presence in mainstream Broadway owes much to Harvey Fierstein’s forceful one-two punch more than thirty years ago. “Torch Song Trilogy”, which Mr. Fierstein wrote and starred in, transferred from Off-Broadway and opened at the Little Theatre (now the Helen Hayes Theatre) in 1982 and went on to win the Tony Award for Best Play and run an impressive 1,222 performances. A year later, Mr. Fierstein provided the book for the Tony Award winning musical “La Cage aux Folles” at the Palace Theater, which ran for an equally impressive 1,761 performances (the musical has been subsequently revived twice on Broadway). Both of these landmark shows were embraced by critics and the public alike for bravely bringing dimensionality to the gay and transgender experience, paving the way for an impressive array of empowering Broadway shows in the years to come, which I’ll explore below.

 

Scene-Stealers

 

 

 

 

 

No doubt about it, drag queens are eye-catching. Drag personas are typically an intoxicating mix of strength and vulnerability, which have fostered emotionally charged performances, even for characters in supporting roles. The following characters in drag have managed to (almost) steal their respective shows, despite their statuses as supporting characters.

1. One of the key characters in Kander and Ebb’s “Cabaret” (1966, 1987, 1998, 2014) is the androgynous Emcee, who in many ways is a drag prototype for the years to come. Joel Grey won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his portrayal in the original production. Since then, the seductive role has been elevated to star status, as was evidenced by the 1998 revival, in which Alan Cumming won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance. Mr. Cumming is returning to the role of the Emcee in the hotly-anticipated 2014 revival.

2. Another Kander and Ebb musical, “Chicago” (1977, 1996), resurrected the world of vaudeville for the modern age, which included drag performance in the form of Mary Sunshine (who was unfortunately played by Christine Baranski in the Oscar-winning film). To this day, Mary Sunshine’s brash reveal towards the end of the show still elicits giddy gasps from the audience of the popular 1996 revival.

3. “Rent” (1996) introduced the world to the character Angel (sensationally played in the original production by Wilson Jermaine Heredia), one of the iconic transgender creations in the modern musical era. Although Angel is technically a supporting character, her mixture of generosity and vulnerability perfectly captures the spirit of Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer and Tony Award winning musical and won the hearts of legions of theatergoers.

4. One of the most memorable characters in “Taboo” (2003), which featured a re-worked book by Charles Busch (himself a drag legend) when it opened on Broadway, is a character based on pop icon Boy George, who was played convincingly by Euan Morton in the original London and Broadway productions (Mr. Morton received Olivier and Tony nominations for his work).

 

Celebrating Drag in Musicals

 

 

 

 

 

Drag queens are larger than life, both in physique and in personality, making them ideal subjects for “heart-on-the-sleeve” musical theater. When these characters open their mouths to sing or move to dance, there is a certain aggression and determination that’s exciting to behold. The following are musicals that celebrate drag culture.

1. Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman’s Tony Award winning and oft-revived musical “La Cage aux Folles” (1982, 2004, 2010) was a shocking but thrilling burst of energy when it first stormed Broadway. Although it’s lost some of its shock value, the triumphant anthem “I Am What I Am” can still sear modern-day audiences, as Tony-winner Douglas Hodge proved in the last revival.

2. Leslie Bricusse and Henry Mancini created the movie musical and subsequent the stage adaptation “Victor/Victoria” (1995) as a star vehicle for Julie Andrews (she controversially refused her Tony nomination when the show itself was not nominated for Best Musical), in which Ms. Andrews played a woman playing a male drag performer playing a woman. Hall of mirrors, indeed. Original cast member Tony Roberts provided warm support as the title character’s drag queen friend and confidant.

3. Also based on a movie, the musical “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” (2011) was simply an excuse to celebrate drag and gay culture. This manifested itself particularly in its score, which is comprised of era-defining disco songs. The road trip nature of the show allowed it to break out into jubilant song and dance oh so very often.

4. Harvey Fierstein most recently returned to musical theater as the book writer for the fun and inspiring Tony-winning “Kinky Boots” (2013), which also features a catchy score by Cyndi Lauper. At the show’s core is Billy Porter’s irrepressible presence as the drag queen Lola. Like Les Cagelles in Mr. Fierstein’s previous “La Cage”, Lola in “Kinky Boots” is sensationally backed by a vivacious group of drag performers, the singing and dancing Angels.

 

Suspending Disbelief

 

 

 

 

 

Unlike the other performances discussed in this chronicle, the following shows featured performances that have asked its audiences to suspend their disbelief. As opposed to men playing men in women’s garb (i.e., men playing drag queens), these actors simply played female characters, and were memorable doing so.

1. The ubiquitous Harvey Fierstein played Edna in Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman’s effervescent award-winning musical adaptation of “Hairspray” (2002). Fierstein’s performance was warm and open, winning him yet another Tony award.

2. The Stratford Festival’s Broadway transfer of Oscar Wilde’s popular “The Importance of Being Earnest” (2011) starred an irresistibly deadpan Brian Bedford as Lady Bracknell. Mr. Bedford also directed the hilariously sparkling revival.

3. In the Broadway production of Tim Minchin’s musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s “Matilda” (2013), Bertie Carvel reprised his delectably sinister turn as Miss Trunchbull in this London import. His performance was dazzling for its high wire act between camp and menace.

4. London’s Globe Theatre production of “Twelfth Night” (2013) brought the one and only Mark Rylance back to Broadway. In true Elizabethan tradition, the female characters in this production were played by men, including Mark Rylance who daringly played an emotionally unstable Viola. It was a risky portrayal, but the payoff was theatrical heaven. Also, Samuel Barnett was incandescent as Olivia.

 

Glorified Cabaret Acts

 

 

 

 

 

Drag queens have long been and continue to be (e.g., Joey Arias, Taylor Mac, Charles Busch) popular staples in the mostly under-the-radar cabaret circuit. However, some of the more famous performances have found themselves resurrected for Broadway audiences. The following are some fringy acts that have transitioned to the mainstream of Broadway.

1. The outrageously funny Dame Edna (also known as the Australian comedian Barry Humphries) has found herself performing on the boards of the Great White Way twice: first in “The Royal Tour” (2000), and then in  “All About Me” (2010) (with Michael Feinstein).

2. “Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway” (2006) featured drag cabaret duo Justin Bond and Kenny Mellman on Broadway. Justin Bond continues to perform in drag regularly in cabaret and theater (Mr. Bond just finished a run in Brecht’s “A Man’s a Man” at Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company).

3. Neil Patrick Harris will be starring in the upcoming Broadway premier of “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” (2014). “Hedwig” previously had a successful off-Broadway mounting, originally with co-writer John Cameron Mitchell (the other co-writer is Stephen Trask) and subsequently with Michael Cerveris (to great acclaim).

 

Drama Queens

 

 

 

 

 

Drag queens are no strangers to high-stakes dramas on Broadway. The following three productions featured drag and are historic in their own ways.

1. Mr. Fierstein’s trailblazing Broadway production “Torch Song Trilogy” (1982) introduced many Broadway audiences to gay and drag culture. The production won two Tonys for Mr. Fierstein, one for Best Play and the other for Best Leading Actor in a Play. Mr. Fierstein returns to serious drama this season as the playwright of “Casa Valentina”, which takes place during a weekend in 1962 at a resort for transvestites in the Catskills.

2. “M. Butterfly” (1988) by David Henry Hwang starred B.D. Wong as a female Chinese opera singer and spy. The production won Tonys for Mr. Hwang and Mr. Wong for Best Play (Mr. Hwang was the first Asian American to win this prize) and Best Featured Actor in a Play, respectively.

3. Tony Kushner’s legendary, life-affirming gay/AIDS epic “Angels in America” (1993) featured two characters associated with drag culture. One of the most memorable scenes in the play is a dream sequence in which the character Prior Walter is in drag. Also, Belize (brilliantly played in the original Broadway production by Jeffrey Wright), Prior’s friend, is a former drag queen.