I caught the first preview of MCC's first new play this season at the Lortel. It's a mixed affair to be sure, but when it's on it's ON and extremely funny. This is all thanks to an absolutely hysterical drag performance by Matt McGrath; he had me in stitches with every droll facial expression and catty remark.
The play itself is overly long, and worse you can totally see where it's going in the first fifteen minutes. Casey is a wannabe actor/performer at a dingy bar in the Florida panhandle. He wants to put on an Elvis act, but no one is interested in watching. The owner of the bar decides to hire his nephew, now a drag queen, and the nephew's drag partner to spice up the place and bring in some crowds. It's only a matter of time before Casey has to put on some pumps and join the act to make money for his wife and baby on the way. Of course he keeps what he's doing a secret. I wonder if she'll find out!
There was a Murder, She Wrote episode where Jessica went to San Francisco to visit a niece (Genie Francis) only for them to discover that the niece's fiancee was working at a drag club, run by Carol Lawrence no less, to pay the bills.
The problem with the Legend of Georgia McBride is that anytime McGarth/the drag queens aren't on stage the whole affair is a bore. When they're doing their routines or rehearsing Edith Piaf gestures you're likely to find yourself in homo heaven.
Based on some of the Playbill credits it looks like some of the cast performed in the Denver try-out before coming to New York. Given that there was a previous production I'm surprised some of the details of the plot weren't iron out a little more. Little lines here and there didn't ring true or jokes were made (generating a laugh) that ended up being betraying character traits.
Still, I can't help but recommend it solely because of McGrath, who still has me smiling this morning.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Thank you for the first report on this! I'm a big fan of Matthew Lopez since working on a production of The Whipping Man, and I had put this on my list to see next month. I'm curious to see what might be worked until opening (I'm not seeing it till next month), but if there's even one drag queen that can work this, I'm there.
I think the best way to describe this play would be to call it uneven. There are times when it's flat-out hilarious, and the audience was cackling - mostly thanks to Michael McGrath's brilliant performance - and then times where we were uninterested and disengaged.
The problem lies in the plot. Straight boy goes drag. That's the premise. But his actual drag persona is never more than average. She's never over the top hilarious, and the songs they chose for her - all modern country songs - didn't really deliver any jokes. And out of drag, the character of Casey is so insanely boring. The actor didn't add much in way of characterization, and so the whole story/character are just "eh." At least Lopez assembled a hilarious group around him.
The writing was hit or miss as well. At times hilarious and at times very Lifetime movie. The story wraps up in the way you think it would - essentially: Drag saved my life - and the "domestic" scenes are all rather boring. You're suppose to root for the couple, but he's so bland that we just don't care. We want more silly drag queens. Lopez would write things like "Happy July 4th, everyone!" - which just hit my ear wrong. No one really speaks like that? You'd say "the 4th" or happy 4th of July." Just weird nit-picky things that just struck me as false. Or he has one dumb, Southern character say "kerfuffle." Which I don't think anyone would say anyway.
The staging is clunky. Stage hands come out and move various props around or disassemble moments. It kind of works, and it kind of distracts. You see someone throw a bunch of clothes to then witness a stand hand come out and clean it all up while some pop song plays.
Overall I think it's worth it to see for McGrath's performance. He's just stupid hilarious. I can't say enough about his performance. I kind of wish he had been the main focus as his character just had more of an interesting story.
I saw this over the weekend and definitely agree with the other posters. I think they're doing some cuts and rewrites because there were a few line flubs and now the show is an hour and 45 mins without intermission.
There are not enough positive words to say about Matt McGrath's performance. From the second he burst onto the stage I was in love with Tracy. I really wish the focus of the play was shifted from the relationship between Casey and Jo to the developing friendship between Tracy and Casey. The scene in front of Tracy's house gave a little glimpse of what would have been an interesting study. The Jo/Casey relationship is something we've seen a million times before and it made those parts of the play seem more like a bad sitcom or made for TV movie. One thing that exacerbated the situation was that Afton Williamson was not a good actress. I never once believed their relationship which caused the play to drag (pun intended) when the focus was shifted away from the club.
The drag performances themselves were really entertaining and made me want to go out after the show ended. The highlight for me was geeking out over Tracy's Broadway medley. The one negative I would say about them was the lighting which was pretty atrocious the whole time. It was as if the designing thought drag show and then threw on every light imaginable.
While I don't think this is a life changing play I'd definitely recommend it just for an insanely great performance by Matt McGrath and a really enjoyable time overall.
"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah
I agree about the shift of focus. But disagree with Afton. I thought her accent/acting was totally believable. It was Casey that I thought was terrible. Everything he did/said throughout the show just felt false to me. And he didn't seem like he was honestly connecting with the people on stage. Which made the show drag in places to me because I didn't care about the lead character.
It's a thoroughly enjoyable evening; the play is undeniably slight, but it's a wonderfully funny and (most important to me) good-hearted show. The entire cast is exactly right and they all achieve what they need to do to make the play work, and (as has been already noted) Matt McGrath is giving the funniest performance of the New York season.
^newintown, that's pretty much my thoughts as well. It took me about 20 minutes to get into it, but yes once Tracy shows up, the shows brightens undeniably.
Responding to others above, I actually enjoyed Afton Williamson and felt that their home scenes were essential to having any kind of character development for the couple. Keith Nobbs surprised me as well - more as Jason than as Rexy.
I just wish the show had focused more on the club aspect and getting the club back together. I don't think we needed the home scenes. It could have all been done through dialogue between Casey and the girls. I also kind of wish it had almost become a juxebox style musical with them just lipsynching to songs or something different.
RippedMan, I understand what you say, but it seems that you may be calling for an entirely different kind of show than that which the playwright wrote. This is a simple good-hearted comedy about what people need to do to get by, how that can change them, and how love sees them through that change. It's not a musical about drag performers.
I have yet to see this, but it's kind of refreshing that a slighter play is being produced by a notable company in a theatre landscape that- for plays, at least- skews more toward issue-driven, portentous pieces.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
newintown: totally get that. While I was watching the play I just felt like the playwright was better at writing witty banter for the queens to say than really developing the story, so why not scrap the story. It's not really saying anything new, so why not make it more about the club, which is the one interesting part of the show, and take the one main character who is interesting and tell us her story. At least that's what I was thinking.
Went tonight. I really enjoyed the show and (maybe it's been tightened) the time flew.
Of course,everything said about McGrath is true and then some. I was not expecting much so was surprised that I found the chemistry on stage strong I did get emotionally invested -maybe the preview period is being used well. I was impressed with Dave Thomas Brown as Casey and Georgia
The audience was along for the ride tonight and seemed to enjoy ("I can't remember when I have laughed so much", etc.) This was certainly not the experience I expected based on reviews in this thread of people who's opinions I respect (and generally share)
Well I think we all said it's an enjoyable evening. It's just a slight play. There's nothing groundbreaking happening, etc. But it's fun. Just funny to think he went from Whipping Man to this.
Reading the raves about Matt are making me so happy! I knew his talents on the first night he played Hedwig and have been following him since. IN fact, his "I Don't Care Much" from his stint as the emcee, was the most beautiful I had heard from any of them. Matt's got that built-in misty haunting sound.
I'm seeing the show on the 23rd, I think, and can't wait!
Jane, if you're going for Matt, which you should, you'll be totally impressed. He kills it. I wish the play were better so it could go somewhere else after this, like Broadway, but it's not. But his performance is so incredible. I wish Lopez would write him a spin-off.
Ripped - Today on On Stage, they reviewed the play. It was mentioned that Matt's performance is one of the best of the year, and this should really propel his career. They also wisely mentioned he has the chops to do any kind of role. I can tell you that his singing is gorgeous, too.
I'm going on the 23rd, and will see Matt afterwards.
went to see the show tonight. What a good time is had by all! I highly recommend this, and hurry up because it has to close on Oct. 11 because another show is coming in. they had already extended a week, but that's it.
My friend Matt McGrath is getting all raves and boy does he deserve it. But the entire cast is perfect!!!! I loved all of them. If you want to have a good time, go see this. Really!
I saw a regional production of "Georgia McBride" last night and the script left me frustrated. The first half is a tropey farce. Unemployed straight man-child gets offered work as a drag queen by two underwritten minorities. It's Kinky Boots, Full Monty, etc without the stakes. One lip sync montage later he's delivering "serious" monologues about what his drag persona and his relationships with the other performers mean to him. It felt like the middle of the play was cut in previews as we never meet his persona or see those "relationships" develop. The cast did their best but the script just wasn't there for them.
Georgia/Casey has supposedly turned a bar in the middle of nowhere into a thriving drag club. He sobs at one moment that the experience made him "feel like a f*g." I wanted them to unpack that. Who is coming to this club? Bachelorettes? Gay men from big cities commuting to his small town? Is he flirting with gay men in the club? With his fellow performers? Where's the sexual tension that's fueling this identity crisis?
Sally, was it the production in the Chicagoland area?
Also, it's not unheard of to create gay bars in the middle of nowhere! Fat Mary's in McAlester, Oklahoma is a great "real-life" example of them taking over a bar and creating drag shows. And, trust me, while it's not as big as an NYC gay club, it's still very popular with the locals.