Interview: Star Amerasu On Joining SILVERBACK MOUNTAIN Off-Broadway

Mickey Gooch Jr.'s SILVERBACK MOUNTAIN, billed as a new gay jungle play, is set to begin a three-week limited engagement at Off-Broadway's AMT Theater (354 West 45th Street). Directed by Sam LaFrage, with musical direction by Jaz Koft, choreography by Nico DeJesus, and music arrangements by Bryan Blaskie, the production previews from May 31 with an opening night on June 5 and a closing performance on June 21.

Joining the cast as Miss Jackson is Star Amerasu, a performance and new media artist whose work seamlessly integrates narrative film, music, and digital storytelling. A graduate of the San Francisco Film School, Amerasu wrote, directed, and starred in the narrative short film AFTER HOURS, executive produced by Elliot Page. Her theatrical roots in New York include originating the lead in Jeremy O. Harris's NORF, and she recently completed a run in Sam Anderson's THE WOLF IS AN ENDANGERED SPECIES at the New Theater Hollywood.

In SILVERBACK MOUNTAIN, Amerasu plays Miss Jackson, a trans woman, diner queen, and former special forces operative who leads a rescue mission to Uganda. The chaotic adventure blends screwball comedy, a love story, and a jailbreak into a musical romp, following Lucas and Andy, a couple whose gorilla trekking trip spirals into something far more dangerous when their relationship and identities are unexpectedly exposed.

The production stars Mickey Gooch Jr. as Lucas alongside Amerasu, Olamide Asanpaola, Leo Jasper Davis, Joe Regelbrugge, Samuel Selman, Walker Stovall, and Jason Yanto. The design team includes Josh Oberlander (scenic), Sarah Lockwood (costumes), Coby Chasman-Beck (lighting), Brandon Hilfer (sound), Zack Lobel (projection), and Sean Frank (props and set dressing).

BroadwayWorld spoke with Amerasu about returning to the New York stage after more than a decade, finding the dual register of camp and emotional depth in Miss Jackson, and why a queer survival story that chooses joy feels especially urgent right now.

What drew you to the role of Miss Jackson, and what was it about this character that made you want to return to the New York stage?

When I got the call about this show, I was immediately drawn to Miss Jackson's no nonsense, kooky spirit. Having been off the stage in NY for almost 12 years, this felt like the perfect character to come back to. She's empowered, she's funny and she knows how to get things done. She's a person who I aspire to be more like in my day to day.

Miss Jackson is described as someone who lives in a dual register, camp and comedy on the surface with genuine emotional depth underneath. How do you navigate that balance in your performance?

I think what we see is just a sliver of this character's lived experience, but what we do see is so important to the story. I try every night to really just have fun. Really listen to the other people I share the stage with and really respond. Which then bridges the camp to the emotional depth.

Miss Jackson is a trans woman, a diner queen, and a former special forces operative. How did you approach bringing together such a wonderfully unexpected combination of qualities in one character?

I feel like as a trans woman, I don't ascribe to the narrative that there's only one way to be a woman. I think we live in a world full of dualities. Miss Jackson holds multitudes, and all of us on earth have that ability as well. There's a line that Walker says as Marty, "Us f***gots can do anything." I think this is true. The whole of the LGBT community is imbued with the ability of transmutation, of being adaptable. Something I never want us to forget.

SILVERBACK MOUNTAIN is described as a queer survival story that chooses joy and community over tragedy. Why do you think that kind of storytelling is especially important right now?

I think with all the anti-trans laws popping up around America, it parallels these very real dangers that the entire LGBT community faces in countries like Uganda, where being gay is punishable by the death penalty. Being yourself shouldn't be illegal anywhere. This play shows us that through the power of LOVE we can defeat fear, and hate. We don't linger too long in sadness, it's real and the traumas are there. But because of the work that Sam LaFrage did to work on the story, we leave people feeling good, feeling hopeful.

You're working with director Sam LaFrage, who has a strong background in queer and camp theatrical storytelling. What has that collaboration been like in shaping Miss Jackson?

It's been a joy! Sam told me very early in the process about how he used to drive around the Lady Chablis, trans icon and performer who starred in MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL. I love her and her character and try to bring some of her essence into Miss Jackson. It was a lot of listening to Sam's ideas, talking about jokes, and some days we would go around the room yelling out different jokes for the various characters to say. That felt super collaborative and lovely. I think Sam hears comedy like music, the ups and downs and the flow. It's been like a comedy acting bootcamp! Thank god I'd already gone through basic trainings, cause this was the comedy Marines.

For someone who has worked across so many different platforms and art forms, what does live theater offer you as a performer that nothing else can?

Getting the likes and the clicks and the multi millions of views is nice, and can give you an elevated sense of self. But nothing compares to doing a scene in front of a live audience, and flopping so hard you wanna die. Then going to a rehearsal, getting your notes, changing the performance and then doing it for a new audience the next night and killing it! Like in a world so used to instant gratification, it's been such a joy to patiently wait to get the reaction you want as a performer. There's no takes in theater, you have 1, maybe 2 opportunities on a matinee day, to get it right! That's some powerful performance magic! I guess I just love when hard work pays off. Theatre is BACK mamas!