Review: WHICH WAY TO THE STAGE? at The Garden Theatre

For 10 days, the Short North Stage provided central Ohio audiences with two perfect companion pieces at the Garden Theatre. On the main stage, SNS presented its annual Halloween run of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (which closed on Oct. 29) while on its side stage, it is running WHICH WAY TO THE STAGE? (Oct. 19-Nov. 12).

The former, made famous by the 1975 film starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and Meatloaf, was many people’s first exposure to performers in drag. The latter is a love letter to those who perform, whether it be in pursuing leading roles or in drag shows.

The Garden Theatre (1187 N. High Street in downtown Columbus) is only the second theater in the United States to present WHICH WAY TO THE STAGE?

In a recent interview, playwright Ana Nogueira, who wrote WHICH WAY TO THE STAGE, stated performing in drag allows certain actors to strip away inhibitions that hamstring other performers.

“I think drag is about freedom,” she said. “It’s about freeing and revealing a part of yourself that you keep hidden on a daily basis for whatever reason; maybe it’s not socially acceptable, maybe it’s not somebody you’d like to be on a regular basis, but it is part of you and letting it come out is empowering and exciting.”

In this four-person show, Judy (Hannah Ellowitz) and her Broadway bestie Jeff (Tommy Heleringer) comically debate all things theater as they wait outside the stage door of IF/THEN awaiting the arrival of superstar Idina Menzel to emerge. No topic, including who is the best Momma Rose from GYPSY, is off limits.

Nogueira’s attention to detail, Edward Carignan’s tight direction, and Ellowitz and Heleringer’s well-manicured mannerisms give WHICH WAY TO THE STAGE an enjoyable suspension of belief. If they listen close enough, the audience can hear the same sort of banter among theater nerds in movie backlots, theater backstages, and back halls of high school drama departments.

Nogueira’s script meshes those moments with the strengths and the flaws, the vulnerability and the vanity, of those two characters as they navigate the life that they’ve chosen.

Ellowitz hides Judy’s beauty in flannel shirts and baggy jeans whose zipper doesn’t work as the actress goes through the endless cycle of audition to rejection to audition. Jeff, who seems to have given up the dream of performing on the Great White Way, has developed a miniscule cult following as a drag performer. He sees Judy’s talents as a singer and as a performer but fears she is holding herself back by not embracing her sexuality.

In one of the show’s best scenes, Jeff tries to bring out Judy’s inner Gypsy Rose Lee/Madonna/Britney Spears by showing her glimpses of how he brings Barbra Streisand or Idina Menzel to life in his drag show.

Heleringer’s Jeff has flaws of his own. His security as a performer and as a person seems to be as thick as an eggshell. It appears to be solid when he is on stage and yet off, it is easily crushed when friends don’t offer him praise.

It could be very easy to reduce these characters to cartoonish caricatures but both Heleringer and Ellowitz’s nuanced performances make them seem comical and yet real.

The two are supported by pillar performances by Ethan Massengale and Arriah Ratanapan. As Mark, Massengale is the vertex of a romantic triangle who is attracted to both Judy and Jeff. Mark is one of those people for whom everything works and yet, he doesn’t seem to realize or appreciate it.

After switching from the world of finance to acting on a whim, Mark lands the roles that no one else in the play gets and is good looking enough to be pursued by everyone in the play, including all three of the roles played by Ratanapan.

Ratanapan is like an all-star utility player in this show. She has a recurring role as a competitive actress going after two of the same roles as Judy, a drunk bachelorette who crashes Jeff’s drag show, and finally, an overworked British casting assistant. Three different roles to be sure, but she changes her persona each time as easily as a costume change.

WHICH WAY TO THE STAGE is one of those rare shows that makes one laugh while at the same time making someone think and feel. In the end, it doesn’t matter which way leads to the stage. It just matters that one gets there.

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