Interview: Andy Lecture of SOUTHERN BAPTIST SISSIES at Proud Mary Theatre Company

Andy Lecture plays Benny/Iona Traylor in the Proud Mary Theatre Company production of Southern Baptist Sissies, running August 3-5 in Spartanburg, SC and August 10-12 in Greenville, SC.

We asked Andy to tell us a little about his background as well as give us some insight into the production and the challenges of performing in drag.

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Tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Andy Lecture, and I went to Furman University for Music Education, where I stumbled into my passion for theater. Up to that point, I was a percussionist, and had never stepped foot on stage unless it was in concert. I auditioned for a show there on a whim with the Furman University Pauper Players, and was pulled into a whirlwind of a theater experience there. I had the opportunity to perform in Rent, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Once Upon a Mattress, Tomfoolery, Songs for a New World, and several revues and cabarets. After graduating, I took a few years to get back into acting and performing, since my career took control of my life for a little bit. But I found myself longing for the stage once more, and so I found my way back to it at CentreStage in Greenville, SC for one of their Fringe series shows, Second Chance, and at FIRE Theatre Co., as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors and a combination of Jeffrey and Lamar, dubbed Jeffar, in Godspell. I really had a blast in those shows, and I'm so excited to return to the stage for Southern Baptist Sissies! My strong suit has always been musicals, because I love singing, but I've found more recently that straight theatre gives me more of a chance to dig into something more substantial and meaningful. This show gives a beautiful blend of both, with meaningful material for the audience to ponder, and plenty of music to elaborate on the show's themes.

Tell us a little about your character Benny?

When I read through the script before I knew I was cast as Benny, Benny stood out to me compared to the other "sissies" in the show. Benny is a drag queen, which lends people who see/read him to believe he would be shallow, feminine, and silly. And while he certainly has some of those characteristics of a stereotypical drag queen, what I found was that Benny had the most depth out of the four sissies (in my opinion). Mark is the thinker, but he is constantly stewing over his frustrations with the church. Andrew is always questioning why God doesn't love him because of who he is. TJ has straight up rejected his homosexuality because of its implications in the Church. Benny, however, unapologetically embraces fully who he is, and while his job is entertaining people in a bar, he has a sophisticated worldview that surprised me when he spoke about it. He really has a beautiful perspective of the world, and brings so much joy to those around him!

Have you performed drag before in a theatre production?

Never. It's something I've toyed with the idea of before, but never had the courage to do. I like to challenge gender roles in my wardrobe, though! I wear heels when I go out occasionally, and I have a few pieces in my wardrobe that challenge gender norms. For Halloween the past few years, I've taken the opportunity to really push it beyond my personal comfort zone - gender bending characters, etc. Last Halloween was my most risque costume - I wore a crop top, pencil skirt, fishnets, and heels as my own take on "Edgar Allen Ho". That's the closest I've come to drag, but I've never done the face and hair!

What has been the most challenging part about this role?

It's hard to find the balance between the comedic entertainment role of the drag and the somber, sophisticated role of Benny the human being. It's sometimes really easy to just take off with the humor and camp of being a drag queen, and how that undoubtedly affects Benny's everyday life and mannerisms, but in the end, he is a person who struggles to feel accepted in his community and church, and is faced with discrimination and hate on a daily basis by people who don't understand him. And while he plays it off like he couldn't care less what other people think of him, I know that on a deep level, it's something that has to hurt or confuse him. Making that complex experience real to the audience is my focus, and it can be really hard to relay our struggle as members of the LGBTQ+ community in the South without losing the entertainment value of the comedy. Because these problems are very real.

What can you tell us about the themes in Southern Baptist Sissies?

I've already touched on the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community in the south/in the church. The audience is also going to be challenged with what it means to be a parent, what it means to be Christian, what it means to be accepting and loving in the face of adversity, how to embrace differences and change, how we can use our own experience to help others who are struggling....I could go on for days! This is a really rich play, and I don't want to give away too much by sharing it all! But trust me - you will laugh. You will be entertained. But you will also (hopefully) gain all sorts of new perspectives on all kinds of different people and lifestyles. Del Toro has done an incredible job of creating a beautiful, funny, and meaningful story here. You don't want to miss it!

The play has been described as both "wrenching" and "hilarious." What challenges have you faced trying to strike a balance between those two extremes?

Benny has really forced me to find just this balance in his character alone. Beyond that, however, there are lots of scene changes that will take us from something funny and silly and campy, and thrust us into a somber conversation between a mother and a preacher, or two friends fighting about what they are feeling, or the consequences of our actions. And while this is challenging and somewhat disorienting, I think it actually helps to further emphasize the humor and the somberness of the play simultaneously. Because it really means something to see someone who is consistently happy and carefree suddenly sober up and make some deep statements about the world. The contrast between these two sort of atmospheres in the show make them that much more striking. The humor of the play builds a relationship between the characters and the audience, and when the audience then sees the characters do something or experience something horrible, or cruel, or hurtful, etc., the audience cares a lot more. Again, mad props to Del Toro for his ingenuity in building that relationship between the cast and the audience! I really think this show is going to be something special, and a journey for the audience and the cast to undertake together. I can't wait to see what kind of relationships we get to build!

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Southern Baptist Sissies by Del Shores is for mature audiences only and runs August 3-5 in Spartanburg, SC at the West Main Artists Co-Op at 578 West Main Street, and August 10-12 at the Greenville Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 1135 State Park Road in Greenville, SC.

All shows are at 8 p.m., EXCEPT for two 3 p.m. matinees: Sunday, August 5 and Saturday, August 11.

Tickets are $10 General at the door or at http://www.proudmarytheatre.com.