Review: CHRIS GRACE: AS SCARLETT JOHANSSON at Kennedy Center Family Theater

A friend of mine, a techie and sometime actress, once told me that her dream role would be playing John Adams in "1776." When people point out that she is not a man, her response is, "I'm not a lawyer from Boston, either. So what?" The question of whether an actor's ethnicity or gender should determine what roles they play has been hotly debated in the theatrical world in recent years. That question is at the center of "Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson," a one-man show written and performed by Grace, a Chinese-American stand-up comedian  and actor who has appeared in several films and TV shows, including a recurring role on "Superstore," which I never watched. Grace brought the one-man show to the Kennedy Center, along with several trenchant remarks about the recent changes in leadership and the great irony of "Les Miserables" playing at that particular venue at this particular time.

As the audience filed into the Kennedy Center's Family Theater, Tom Waits songs played on the sound system and Grace came out from backstage and walked around the space, greeting and shaking hands with audience members. The production, directed by Grace's husband, Eric Michaud, was inspired by "ScarJo" appearing in the lead as Asian cyborg  "Major Mara Killian/Motoko Kusanagi" in Rupert Sanders 2017 film adaptation of the anime "Ghost in the Shell."  Grace, a self described "middle-aged, fat, gay Asian man," begins the show by playing Johannson (he wears a blonde wig) and  recounting her roles. "I whispered into horses and Bill Murray whispered into me." The stage is mostly bare save for a few other wigs. When Grace dons a new wig, it indicates that the impersonation has gone a step deeper. The lights dim, and the voice on the loudspeaker intones, "Welcome to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. We are proud to present Chris Grace as Scarlett Johansson as Chris Grace as Scarlett Johansson..." etc. 

One-man shows are often difficult to review. The production is essentially Grace's humorous and engaging account of the highs and lows of hispursuing an acting career and ruminations on cultural identity. Grace, born Christopher Tung Shieh, recounts that he took his mother's first name as his stage last name as "a tribute to her, in the classical sense." He recounts famous instances of "whitewashing" in Hollywood, such as Mickey Rooney's infamous role as the Japanese "Mr. Yunioshi" in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." In recounting the difficulties faced by Asian actors, he recalls Ke Huy Quan vanishing from public view after appearing in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" before reappearing decades later for his Academy Award-winning role in "Everything Everywhere All at Once."  "Will I have to wait 37 years to win an Oscar?" Grace worries. I mentioned that Tom Waits songs played before the show. Grace explains this during the performance; some years back, Johansson recorded an album of Tom Waits covers, even though her public persona is about as far as possible from Waits' haggard, world-weary image. I'm listening to it now as I write this, and it's...interesting.

"Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson" runs only slightly over an hour, but one leaves with a greater appreciation for our common humanity, regardless of race and gender...and isn't that, after all, the very mission of theatre?