Pre Reading Packet The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez

THE STORY: He’s young, he’s broke, his landlord’s knocking at the door, and he’s just found out his wife is going to have a baby. To make matters even more desperate, Casey is fired from his gig as an Elvis impersonator in a run-down, small-town Florida bar. When the bar owner brings in a B- level show to replace his act, Casey finds that he has a whole lot to learn about show business—and himself.

EXPRESS YOURSELF DURING THE SHOW! If you've never been to a drag bar before, Town Hall Theatre has some tips for you while you watch The Legend of Georgia McBride!

We don't want our drag numbers to... well, drag. We want you to know that it is OK -- and even welcome -- for you to cheer, clap and get into the music. A drag performer feeds on audience energy -- it's a two-way conversation. Because Town Hall Theatre is so intimate, you might not think this is good theatre etiquette, but during the drag numbers, it is OK to be loud and excited when the performers are lip-syncing. About the Playwright, Matthew Lopez

Matthew Lopez is the author of The Whipping Man, one of the most widely produced new American plays of the last several years. The play premiered at Luna Stage in Montclair, NJ, and debuted in New York at Manhattan Theatre Club. That production was directed by Doug Hughes and starred Andre Braugher. The sold-out production extended four times, ultimately running 101 performances off-Broadway and garnering Obie and . Lopez was awarded the John Gassner New Play Award from the New York Outer Critics Circle for the play. Since then, it has been received over 40 productions worldwide. Lopez's play, Somewhere, has been produced at the Old Globe, TheatreWorks in Palo Alto and most recently at Hartford Stage Company, where his play Reverberation also received its world premiere in 2015.

Lopez's play, The Legend of Georgia McBride, premiered in 2015 at the Denver Theatre Center for the Performing Arts. His latest play, the two-part epic , premiered at the Young Vic Theatre in London 2018 and is based on E.M. Forster's novel, . This production earned eight nominations at the 2019 Olivier Awards and arrives at Broadway’s on September 27, 2019.

Lopez currently holds new play commissions from Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Hartford Stage, and South Coast Rep. Lopez was a staff writer on HBO’s “The Newsroom” and is currently adapting Javier Marias’ trilogy “Your Face Tomorrow” for the screen.

Lopez was born in Panama City, Florida, to two public school teachers. His father, born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is the older brother of actor Priscilla Lopez. Lopez graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in theatre performance.

Outer Critics Circle Awards Nominee - 2016 - Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play Matthew Lopez, The Legend of Georgia McBride

From American Theatre Magazine 2014: “Georgia McBride is more than a love letter to the chameleonic aspects of drag—it is also an affectionate look at Panama City, where Lopez grew up, and where he first came out. It was at a local gay bar that a group of drag took him under their wings. ‘My tutelage as a young gay man was at the hands of drag queens,’ Lopez recalls.” Susan E. Evans, Artistic Director

Welcome to Cleo’s Lounge!

And welcome one and all to Town Hall Theatre’s 75th Season and our 300th production, The Legend of Georgia McBride by Matthew Lopez!

“Joyous.” I’ve written a slew of press releases over the years, and I think I can honestly say I’ve never once used that word to describe a show. Yet that’s the one word that comes first to my lips when asked to talk about The Legend of Georgia McBride, Matthew Lopez’s fabulously flamboyant comedy about divas and difference. It’s showtime at Cleo’s Lounge, a dilapidated, small- time club in the Florida Panhandle. Casey’s got to get a new act together fast – he’s broke and his wife just told him there’s a baby on the way. Can a young Elvis impersonator transform himself into a platform-pump-panty-hose-wearing ?

The Legend of Georgia McBride is an apt kick-off to THT’s 75th Season of Transformations. Casey’s transformation happens first on the outside, as he morphs from Elvis to Edith, and then within, when he literally and figuratively gets his act together. And “Georgia McBride” is born - a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.

The evolution of the play came to the playwright from a playlist he acquired from “friends of a friend.” Lopez listened to the playlist, which was chock full of country- western female vocalists like Dolly Patron and Loretta Lynn mixed with covers of Elvis Presley songs. The kernels of the story of The Legend of Georgia McBride started to gel in his mind; he felt particularly drawn to the idea of a straight man discovering the world of drag. Lopez set the story in his hometown of Panama City, Florida, a very conservative town, partly because he wanted a place where this kind of journey might be more unlikely.

Midway through the play, Rexy gives an impassioned speech about what it really means to be a drag queen. It’s a pivotal and powerful moment in the play, a teachable moment for Casey. In an interview with the LA Times, playwright Lopez says: “‘Georgia McBride’ is about a group of people who don’t really fit in anywhere else. I call them my misfit toys, and they build a home together at the bar … Drag, as it’s practiced in these small Southern gay bars, enables a sense of transgression, a sense of rebellion, a sense of resistance. And it’s also a hell of a lot of fun.”

And fun it is; I gently defy you to be able to watch this show without joining the party. Enjoy the celebration!

Susan E. Evans, Artistic Director Katie Zeigler, Literary Consultant

Be sure to join Katie, our Volunteer Literary Consultant, as she hosts our Community Literary Salon, Lit Up at Town Hall on Wednesday October 9 at 7:30 pm!

The theme is: Making It Up.

Curated by: Katie Zeigler, Town Hall Literary Consultant Katie is also a faculty member of Diablo Valley College and brings her students to this event 4 times per year! Join this vibrant literary experience!

Featuring: Director of Georgia McBride, Cindy Goldfileld

See our line up of participants! https://www.townhalltheatre.com/lit-up-at-town-hall/

FREE (for subscribers and all students) $10 General

Lit Up at Town Hall Theatre provides an exciting opportunity for community authors, lecturers, musicians, and artists from across generations to come together with theatre-goers and other members of the community and share their work. Each of these literary salons will focus on a specific theme that captures and expands upon motifs within the current production, providing an in-depth and multi-layered theatre experience. Cindy Goldfield, Director

Award-winning Director CINDY GOLDFIELD is delighted to be working at Town Hall for the first time. Ms. Goldfield’s directing credits include work with the ACT/MFA program, 42nd Street Moon (Director and/ or Choreographer: Once, As Thousands Cheer, Once in a Blue Moon, Finian’s Rainbow, The Roar of the Greasepaint, SNOOPY!!! ,The Boyfriend, The Most Happy Fella, Baker Street, No, No, Nanette), Playground, The Willows Theatre, Cubit Productions and many other regional and corporate theatrical events. A two-time recipient of both the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and the Dean Goodman Choice awards for acting, Cindy’s regional credits include work at ACT, Center REP, San Jose Rep, The Willows, Broadway by the Bay, Marin Theatre Company, Brava, 42nd Street Moon, Playground and SF Playhouse. NY credits include D’Arcy Drollinger’s productions of Project: Lohan and Mr. Irresistible, in which she also starred in SF. Ms. Goldfield also enjoys a thriving voice-over career and is a vibrant presence in the Bay Area Cabaret scene.

Source: https://www.cindygoldfield.com Drag Defined Source: https://www.guthrietheater.org/globalassets/2-shows--tickets/201718/the-legend-of-georgia-mcbride/ georgiamcbride_playguide.pdf

DRAG DEFINED Where does the word “drag” come from? An early definition found in 1887 and cited in A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (Eric Partridge, 1937) defines drag as “the petticoat or skirt used by actors when playing female parts; the drag of the dress as distinct from the non-drag of trousers.”

DRAG AND “Drag is a type of entertainment where people dress up and perform, often in highly stylized ways. Today, many prominent drag artists are people who identify as men and present themselves in exaggeratedly feminine ways as part of their performance. While some drag queens live their lives as men outside of their drag personae, people of any gender can be drag queens. As part of their performance, many drag queens have a separate drag persona in addition to the self they live as every day. This persona will of course look different but may also have a different name and ask to be referred to by different gender pronouns. This does not mean they are transgender. Just as actors do not keep being referred to by their characters’ names after stepping offstage, drag performers do not necessarily keep the names or pronouns they use while performing. Drag performers are artists and entertainers, so being in drag is not an integral part of their identity in the same way that gender is.

On the other hand, when a transgender person comes out and asks people to use a different name and different gender pronouns to refer to them, it is not part of a performance. It is an important part of their identity and can be a critical part of affirming their gender identity. Don’t assume that someone in drag is transgender or vice versa. Just as the vast majority of the general population does not do drag, most transgender people also are not drag performers. It can be hurtful to refer to a transgender person’s presentation as drag because it suggests that their deeply held identity is just a show they are putting on – which is untrue. Being respectful of a drag performer’s gender is the same as being respectful of anyone else’s gender. If you’re not sure, for example, of which pronouns to use when referring to someone, just ask.” A BRIEF HISTORY OF DRAG Source: https://www.guthrietheater.org/globalassets/2-shows--tickets/201718/the-legend-of-georgia-mcbride/ georgiamcbride_playguide.pdf

The most famous drag queen of our time, RuPaul Charles, became a household name when the reality television competition “RuPaul’s Drag Race” became a pop culture obsession. Although this prime- time spotlight pulled drag into the mainstream of performance art, it is by no means the beginning of the form. Men have performed as women for centuries in nearly every culture, due in large part to the fact that women were not permitted to perform onstage before the 17th century. In the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, men were cast to perform women’s roles. Drag as we know it, however, presents a very different embodiment. Today, a drag queen is a performer who creates and develops a persona for personal, artistic or political reasons – and the alter ego can be completely original or modeled after other famous performers with a unique twist.

In his definitive study of the drag art form, Roger Baker notes that while a man embodying a woman through drag is not necessarily a reflection of sexual orientation, the majority of drag artists identify as gay men. Drag performance allowed gay men to express themselves honestly and safely while entertaining audiences during a time when displaying their identity outside of their performance could lead to serious trouble.

In the 1960s, many gay clubs were being raided, and drag queens paid the price in beatings and arrests. Their acts of resistance, which began in 1969 during a raid at New York City’s Stonewall Inn, were rooted in a stance of opposition to the discrimination and violent treatment they had endured. This unwavering defiance played a major role in galvanizing the gay liberation movement and defeating oppressive laws in many states.

As Rexy so profoundly states in The Legend of Georgia McBride, “Drag ain’t a hobby, baby. Drag ain’t a night job. Drag is a protest. Drag is a raised fist inside a sequined glove. Drag is a lot of things, baby, but drag is not for sissies.” A BRIEF HISTORY OF DRAG (cont…) http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/act_shows/ 2017/2017_Georgia_program.pdf Ancient Shakespeare Kabuki Greece 1558-1603 16th century 800 B.C.-500 B.C.

With all the dynamic female Much of theatre roles in Shakespeare, it's hard history traces its roots to believe this great oeuvre back to Ancient was once the exclusive In Japan, Kabuki actually Greece and drag domain of men. In began as a female-only can certainly do the Elizabethan times, women discipline same. In Greek had limited freedom or social (with women playing roles society, women were status and could not of both genders), but in the considered vastly participate in any professional 16th century, women were inferior to men and discipline, including theatre. banned from performing unfit for the stage, Adolescent boys played and so a new, all-male one of the society's the female roles, perhaps Kabuki was born. most respected art looking somewhat plausible in forms. Thus, female women's clothing with their roles were played by less broad shoulders, softer Above: men. faces and more diminutive Kabuki actors in 1813, by heights. The audiences of the artist Utagawa Toyokuni. Art Above: time were able to suspend Gallery of South Australia. Theatre of Dionysus in their disbelief, but you have Athens, built in the to imagine the world didn't late 5th century B.C. see the greatest Lady Photo credit: From Macbeth, Cleopatra, or Juliet The Story of the until years later when women Greeks by H.A. were cast in the parts. Guerber. Above: Engraving by Martin Droeshout, 1623, from the First Folio of Shakespeare, 1623. Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library. A BRIEF HISTORY OF DRAG (cont…) http://commondatastorage.googleapis.com/act_shows/ 2017/2017_Georgia_program.pdf Classical Victorian Era Modern Drag Opera 1837-1901 20th century 1750-1820

It was during the While still a vibrant aspect of some theatre, In Western opera, Victorian era that the drag has also evolved into an art form some female roles term "drag" is believed unto itself. If 20th-century men and were played by men, to have been coined, women experimented with cross-dressing either countertenors as the long to express their individuality apart from (men who sing in a and heavy skirts of the traditional society (and their solidarity with middle female, or day (particularly in the each other), the inherent presentational alto, range) or exaggerated fashion nature of drag made for a slippery slope sopranists (men who worn by men in female between performance and offstage life, sing in the higher roles) literally dragged with generations of drag kings and queens female, or soprano, along the stage. walking that line, each in their own unique range). At times, Theatre flourished as fashion. Some of those artists have these roles were political and economic identified as transgender, while for others it played by castrati, stability made for safe has been just playing a character. men who were nighttime passage (to neutered before and from performance For some, it's a character, but one they adolescence venues) and shows don't take off, challenging society at times so as to preserve were able to run for a with the open rebellion against traditional their prepubescent long time. Eventually, gender roles. feminine-sounding this era of theatre gave voices. Less extreme, birth to arguably the Since the beginning of the LGBT liberation but more unique to most famous example movement and the 1969 uprising at the opera, has been the of cross-gender casting, Stonewall Inn, drag has been as closely existence of "pants the title role in Peter linked to political action as it has been to roles," male parts Pan, a male part entertainment and as the years go on, this played by women, audiences not only line continues to be blurred. RuPaul began such as Cherubino accept played by a his career as a counter-culture fringe artist in The Marriage of woman, but expect to alongside Lady Bunny and numerous other Figaro and Hansel in be played by a Alphabet City denizens of the '80s, but Hansel and Gretel. woman. today hosts one of the most successful Perhaps due to the reality competitions on TV—a show heightened reality of Above: business phenomenon that surely operatic music, this Nina Boucicault, the first educates many people otherwise type of reverse person to portray Peter unfamiliar with aspects of LGBT culture. casting has been Pan, in the 1904 debut generally accepted of Peter Pan, or The Boy As more and more TV and movies take on by audiences for Who Wouldn’t Grow Up these stories, theatre—with its live, in- centuries. at the Duke of York’s person, real time nature—offers a singular Theatre in London. environment for empathy and courage and experimentation.

Clockwise from top left: Harvey Fierstein in Hairspray, photo by Paul Kolnik/Photofest; RuPaul, drag queen and host of RuPaul’s Drag Race; Neil Patrick Harris in Hedwig and the Angry Inch; and Kevin Smith Kirkwood in Kinky Boots. Florida Panhandle, Panama City

PANAMA CITY BEACH Panama City Beach is a city located in Bay County, Florida, along the coast of the beautiful emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the Florida panhandle. Panama City Beach’s population was estimated to be 12,741 permanent residents in 2017, but it increases to a peak daily population of more than 100,000 in July. More than 17 million people visit Panama City Beach each year. To learn more, visit their official city website at www.pcbgov.com. CHARACTERS

Andrew Mondello stars as Casey, Elvis Impersonator, married to Jo.

April Deutsche stars as Jo, married to Casey.

Tom Reilly stars as Eddie, Owner of Cleo’s Bar.

Gregory Lynch stars as Miss Tracy Mills, Eddie’s cousin and an elegant, down-on-her- luck drag queen named Miss Tracy Mills (sometimes referred to as Bobby).

Héctor Ramón Zavala stars as both Jason who lives in the same building as April and is Casey’s lifelong friend, neighbor and landlord and Rexy, a not-so-elegant drag queen named Miss Anorexia Nervosa who works at Cleo’s Bar . . Elvis Impersonators

An Elvis impersonator is someone who impersonates or copies the look and sound of musician Elvis Presley. Professional Elvis impersonators are more commonly known as Elvis Tribute Artists (ETAs). There are many different types of Elvis impersonators and levels of impersonation, which depends largely on who is doing the impersonation and for what purpose:

Professional: Full-time and part- time ETAs who perform for a living. Reenactments of a typical 70s Elvis concert is a preferred choice of most ETAs, however some may portray various phases of Elvis’ career in a single show. Amateur: Enthusiasts who impersonate Elvis in contests, as a hobby or at social gatherings and parties. Most have aspirations to perform as a professional ETA.

Comedic: Usually performed as part of a parody. There is even 10-member skydiving team called, “The Flying Elvi” who were first featured in the movie Honeymoon in Vegas and perform at events around the world.

Learn more at www.flyingelvi.com. . Show References MONTROSE MINING COMPANY “PADAM, PADAM” A gay bar in the A song that was written for Édith Piaf by Montrose neighborhood Henri Contet (lyrics) and Norbert Glanzberg of Houston, Texas, that (music) and originally released in 1951. The opened in March 1978. lyrics are about experiencing When it closed in a memory of a song that cannot be September 2016, it was forgotten and describing how a certain known as the oldest gay melody evokes memories of a former lover. bar in Houston.

“SKATE TOWARD THE LIGHT, ZIMA CAROL ANN.” Zima Clearmalt is a clear, lightly carbonated alcoholic drink made and distributed by Tracy’s take on a famous Coors Brewing Company. Introduced in line from the 1982 film 1993, it was marketed as an alternative to Poltergeist: “Run to the beer, an example of what is now often light, Carol Anne. Run as referred to as a cooler. U.S. production fast as you can! Mommy is ceased in 2008, but in June, 2017, MillerCoors in the light! Mommy is announced a limited release of Zima for the waiting for you in the U.S. market. light!”

THE LADY CHABLIS A transgender performer featured in the 1994 bestselling book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and the subsequent film version.

STONEWALL RIOTS Just after 3 a.m. on June 28, 1969, a police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located on Christopher Street in New York City, turned violent as patrons and local sympathizers began rioting against police. Although the police were legally justified in raiding the club, which was serving liquor without a license among other violations, New York’s gay community had grown weary of the police targeting gay clubs, many of which had already been closed. Soon the crowd began throwing bottles at the police. The protest spilled over into the neighboring streets, and order was not restored until the deployment of New York City’s riot police. The Stonewall Riots were followed by several days of demonstrations in New York and acted as the impetus for the formation of the Gay Liberation Front as well as other gay, lesbian and bisexual civil rights organizations. It is regarded by many as history’s first major protest on behalf of equal rights for the Gay Community. Screaming Queens: Studying the Compton's Cafeteria Riot (The Bay Area’s Drag History)

View the documentary 'Screaming Queens", about the Compton's Cafeteria Riots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-WASW9dRBU&t=101s

The Compton's Cafeteria Riot occurred in August 1966 in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. This incident was one of the first recorded LGBT-related riots in United States history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City. It marked the beginning of transgender activism in San Francisco. Compton's Cafeteria was one of a chain of cafeterias, owned by Gene Compton, in San Francisco from the 1940s to the 1970s. The Tenderloin location of Compton's at 101 Taylor Street (at Turk), open from 1954 to 1972, was one of the few places where transgender people could congregate publicly in the city, because they were unwelcome in gay bars, due to transphobia within the LGBT Community at this time. In addition, the cafeteria was open all hours until the riots occurred. Most of the fights occurred from 2-3 am so they were forced to close at midnight. Because cross-dressing was illegal at the time, police could use the presence of transgender people in a bar as a pretext for making a raid and closing the bar.

Many of the militant hustlers and street queens involved in the riot were members of Vanguard, the first known gay youth organization in the United States, which had been organized earlier that year with the help of radical ministers working with Glide Memorial Church, a center for progressive social activism in the Tenderloin for many years. A lesbian group of street people was also formed called the Street Orphans.

In the 1960s the Compton’s Cafeteria staff began to call the police to crack down on transgender individuals, who would frequent the restaurant. In response to police arrests, the transgender community launched a picket of Compton’s Cafeteria. Although the picket was unsuccessful, it was one of the first demonstrations against police violence directed towards transgender people in San Francisco. On the first night of the riot, the management of Compton's called the police when some transgender customers became raucous. In the 50's and 60's police officers were known to mistreat transgender people. When one of these known officers attempted to arrest one of the trans women, she threw her coffee in his face. At that point the riot began, dishes and furniture were thrown, and the restaurant's plate-glass windows were smashed. Police called for reinforcements as the fighting spilled into the street, where a police car had all its windows broken out and a sidewalk newsstand was burned down. The exact date of the riot is unknown because 1960 police records no longer exist and the riot was not covered by newspapers.

The next night, more transgender people, hustlers, Tenderloin street people, and other members of the LGBT community joined in a picket of the cafeteria, which would not allow transgender people back in. The demonstration ended with the newly installed plate-glass windows being smashed again. Scenic Design, Deanna Zibello

Scenic Designer Deanna Zibello shares her initial drafting at the first production meeting of The Legend of Georgia McBride.

Erich Blazeski Technical Director discusses the set logistics with Lighting Designer Delayne Medoff for The Legend of Georgia McBride. Drag Queen Story Hour, Community Nonprofit Partner

Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH) is just what it sounds like—drag queens reading stories to children in libraries, schools, and bookstores. DQSH captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models. In spaces like this, kids are able to see people who defy rigid gender restrictions and imagine a world where people can present as they wish, where dress up is real.

Local libraries like the Walnut Creek Library and Concord Library have hosted one of the fantastic events! We encourage our community to advocate for the Lafayette Library to host their own Drag Queen Story Hour!

More info: https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org

DONATE Be sure to click San Francisco to benefit our local chapter! https://www.dragqueenstoryhour.org/#donate

https://www.kqed.org/news/11539148/drag- queen-story-hour-engages-kids-with-reading- gender-creativity Thank you to our Community Business Partner!

Find out more about Make Up Artist Christian Aguirre at C & A Creations https://www.cacreations22.com More:

Matthew Lopez, playwright in recent news: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/09/how-matthew-lopez- transformed-howards-end-into-an-epic-play-about-gay-life https://www.americantheatre.org/2014/01/20/matthew-lopez-delves-into-drag- hometown-in-legend-of-georgia-mcbride/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_impersonator http://finndeerhart.com/2017/11/29/the-real-drag-finn-deerhart-darcy-drollinger-on- healing-the-feminine/ https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/30/obituaries/jack-doroshow-drag-pageant- impresario-dies-at-78.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJmkP_OFraQ http://www.playbill.com/article/from-ancient-greece-to-angry-inch-take-a-look-at- the-history-of-drag-in-theatre-com-357650 https://www.popsugar.com/news/History-Drag-Drag-Queen-Culture-44512387

BOOKS: Drag: A History of Female Impersonation in the Performing Arts by Roger Baker, New York: University Press, 1994

Why Drag? by Magnus Hastings, Chronicle Books, 2006