Theater Review: 'The Legend of Georgia McBride' at MTC

Review by Nancy Sasso Janis

Music Theatre of Connecticut has brought “The Legend of Georgia McBride” to its stage in Norwalk. Set in Panama City Beach, Florida in the present day, the comedy tells the surprisingly heartwarming story of a young Elvis impersonator who reluctantly becomes a drag performer in order to support his family.

Kevin Connors directed this fast-paced and fun story that delivers a timely lesson of tolerance. Connors is the executive artistic director and co-founder of this venue and has received multiple Connecticut Critics Circle Best Director awards.

The comedy with music was written by Matthew Lopez, the first Latine writer to win the Tony Award for Best Play. The playwright wrote the play as a valentine of sorts to the drag queens who helped mentor him through his coming out as gay while growing up in Florida. Lopez will be making his directorial feature debut with the LGBTQ+ romantic comedy “Red, White & Royal Blue” for Amazon Studios.

Equity member Clint Hromsco tackles the role of Casey, the young man who grows into the role of Georgia McBride. The multi-credited actor’s performance is fun to watch, especially his onstage costume changes. As McBride, the actor performs lip-synching as classic characters and one song with guitar.

Diva Lamarr, an Equity member, easily switches between the roles of drag queen Rexy and the young couple’s landlord Jason in their Music Theatre debut. Lamarr recently appeared in “Dreamgirls” at Goodspeed Musicals.

What a delight to watch WestConn graduate Teagan La’Shay make her MTC debut as Casey’s wife Jo. The Equity member is adorable in her role. I mentioned La’Shay in my review of “Organizing in the Time of COVID-29 and Other Lessons” when she was at the university. Production Stage Manager Abbey Murray is also a graduate of WestConn.

Equity member Scott Mikita plays the role of the bar owner Eddie, who is willing to do what it takes to bring in more patrons. Mikita appeared in “Phantom of the Opera on Broadway for over 20 years.

Equity’s Russell Saylor plays the plum role of drag queen Miss Tracy Mills, the cousin of Eddie who comes to Florida to make the club more successful. Saylor captures both the big personality of the drag persona as well as the quieter person behind the scenes. Watching her train her protege is a riot.

The sound design of lots of music for lip synching by Jon Damast worked well, with great lighting design by Director of Production RJ Romeo, who is in his fifth season in charge of the lights. The scenic and prop design by April M. Bartlett features the stage of Cleo’s in the center, the queens’ dressing room on stage right and the apartment of the young couple stage left. The club is decorated in license plates, vinyl records and a mirror ball. There are three cabaret tables in front of the stage, where actual patrons are seated to bring Cleo’s closer to the audience.

Costumes designed by Diane Vanderkroef more than meet the demands for street clothes and drag queen costumes. Dan O’Driscoll was in charge of the fight and intimacy choreography. There are several four-letter words and onstage costume changes in this show that made its Connecticut premiere at Seven Angels Theater in Waterbury in Nov. 2019.

“The Legend of Georgia McBride” is presented with an intermission and there are six onstage seats for every performance. The play continues through March 3 with performances on Fridays at 8 p.m. Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. A Pride Night performance sponsored by Circle Care Center will occur on March 2 at 8 p.m. Patrons will get 10% off their first drink that night at Troupe429. Tickets at musictheatreofct.com/georgia-mcbride

Next up in the Mainstage season will be “Ghost The Musical” beginning on Apr. 12 and running through Apr. 28.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theater reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, and she posts well over 100 reviews each year. She became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle in 2016. Her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted in the Naugatuck Patch as well as the Patch sites closest to the venue. She is also a feature writer and theater reviewer for the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column IN THE WINGS and theater reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the newspaper.
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