{"id":504,"date":"2022-03-04T18:12:51","date_gmt":"2022-03-04T18:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/?p=504"},"modified":"2022-05-20T17:45:46","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T17:45:46","slug":"the-legend-of-georgia-mcbride-at-6th-street-playhouse-watch-out-elvis-the-queen-is-in-the-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/?p=504","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Legend of Georgia McBride\u2019 at 6th Street Playhouse \u2013 Watch out Elvis, the Queen is in the Building"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Tyler Bertolone (Rexy), Joseph Abrego (Miss Tracy Mills), Alexander Howard (Georgia McBride). Photo by Eric Chazankin.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In this fantastic musical, the King meets Miss Tracy Mills in a small town bar in Florida, and we rock into life and legend. We\u2019re talk\u2019in real drag, here, in the middle of redneck Florida.\u00a0 It\u2019s a success for the bar and for us too, when costumes and mime and rhythms come together at 6th Street Playhouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just new happy and spring all over again in this play.\u00a0 It\u2019s drama, pure and simple, with a TFlorida lick.\u00a0 Boys become men and men come alive in drag with the music.\u00a0 As the play states, you don\u2019t have to be gay to wear drag, but you do have to love dancing and makeup and good fun.\u00a0 6th Street Playhouse makes it work on the Monroe Stage as the audience comes along for the wild ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casey (played by Alexander Howard) started professional life as a nice Elvis\nImpersonator, complete with the glitz and music of the King.  Eddie (played by Peter Downey), the owner of\nthe bar, wanted more audience and excitement and sales.  Looking in the face of poverty, Eddie brings\nin Miss Tracy Mills (played by Joseph Abrego*) in drag to liven up the\nplace.  Miss Tracy Mills brings in Rexy\n(played by Tyler Bertolone) to work as a partner in the act.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

So Casey is out of his Elvis job and takes on bartending instead. However,\nhis wife, Jo (played by Jamella Cross*) is looking at a baby and overdue\nrent.  Casey needs to get some money,\nfast. After a fortunate change in plans, Casey becomes Miss Tracy Mills\u2019\npartner, with the name Georgia McBride as his handle.  The legend begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abrego captures the drag persona perfectly, from body to dance soul.  He drives the show home with enough presence\nto bring the audience along quickly.  He\nbecomes the real thing; we are transported to Texas at Eddies bar.  We become a part of the play as the bar\u2019s\nclientele, and enjoy the role.  Hang on\nand order another beer, \u2018cause we\u2019re here for the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Alexander Howard (Georgia McBride), Joseph Abrego (Miss Tracy Mills). Photo by Eric Chazankin.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Howard mimes a mean Elvis, with voice and movement.  He makes the changes to become Georgia\nMcBride literally onstage before our eyes.  It\u2019s fun to see the reticent Howard change his\nstyle and act on the fly.  Howard is\ngreat as the new Georgia McBride, and partners well with the Miss Tracy Mills\non stage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bertolone plays the drama \u201cqueen\u201d of the story as Rexy, who tries her best\nto do things her way \u201cunder the influence.\u201d \nBertolone plays the disrupter perfectly to break the spell of Miss\nTracy\u2019s magic on stage.  Some of us can\nidentify with the process.  Bertolone\u2019s\npart is difficult and he excels at the part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jamella Cross(Jo), Joseph Abrego (Miss Tracy Mills). Photo by Eric Chazankin.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It was a joy to see Cross on stage in this show.  As Georgia\u2019s wife, she moves through the\nstory gracefully, and is a great choice for the part of a strong woman with\ncritical life choices to make for her family. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This legend came with a price for COVID.\u00a0 The original actor playing Eddie had to leave the show with COVID.\u00a0 Downey came in and learned his part in just 10 days.\u00a0 Also, most backstage crew were replaced at various times in rehearsal because of COVID.\u00a0 Yet the show went on.\u00a0 Such is the spirit of theatre at 6th<\/sup> Street Playhouse, and at the little bar in Florida.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director Carl Jordan puts all the people together to create a show that\nshines.  Not only that, but he personally\nbrought most of the music into the show to give it life. Yes, the script does\nnot define the music used in any one scene. \nAll it does is ask the director to use appropriate music.  The script gives the words to only one song: \u201cBecause\nof You.\u201d Kayla Gold wrote the music for \u201cBecause of You,\u201d and recorded it with guitarist\nGary Vogensen. My hat\u2019s off to Carl.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Gilger designed a very effective set to be both backstage and downstage\nfor the show.  It worked like a charm;\nthe only thing it lacked was sawdust and peanut shells on the floor.  Amaris Blagborne brought forth Costumes\ngalore for this play; all exotic and great for the roles, straight and\ndrag.  Finally, Davin Parker Sullivan and\nJacob Gutierrez-Montoya kept the dances amazing, moving from back to front and\nback again, in a very limited space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations to all for a stunning and fun production in these times of\ncoming back to theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 6th<\/sup> Street Playhouse cast and crew and house are fully\nvaccinated for COVID-19; masks are required for all audience; reservations are for\n100% of house.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Legend of Georgia McBride” continues at 6th<\/sup> Street\nPlayhouse at 52 W. 6th<\/sup> Street, Santa Rosa, through March 20, 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For further information and reservations: https:\/\/6thstreetplayhouse.com\/<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rating: ****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The Legend of Georgia McBride,” by Matthew Lopez, Music provided by\nCarl Jordan and Kayla Gold, produced by 6th<\/sup> Street Playhouse. \nDirector: Carl Jordan, Choreographer\/Assistant Director: Jacob\nGutierrez-Montoya, Set Designer: Paul Gilger, Light Designer: Carrie Mullen, Sound\nDesign: Ben Roots, Costume Designer: Mae Matos and Tracy Hinman, Stage Manager:\nLuca Catazaro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cast: Joseph Abnrego* as Miss Tracy Mills<\/em><\/strong>, Tyler Bertolone as Jason\/Rexy<\/em><\/strong>, Jamella Cross* as Jo<\/em><\/strong>, Alexander Howard as Casey\/Georgia McBride,<\/em><\/strong> Peter Downey as Eddy<\/em><\/strong>. * Joseph Abnrego and Jamella Cross are members of Actors Equity Association.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this fantastic musical, the King meets Miss Tracy Mills in a small town bar in Florida, and we rock…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5","wpcat-5-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=504"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":530,"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504\/revisions\/530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theatrehound.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}