Legend of Georgia McBride Reflection Paper

By: Jace (Jasmine) Budler

On October 6th, 2019 at 2pm CST, I went to see the Nebraska Repertory Theatre’s

production of ​The Legend of Georgia McBride​, written by Matthew Lopez, and I have to say that

this audience member was not left completely unsatisfied by the experience. While there were

some staging choices and acting moments that were less than stellar, as a whole, the production

was a beautiful homage to the journey from drag princess to queen and I applaud Steve Scott’s

efforts as a director for making that happen.

In terms of casting, I was rather impressed with Colin Sphar, the actor who portrayed the

perfect blend of masculine and feminine realness with his interpretation of Casey aka Miss

Georgia McBride. Within the first few minutes of the play, I was intrigued by his performance,

as Mr. Sphar fully embodied Casey’s boyishly charming traits and stage charisma during his

Elvis impersonation number. Between flirty winks, dazzling smiles, and cheeky dance moves, it

was hard for the audience not to fall in love with him, no matter how terrible his lip-syncing.

Following this, I began to glare at Jo (played by the competent, yet forgettable, Elaine Stueve),

as I become convinced that she somehow rigged the marriage lotto. Casey seems like the perfect

husband, besides making one stupid impulse buy and telling a relatively white lie about his

profession. I’m given this impression, because the actor portraying him did an excellent job of

simulating love for Jo. All flirty banter aside, his body language and tones, whether serious or

playful, fully indicated that he was attracted to Jo and had no issue with physical contact. There

was a level of comfortability achieved between the two actors that allowed the audience to

believe that they were in a serious domestic relationship and are committed to make things work,

whether that means financially or emotionally. Despite not fully believing Casey’s reaction to
becoming a father, as it lacked a sense of genuine surprise in his facial expression, I bought into

his backstory of needing to rise to the responsibility of being a provider to his expecting wife

while not compromising his artistic career goals. Hence, why I could fully believe that Casey

would strip down on the spot backstage, put on a dress, and perform onstage in drag for a

paycheck. Which is important to note for two reasons: the first, and most important, bravo to Mr.

Sphar for being brave enough to perform not only in drag, but also in his boxers, in front of an

audience; and the second is that it was only through the believability of the character’s

motivations and intentions that the audience is able to successfully accept such a dramatic shift

in the plot. Once again, bravo to Mr. Sphar. However, that being said, while his out-of-drag

persona might have been spot on, I feel as though he failed to give life to the legend that is

Georgia McBride. Yes, we are witnessing the rise of a princess. She is inexperienced, will trip on

her heels, need to adjust her corset, or pick up her crown, but at some point I expect you to make

me bow down to you and shout, “All hail the motherfucking queen!” And dear, sweet Georgia

never stepped up to her throne in terms of stage performance. Although there was a definite

improvement and notable moments throughout, Georgia’s portrayal was always lacking.

Between terrible lip-syncing, lack of genuine expression, and shoddy dancing, which lacked any

semblance of femininity or coordination without bordering on the extreme, it was hard to fall in

love with her as a persona.

Continuing on this line of thought, difficulties portraying the feminine drag persona

seems to be a trend within the cast, as can be seen by the much to be desired character of Miss

Tracy Mills, played by Ty Perry. Admittedly, there was some great comedic moments with this

character, most of which relied on the actor’s delivery of quippy lines, like the classic “Freeda
Slaves”. While the actor encapsulated the biting wit and sassy humor that drag is notorious for,

this interpretation had very few other distinguishing characteristics. Perhaps if I were under the

impression that this character only existed for comedy relief, I would be more lenient, but since

this character is supposed to take on the role of a mentor, I won’t. There is a lack of believability

in her portrayal that is based in continuity. Tracy is supposed to be a seasoned queen, as such she

would be not only a better performer, as she has only slightly more grace and stage charisma

than our pathetic princess, but also better at moving more femininely. Throughout the

production, her body language doesn’t express a comfortability with moving in a feminine

manner. While she does these sorts of gestures often, a flourish of the hand, a pointed finger

shake, a sassy snap, that sometimes border on the animated, there is a stiffness behind these

movements that makes me feel as though the character isn’t as comfortable being a woman as a

long-standing queen would. Despite this, I wouldn’t call this portrayal a complete failure, as I

very much enjoyed Mr. Perry’s performance during the iconic porch scene. When talking about

his struggles as a drag queen, the stigma of being a“fag”, and how upset he is with Casey, the

tone of his voice and facial expression really capture the feelings he was expressing. It was a

very moving moment in the production and a very impressive display of acting on Mr. Perry’s

part.

Another aspect of the production that really impressed me was the staging. Upon first

look, the idea to have sets on opposite sides of the room and an aisle or walkway between them

with tables lined along the side and the audience behind said tables seemed like an odd,

confusing choice. However, as I watched the production, I was quickly proven wrong and I am

now under the opinion that it was a brilliant use of the black box space. On one side of the room
was Clio’s Bar, which was clearly identified by a sign. The first part of the set was what looked

like a bar with liquor bottles, glasses, and beer advertisements, and had no other distinguishing

features, save for a piece of fish wall art that indicated that the location was somewhere near the

beach or water. The second part was a stage with a single microphone at the center, at the back

of the stage was a curtain, which was hung by an archway that had lights surrounding it, said

lights would often change color and be decorated based on season/holiday. The last part of the

set was what appeared to be a run-down dressing room, which at the beginning of the play was

decorated with Elvis decor and had Casey’s costumes and flannel shirts hanging on the rod in the

corner, but would later be replaced with broadway posters and colorful dresses. However, this

room consistently had a single pink vanity mirror. On the other side of the room, there was a

front door with a porch that was lined with like a weird fence, next to a house setting. At first, I

believed that this front porch belonged to the aforementioned house, but was later proven that it

did not. I felt like that was a weird, misleading choice, but I digress. In this house, which is rather

small and plain, there is a kitchen next to the front door, along with a living room next to that.

The living room has a couch and some photos near it, indicating that there is a family of some

type living there. Behind the living room there is a hallway that presumably leads to the couple’s

bedroom. When action is occurring in one room or set, the light is illuminated on it, while the

other scenes are left in the darkness. I thought this was a brilliant way to use lighting to draw the

audience’s eye through sets and scenes. However, this pales in comparison to using blue lighting

on the pathway connecting the Clio’s Bar set to Casey’s home to illustrate his 45 minute journey

to and from home. This was a clever and inventive way to transition between sets and I

commend the stage crew for this choice.

 However, in other aspects of the production, there was choices I was not so pleased

about. I am speaking, of course, about the costume situation. While I had no qualms with the

costuming of Casey and Tracy out of drag, I felt that their costume in drag was, like their

characters, much to be desired for two reasons: the first, drag queens are all about realness and a

seasoned drag queen, such as Tracy, would not be caught dead in make-up that does not use

contouring to her advantage or wear clothing that shows her under-padding, as these totally

shatter the essence of their queenly femininity and looks unprofessional in the drag world; the

second reason is that while dressing boldly is the goal of any queen, that doesn’t mean you do so

at the risk of being unfashionable, clashing colors and confusing fabrics is still a big no-no for all

queens. However, there was still one drag costume that I enjoyed, and that is the red dress that

Georgia wore while singing Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5, as it had not only represented Casey’s

showmanship and sense of where he’s from, as it is a bold red color with a big puffy skirt,

stylized like a country girl dress with the hat and boots to match, but also symbolizes his

transition from where he was to how far he’s come, as it was his old Elvis impersonator outfit.

In terms of plot, the exposition begins with learning about Casey’s life, seeing what his

job is like, discovering he is having financial difficulty, and finding out that his wife is pregnant.

The inciting incident is that just as Cassie get fired from his Elvis impersonator job and the

arriving drag queen takes his place, he is provided with the opportunity to try his hand at drag.

After this moment, the conflict of person vs. self is established, as Casey begins to realize that

his loves drag, but hasn’t learned to fully accept it as a part of his life. The rising action are the

moments in which we see him lying to his wife continuously about what he does for his career,

despite seeing how much he loves doing drag over a series of months. The climax is met when Jo
discovers that Casey has been lying to her the entire time about his career, because she witnesses

him in drag, as a result a fight ensues that causes Casey to think about his life choices. Falling

action is Casey moping about getting into a fight with his wife and needing counseling from

Tracy and Rexi, before we reach the resolution, which occurs when Georgia finally accepts

herself as a fully realized drag queen and makes up with his wife through the power of an

emotionally charged performance. In the end, we witness a denouement where Casey is still

performing successfully and happily with the other girls, the bar is seeking to enhance its number

of performers, and his wife is acting as a stage manager of sorts, despite becoming a new mother

of twins.

As a whole, I felt that this production was acceptable and not a total waste of time. While

there were moments and design aspects that I didn’t totally love, at its core, this production was a

lovely homage to drag queens everywhere that stayed true to its message of the fluidity of gender

and self-acceptance. With that in mind, would I recommend this show or see it on my own dime?

Absolutely. It didn’t leave me completely unsatisfied or with a bitter taste in my mouth. After the

performance, I walked out of the theatre with a smile on my face and a pep in my step.