Drag Performances on Broadway
Drag Performances on Broadway#25
Posted: 5/2/13 at 9:01pm
There were drag elements to some of Mae West's plays, although one titled THE DRAG never made it to Broadway.
Drag Performances on Broadway#26
Posted: 5/2/13 at 9:02pm
THE RINK had an all-male ensemble playing all secondary parts, including two old biddies in 'WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OLD DAYS?"
HAIR has the mom character who sings "MY CONVICTION".
Drag Performances on Broadway#27
Posted: 5/2/13 at 9:17pm
The mom character in Hair is named "Margaret Mead" I believe.
Anyway, I was going to say, if you want to expand beyond Broadway, in the world of opera, there is a tradition of mezzo sopranos singing 'trouser' roles (male roles). Sesto in Giulio Cesare is one, as is Sesto in "La Clemenza di Tito" (Sesto was a popular name). It's a fascinating practice-and when you get the right Mezzo (there is also "Der Rosenkavlier" which has Octavian), it is brilliant. (And it fits the topic.)
Drag Performances on Broadway#29
Posted: 5/2/13 at 9:42pmAny Charles Bush show
Drag Performances on Broadway#30
Posted: 5/2/13 at 11:15pm
More of a footnote, really, but I'll post it anyway. When FOLLIES opened in Boston in 1971, Gene Nelson sang "The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues" with drag versions of "Margie" and "Sally", namely John J. Martin and Dick Latessa. Even though this proved too weird even for FOLLIES, until the show closed over a year later, two male performers in those same "Margie" and "Sally" costumes remained as part of the "Chaos" section after "Live, Laugh, Love", prancing around the stage as if they were still doing the number. Prince and Bennett never took that image out of the general chaos- the weirdness worked there.
Drag Performances on Broadway#31
Posted: 5/3/13 at 12:56am
The Producers: the guys acting as the old lady investors & dancing with the walkers.
"Greater Tuna" plays
(This thread may be a Freud/fraud, but it's fun)
Drag Performances on Broadway#32
Posted: 5/3/13 at 1:04amDid anyone else on the board see Sarah Bernhardt's HAMLET after her leg was amputated?
Drag Performances on Broadway#33
Posted: 5/3/13 at 1:12amToxic Avenger had two male ensemble members playing many roles, both men and women.
Drag Performances on Broadway#34
Posted: 5/3/13 at 6:07am
While not on Broadway:
The Mystery of Irma Vep
Travels With My Aunt
Lea DeLaria played Marryin' Sam in Encores production of Lil Abner.
Drag Performances on Broadway#36
Posted: 5/3/13 at 11:12amI hadn't realized we were going that far back in time re: Sarah Bernhardt, but she played a young man (when she was in her late fifties but pre-amputation) in a Rostand play, L'Aiglon, as did Maude Adams in a later production of the play. Also, Marilyn Miller and Eva LeGallience played Peter Pan and Alla Nazimova played the title role in Ibsen's Little Eyolf.
Drag Performances on Broadway#37
Posted: 5/3/13 at 1:55pmDon't forget Alan Cumming in Macbeth, where as a man he takes all roles including Lady M and the witches, true to Jacobean performance tradition.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/5/04
Drag Performances on Broadway#38
Posted: 5/3/13 at 2:05pm
"Don't forget Alan Cumming in Macbeth, where as a man he takes all roles including Lady M and the witches, true to Jacobean performance tradition."
I am doing my best to burn that out of my memory, thanks.
Drag Performances on Broadway#39
Posted: 5/3/13 at 2:54pmBertie doesn't really play a man in drag, he plays it as a woman.
Drag Performances on Broadway#40
Posted: 5/4/13 at 9:07am
I never saw a stage production, so I don't know how it was handled, but in the film of Angels in America, Streep plays a man.
Drag Performances on Broadway#41
Posted: 5/4/13 at 9:13amAs soon as Wendy Williams appears in Chicago...
Drag Performances on Broadway#42
Posted: 5/4/13 at 9:14amIn the play, there's actually much more gender-bending- for example, I believe the actress playing Harper also plays Martin Heller.
Videos







