The Legend of Georgia McBride

Regrettably, I wasn't able to attend "The Legend of Georgia McBride" at the Greater Boston Stage Company until its run was almost over. But the show's production and cast were superlative, and it just would have been too great an injustice not to acknowledge GBSC's accomplishment, that of director Russell Garrett, and the work of an impeccably chosen cast.

The story concerns a young Elvis impersonator, Casey (Jared Reinfeldt), whose grasp of the responsibilities attending adult life is as uncertain as his financial situation. Jo (Jade Guerra), his wife, is extremely supportive, but when she announces that she's pregnant - just as Casey is about to be fired from his gig at a nightclub by the club's owner, Eddie (Ed Peed) - Casey has to face the grim possibility that his career in show biz is about to come to an ignominious end.

That's when the replacement for his act rolls in: Two drag artists, Miss Tracy Mills (Rick Park) and her younger, often drunk, sidekick, Rexy (Alex Pollock).
Casey has managed to hang on at the club by taking a position as bartender, but when Rexy goes AWOL he sees his chance to reclaim the stage. Eddie agrees... but stipulates it'll be in drag, as Miss Tracie's new co-star. The straight Casey - who we see early on in the play describing his high school experience as the time when he learned about "football and fuckin'" - is horrified, but he needs the cash and so it is that he takes on the role in a hail Mary pass last-ditch effort to revive his theatrical dreams.

(It's in a rush to prepare - complete with a mini-lesson in how to do drag - that Miss Tracy dubs Casey with his "drag name" of Georgia McBride, asking him what state he was born in and the last name of the first girl he kissed.)

What follows is a crisp and hilarious comedy that traces the changes of heart and change of fortune for all concerned as the neophyte drag artist learns the tricks of his new trade and wins over an audience newly thirsty for his talents. (In a stroke of genius, Casey adapts his Elvis act - and Elvis costume - for a gender-bending riff on The King - make that Queen - of Rock.)

Rick Park is nothing short of terrific in the role of Casey's wise and world-weary drag mother; Ed Peed dazzles with a bracing evolution from slightly seedy club owner to showman in his own right; Jade Guerra is underused and saddled with the show's lone weak story point, that of the wife who's left in the dark about her well-intentioned husband's "outrageous" doings; Pollock delivers an Amy Winehouse impersonation that would flatter the original and offsets that with a monologue that would make Jared Leto (of "Dallas Buyers Club," mind you, not of "Suicide Squad") glow with pride; and Pollock, doing double duty, also plays the role of Casey's best friend and landlord, Jason, with pathos and humor.

The script charges full steam into terrain that's increasingly tricky and littered with PC landlines, but negotiates the trick with a blend of honesty and compassion. Russell's direction is clean, focused, delicate, and fearless; you don't feel that there's anything being handled with kid gloves, but neither do you ever sense a moment of hesitation or patronizing politeness. The cast put their complete trust in their director and commit the full force of their considerable talents, and the result is a rare and uplifting experience.

Bravo all around!

"The Legend of Georgia McBride" ran May 3 - 20 at the Greater Boston Stage Company in Stoneham. More information at http://www.greaterbostonstage.org/the-legend-of-georgia-mcbride.html