Once a year the good folks at Uptown Players stage a fundraiser called: Broadway Our Way, in which songs written for women are performed by men, and songs written for men are sung by women. For instance: in West Side Story Tony sings “Something’s Coming” and Maria sings, “I Feel Pretty”. So in Broadway Our Way, a woman would sing “Something’s Coming” and a man would sing “I Feel Pretty”. For two weeks (or less) the actors, musician and crew hastily yet meticulously rehearse, donating their time and talent. Actors are invited to suggest pieces they’d like to do, and the structure is worked out, complete with scenarios, set pieces and choreography. There are ballads, solos, comic, melancholy and group pieces. Transposition is used to reconcile the differences in keys and scales.
This time around some ladies sang “Young Blood” from Smokey Joe’s Cafe, responding to a sweet young thang they see taking the air. The Men covered South Pacific’s “I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair”, while congregating at a salon. Jodi Wright performed the difficult and demanding “Being Alive” from Company and Grace Neeley, the wistful “Wake Me Up” from American Idiot. Walter Lee was magnificent doing “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman, and Peter DiCesare heartbreaking when he sang, “It’s As If We Never Said Goodbye” from Sunset Boulevard. There were plenty of medleys and pieces including the entire company of twenty-six players. Trevor Wright’s dance numbers were sophisticated and witty, running the gamut from soft shoe to disco (and all points in-between).
Perhaps one day we’ll arrive at a time when evincing same gender romance, sexuality and queer lives in general will no longer be necessary. Just when it seems we’ve reached some reassurance, traction, and tolerance, just when it seems we can exhale, the yahoos raise their ugly heads again. I cannot thank Uptown Players enough for granting the LGBTQ+ Community their moment in the sun. When we can see two women or two men kissing, spooning, snogging; mourning or celebrating the grace of our defiant gender identities. Where else but Uptown can you find a Musical Revue that heals, encourages, validates, joshes, jibes and rejoices. No better “charity” I can think of.
Broadway Our Way 2018 played at Uptown Players from June 14th-17th, 2018. Kalita Humphreys Theater, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd, Dallas, Texas 75219. 214-219-2718. uptownplayers.org.