The Legend of Georgia McBride

by Matthew López

Directed by Jeffrey Meanza

Choreography by Matthew Steffens

Scenic Designer

Michael Raiford

Lighting Designer

Charlie Morrison

Intimacy Choreographer

Tracy Bersley

Vocal Coach

Tia James

Costume Designer

Asa Benally

Composer & Sound Designer

Kate Marvin

Dramaturg

Jo Holcomb

Stage Manager

Sarah Smiley

Assistant Stage Manager

Aspen Blake Jackson

March 29 - April 16, 2023

THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

The video or audio recording of this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.

The Professional Theatre of the Department of Dramatic Art

Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Chair

Vivienne Benesch, Producing Artistic Director

Produced in association with the College of Arts and Sciences

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Legend of Matthew López

By Jo Holcomb

Take a rundown bar on Panama City Beach with an Elvis impersonator (he’s the only real talent in the place); add two drag queens down on their luck (but they’ve also got talent), scratch the Elvis impersonator; add some six-inch heels, a soupçon of chutzpah and fifteen or sixteen pounds of sequins (not to mention some serious body enhancements) and you’ve got The Legend of Georgia McBride.

Written by Matthew López, the play introduces us to Casey, who is actually a great Elvis impersonator, his wife, Jo — overworked, tired, scared about money and newly pregnant; and Eddie, the owner of Cleo’s, where Casey does his best Elvis nightly. The problem is: no one in Panama City really wants to see his act. Unbeknownst to Casey is the fact that Eddie has invited his cousin, Bobby, to come to Panama City and spice up Cleo’s with a drag show. When Miss Tracy Mills arrives (Yes, Queen) with her sidekick Rexy, Eddie’s former vision of his cousin disappears into the rouge and feathers and the fun begins. The rest of the play is filled with fun, the transformation of Elvis into Georgia, great music and dance and a whole lot of love.

The play comes directly from the life experience of the playwright. In an interview that Matthew López gave when the play was premiering at Denver Center, López talked about how he came to the world of drag:

“I started going to the gay bars in Panama City around the age of 16 or 17,” López said in the 2014 Denver interview, “long before I was legally allowed to go in. The downtown had started to die… but this bar stayed open — for 40 years — and was the only gay bar in town. If you wanted to get a drink within a 15-mile radius you had to go to The Fiesta … I had never been in a place that was so accepting of who I am. I was able to be safe and be myself, and I was taken under the wing of the drag queens there…”

When asked what he wants an audience to take away from the show, Matthew López says:

“Joy. Pure, unadulterated joy. I genuinely have no higher goal than that.”