The Legend of Georgia McBride

"A stitch-in-your-side funny, if improbable, new comedy...The performances, under the snappy direction of Mike Donahue, are, as might be said backstage (or onstage) at a drag show, totally flawless...Most impressively, while drag queens have practically become stock characters in pop culture, Mr. McGrath imbues his version with a life-hardened authenticity underneath the garish wig and the cracking makeup; there isn’t a trace of caricature in his portrayal." Full Review

"A high-energy, high-octane song and dance extravaganza that plays with exotic and explosive exuberance and verve...This play is more than exhilarating drag performances – although these are exquisite – and glitzy costumes. The title character makes a legendary leap into very unfamiliar territory to regain his sense of purpose and his determination to accept who he is." Full Review

"This MCC Theatre production, brightly staged by Mike Donahue and lovingly choreographed by Paul McGill, is as feel-good a show as you can want, so everything comes together in the gratifyingly delightful grand finale. It’s all schmaltzily manipulative, but I’ll still take it over most of the shlock one has to sit through." Full Review

"Featuring enough amusingly bitchy one-liners and energetic musical numbers to be a genuine crowd-pleaser, the play is frothy to the extreme, a show for people who find 'Mamma Mia!' heavy lifting. But its relentless silliness is sweet and amiable enough to make it go down easy...Despite its earnest message of tolerance, 'The Legend of Georgia McBride' is too lightweight to register as anything more than a mild diversion. But it's highly entertaining nonetheless." Full Review

"Necessity is the mother of reinvention in 'The Legend of Georgia McBride,' a predictable but irresistible crowd-pleaser...Chasing buzzy themes of identity and transformation, 'Georgia McBride' is by turns sweet and salty and deceptively deep...Lopez’s latest play may not make him a legend, but it confirms his status as a writer worth hearing from." Full Review

"This play could serve as a textbook example of a guilty pleasure. Its plot is as predictable as a Swiss train and as deep as a thin mint, but its appeal is hard to resist...This slender material is greatly enhanced by a terrific cast, outlandish costumes, even more outlandish wigs, an appropriately seedy set, hilarious choreography and smooth direction.You may not remember it five minutes later, but you are likely to have a good time." Full Review

"If Lopez takes you few places unexpected, he brings such a luscious, biting wit to it all that the patina of freshness is unmistakable throughout...Once Georgia is established, Lopez injects a lengthy montage...But the segment is overlong, and neither insightful nor eye-poppingly absurd...The play is able to survive — and even thrive — in spite of briefly mistaking external fiction for internal fact. And as long as Lopez is in tune with that, which he is most of the time, his play borders on... Full Review

"This 100-minute comedy is the sweet-natured surprise of the young season. The fun is in Lopez's theatrically knowing dialogue and Mike Donahue's lot-with-a-little direction...The five actors are all shrewdly delightful, but the galvanizing center is Matt McGrath...Lopez tosses in a little message about gender and nonconforming, but even the lecture is entertaining." Full Review

"Just when you thought the theatre had squeezed every last drop of amusement out of the overwrought ways of drag queens, here comes 'The Legend of Georgia McBride' to deliver an unexpectedly fresh twist on an old formula...It is best enjoyed for its colorful characters, wisecracking dialogue, and authentically fabulous drag performances." Full Review

"You'll laugh at the zingy one-liners and tap your toes to the fun song-and-dance numbers, but you won't leave the theater with a radically altered perspective on the world...Watching 'The Legend of Georgia McBride' feels like cuddling up in a snuggie made of tulle and dreams. It's comforting and familiar in its nonthreatening fabulousness, perfect for a night out during which you would prefer to know exactly what you're going to get." Full Review

"Can a play with the theatrical consistency of scrambled eggs still entertain? Apparently yes. Proof positive is 'The Legend of Georgia McBride'... It may be cheap, but who said cheap entertainment can’t entertain...? Director Donahue has taken advantage of the process and found all sorts of surprises — as has everyone working with him." Full Review

"'The Legend Of Georgia McBride' may not be the best play to come down the pike, but few can top it for sheer bust-a-gut, lose-yourself, feel-good fun at the theatre. And it features a very talented cast, along with one central performance that's about as fabulous as it gets...A wildly irresistible summertime diversion." Full Review

"'The Legend of Georgia McBride' is maybe not the deepest show out there, but it's great fun, nonetheless. Performed by a committed cast whose kind, well-meaning characters are impossible not to root for, 'McBride' relies on a few unexpected plot turns and character motivations to steer clear of the cliches it regularly threatens to sink into. I expected to be indifferent about the show at best, but I left hoping everyone else who sees it has as much fun with it as I did. It's a sweet, charmi... Full Review

"Shades of 'The Adventures of Priscilla' and 'The Birdcage,' plus a dash of 'Tootsie': 'The Legend of Georgia McBride' is a throwback to the feel-good drag-queen comedies of yore. You can spot every single plot development a mile ahead, but the production is so irrepressible, it’s almost impossible not to have a good time." Full Review

"Heartfelt, feel-good comedy...It takes some time for the play (which runs just under two hours without an intermission) to make its way through the exposition. But once it gets going, some very funny exchanges and polished drag sequences follow, plus a spirited defense of drag as a form of cultural protest and a way of life." Full Review

"Those roars of laughter you hear on Christopher Street, just now, emanate from Matthew Lopez's unexpectedly sharp comedy 'The Legend of Georgia McBride'...'Georgia McBride' is not high literature, no, nor is it especially well-made; but it offers highly delicious low comedy, as satisfying as an icy-cold brew in a redneck bar on Florida's Panhandle." Full Review

"Drag virgins with any trepidation can expect a palatable intro to the form, one that tickles audiences with a greatest hits of kitschy clichés, and is primarily designed to convince Joe Flyover State that a straight dude putting on a dress and lip-syncing for money is, like, totally chill, bro." Full Review

"There are glimpses that suggest character mettle, and these moments are enhanced by the cast of five, who can do poignant along with punchlines. Director Mike Donahue also does wonders on a relatively cramped stage. But 'Georgia' mostly feels like a low-budget knockoff of the basic Broadway/Hollywood drag musical pattern." Full Review

"A sitcom-heavy play, which delivers plenty of one-liners but rarely goes below the sequined bustier in terms of character development...There are plenty of well-earned laughs in 'The Legend of Georgia McBride,' and while the play pays honest homage to one aspect of gay culture and attempts to transcend its impact by telling its story through a straight man’s viewpoint, its false eyelashes and high heels occasionally mask truths still waiting to be told." Full Review

"Matthew Lopez’s feel-good comedy delivers many of the diversions that its premise suggests. The production features silly-glam costumes and snappy one-liners for the queens, an amusing learning-curve montage for our hero and several zippy musical numbers, including a delightful show-tune medley...Presented in 100 straight minutes, the play seems like a truncated version of something fuller and more specific. The foundation is there; the shading needs work." Full Review

"It’s charming, but this play ducks the complicated questions...The storyline feels somewhat canned, especially as the play veers away from anything too controversial. Casey’s heterosexuality is never in doubt and while the play scolds him for lying to his wife about his female impersonation, the play never dares suggest that it does anything but make him a better husband, father and provider...The play wimps out, leaving questions of gender and sexuality uncomplicated and unexplored." Full Review

"'George McBride' doesn’t have much more up its many prosthetics than a desire to entertain...Lopez knows how to borrow from Tennessee Williams. Now he needs to learn how to borrow better from Arthur Laurents." Full Review

"This drawn out one-act starts off forced, then it puts on heels, tosses the plot aside, and becomes a lively musical, before finally turning a corner to become a surprisingly ambitious drama. Structurally, the show is a hot mess. But with several fine performances, some delicious musical lip syncing, and a poignant theme, it is a lovable mess as well." Full Review