NewsPHOTO EXCLUSIVE: Pride Week Backstage at Tales of the City With Mary BirdsongMary Birdsong, who stars in Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City at American Conservatory Theatre, offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the world-premiere musical.
By
Matthew Blank
July 06, 2011
Birdsong (Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, Hairspray) plays the free-spirited Mona Ramsay in the stage work based upon Maupin's iconic series of novels.
Playbill.com readers are invited to meet the colorful residents of 28 Barbary Lane, explore backstage at the historic Geary Theater and have a peek at the show's special Pride Week performance.
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PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: Pride Week Backstage at Tales of the City With Mary Birdsong
PHOTO EXCLUSIVE: Pride Week Backstage at Tales of the City With Mary Birdsong
Mary Birdsong, who plays the free-spirited Mona Ramsay in Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City at American Conservatory Theatre, offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the world premiere musical. Playbill.com readers are invited to meet the colorful residents of 28 Barbary Lane, explore backstage at the historic Geary Theater and have a peek at the show's special Pride Week performance. Read the Playbill.com story.
39 PHOTOS
I call this photo “WAYYYYY THE F*** TOO EARLY.”
Mary Birdsong
Rise and shine, SF! Time to make the musical theater doughnuts. Usually I am going to bed at 5:30 AM, so why on earth I WOKE UP at 5:30 AM this day is beyond me. Maybe some subconscious desire to impress you?
Mary Birdsong
My bedside table. Where's the ripped-open condom packet, Mary? The upturned bottle of booze? The sexy underwear strewn across the floor? This is a sad statement of how my days of late-night decadence are long-gone.
Mary Birdsong
The cast of Tales of the City sang a couple of tunes from the show at the San Francisco Pride Parade. And here are two women you don't wanna mess with helping us get there: Diane J. Findlay and Pamela Myers.
Mary Birdsong
Josh Breckenridge (who plays Jon Fielding)— the "Critics' Pick."
A march on Washington? Sort of. But instead of chanting intimidating slogans, we sing showtunes.
Mary Birdsong
Ride ’em hard, Travis. Ride ’em hard. That's the main performance stage at the San Francisco Pride Parade. Travis Greisler, our assistant director, is an expert at wrangling our unruly but eager bunch.
Mary Birdsong
Now back to the show! Oh, that lovely in-between stage. Not quite Mary Birdsong anymore, but not quite Mona Ramsey yet. My wig was made by Erin Hennessy (standing behind me, at work on Betsy Wolfe’s wig).
Mary Birdsong
Julie Reiber, who plays Connie Bradshaw. Is she happy because of our super-deluxe, pimped-out water cooler down in the dungeon (I mean, the dressing rooms)? Maybe. But more likely it’s because she’s... ENGAGED!!
Mary Birdsong
The GOILS. From left to right: Julie Reiber (Connie Bradshaw), Pamela Myers (Mrs. Tolliver), Kimberly Jensen (Bobbie), Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone (DeDe Halcyon-Day). Among other things, their dressing room is infamous for its exotic "chip bar."
Mary Birdsong
All of the men's dressing rooms are divided up into sections: mustache and non-mustache. Richard Poe (far left) who plays Edgar Halcyon, is clearly non-mustache, while Patrick Lane (who plays Brian) and Wesley Taylor are die-hard mustache-ers.
Mary Birdsong
Ain’t he handsome? And it's a good thing he is, 'cuz when the musical director (Cian McCarthy) comes at you with his little notepad, his looks soften the blow of hearing him say (in charming Irish accent), "Ummm, yeah, you were a wee bit flat on the G."
Mary Birdsong
I’ve never talked to so many men wearing only a bra before in my life. Keith Bearden plays many roles in the show, in addition to being our tireless dance captain.
Mary Birdsong
Sarah, Colin, CB and Whitney— the brains behind the bravos.
Mary Birdsong
Only Patrick Lane can rock the pirate look and still be hot.
Mary Birdsong
Our steady sentry, Tom. We all love you, sir.
Mary Birdsong
Wardrobe supervisor David Carr. I spend much of my time whining to him about important things like pantyhose. And he still smiles much of the time. :-)
Mary Birdsong
Michael "Mouse" Tolliver (Wesley Taylor) and his best gal-pal Mona Ramsey (me). Even though there's almost 20 years between us, nothing comes between me and my Wesley.
Mary Birdsong
This is me as Mona Ramsey before the roller skating scene. Beaver Bauer (our costume designer) really LIVED 1976 San Francisco, and it shows in her flirty, free-spirited and imaginative costumes.
Mary Birdsong
Josh Walden during a quick-change. You wouldn’t know it from this photo, but in the same show he appears as ferociously feisty drag performer Man-ita Bryant. I adore this man. Big time.
Mary Birdsong
Pamela Myers, ladies and gentlemen. Lounging in the posh green room at A.C.T. in between scenes. The green room is sort of like the United Airlines First Class lounge. Verrrry exclusive.
Mary Birdsong
One of our awesome dressers, Ed.
Mary Birdsong
Hair and makeup supervisor Erin Hennessy holding two heads of Diane J. Findlay.
Mary Birdsong
Yay, rainbow jeans!
Mary Birdsong
I believe this means that my left foot is a pot of gold.
Mary Birdsong
It's sad that our leading lady (Betsy Wolfe) is so homely and disfigured. But, ohhhh, honey. When she sings? It’s like the Golden Gate Bridge is LITERALLY coming out of her mouth.
Mary Birdsong
I've been working with Betsy Wolfe (who plays Mary Ann Singleton) for a long-ass time now, and it just gets more and more fun.
Mary Birdsong
Narcissism: a prerequisite for a life in the theater.
Mary Birdsong
A few modest purchases from eBay and Etsy, and voila—a makeup station fit for a queen. Noooo.... not THAT kind of queen. The adorable redhead in the bowtie is my nephew Evan.
Mary Birdsong
Mary is one of our fabulous dressers at A.C.T. She’s known throughout the land for her incomparable stealth and speed in the dark, dangerous wings of the theater. Her secret? Fights wings WITH wings... butterfly wings.
Mary Birdsong
Duuuuuuuuuude! We're the band, man. These guys sound so amazing, and rock so hard night after night that you’d think Tales of the City’s pit had 20 musicians down there.
Mary Birdsong
Don’t let our "elderly matriarch" (Mother Mucca, aka Diane J. Findlay) fool you. Onstage (and after an hour in makeup) she may LOOK like a little old grey haired lady, but offstage? She can wrap every fella in the room around her pretty little fingers.
Mary Birdsong
Sometimes I get stage fright right before the start of Act 2. So Josh Walden (dressed here as Man-ita Bryant) kindly offers me his sparkly, maternal bosom to comfort me and give me the strength to boogie in the big disco number.
Mary Birdsong
Head carpenter Miguel is a man of many talents. He is to our show what fog is to SF: mysterious, unpredictable, a force to be reckoned with. Sometimes it seems as if the Geary Theater were literally constructed AROUND him. Also? He gives me chocolate.
Mary Birdsong
Papa Don't Preach! Stuart Marland and I right before the curtain goes up for Act 2. This shot was taken right before he hit the photographer in the jaw, as evidenced by his very butch, clenched fist.
Mary Birdsong
Try getting THESE babies into one of those pancake-making, boob-crushing mammogram machines. They are the proud hooters of Julie Reiber. Speaking of BOOBS, to Julie's right is swing Jessica Coker from the San Francisco vocal trio B.O.O.B.S.
Mary Birdsong
Alex Hsu (who plays Lionel) makes a very good "point" while posing with Josh Walden (as Man-ita Bryant) and Stuart Marland.
Mary Birdsong
Here we are right before the disco ball strikes midnight. At the top of the heap is Keith Bearden, then going left are Betsy Wolfe, Patrick Lane, Pamela Myers, and behind her is Wesley Taylor, aka Michael “Mouse” Tolliver.
Mary Birdsong
Their expressions sum up how we feel most of the time while holed up in the labyrinth of dressing rooms beneath the Geary Theater. We have THAT much fun. Plus there's the added bonus of a great view... Wesley’s six-pack, and Betsy’s beautiful mug!
Tony Award nominee Jason Moore (Shrek, Avenue Q, Steel Magnolias) directs the musical based on the first two novels in Maupin's series, which trace the intertwining lives of San Francisco residents in the 1970's.
Tony Award winner Judy Kaye (The Phantom of the Opera, On the Twentieth Century, Souvenir) leads the cast as enigmatic pot-smoking landlady Anna Madrigal, with Betsy Wolfe (Everyday Rapture, 110 in the Shade) as Ohio native Mary Ann Singleton, Mary Birdsong (Martin Short Fame Becomes Me, "Reno 911") as the free-spirited Mona Ramsay and Wesley Taylor (Rock of Ages, The Addams Family) as Michael "Mouse" Tollivar. Tales of the City also features Tony Award nominee Manoel Felciano (Sweeney Todd) as Norman Neal Williams, Patrick Lane as Brian Hawkins, Richard Poe (Cry-Baby) as Edgar Halcyon, Kathleen Monteleone (Legally Blonde) as Dede Halcyon-Day, Andrew Samonsky (South Pacific) as Beauchamp Day, Josh Breckenridge (Scottsboro Boys) as Jon Fielding, Diane J. Findlay as Mother Mucca and Alex Hsu as Lionel.
The ensemble includes Keith Bearden, Kris Cusick, Kimberly Jensen, Stuart Marland, Pamela Myers, Julie Reiber and Josh Walden.
The production has scenic design by Douglas W. Schmidt, costume design by Beaver Bauer, lighting design by Robert Wierzel, sound design by John Shivers, orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin and arrangements by Steven Oremus. Carmel Dean serves as music supervisor, with Cian McCarthy as music director and conductor. Choreography is by Larry Keigwin.
Here's how ACT bills the work: "On the bustling streets of 1970s San Francisco, neon lights pierce through the fog-drenched skies, disco music explodes from crowded nightclubs, and a wide-eyed Midwestern girl finds a new home — and creates a new kind of family — with the characters at 28 Barbary Lane. Three decades after Armistead Maupin mesmerized millions with his daily column in the city's newspapers, detailing the lives and (multiple) loves of Mary Ann, Mouse, Mona, Brian, and their beloved but mysterious landlady Mrs. Madrigal, his iconic San Francisco saga comes home as a momentous new musical."
Tales of the City, which has extended its engagement three times, is scheduled to run through July 31.
