In movie about man-hating transsexual, they found a musical
Pair takes on cult classic "Breckinridge"
Long before Mariah Carey decided that "Glitter" would be a good career move, and two years before future showgirl Elizabeth Berkley was born to dance on a pole, there existed a flaming celluloid turkey by the name of "Myra Breckinridge."
This 1970 bomb about a man-hating transsexual was legendary in its ability to universally offend. Time magazine called it "about as funny as a child molester," and the movie promptly lost nearly $1 million, despite the fact that it was based on a Gore Vidal bestseller and featured a big-name cast featuring John Huston, Mae West, and Rex Reed as a gay film critic who goes under the knife to become Myra, played by Raquel Welch.
But time has been kind to the tale of this power-hungry post-op and her story of revenge. Thirty-four years after its disastrous release, the film has a new life as a cult classic, and rather than offending with its mix of sexual satire and counter-culture psychobabble, the film has found open-minded fans who see it as strangely humorous and whip smart, at least in a campy, so-bad-it's-good kind of way.
Two of those fans, Leah Callahan and Jonathan Vincent, are paying the film the ultimate compliment. They've written a musical based on "Myra Breckinridge" called "Some of My Best Friends Are Men." It debuts Wednesday at Ryles Jazz Club.
"I disagree with the reviews" of the movie, says Callahan after a recent rehearsal. "If you see `Myra' as a piece of art, rather than a film, then it's pretty amazing. It brought all these bizarre people together in this bizarre film. Someone did too many drugs."
That bizarre cinematic mix includes a young, mustache-less Tom Selleck (whose character is billed simply as "Stud") bedding a 77-year-old West, and Farrah Fawcett as Mary Ann Pringle, a dimwitted student who falls in love with Welch's transsexual Myra, despite the fact that Myra has raped Mary Ann's macho boyfriend, Rusty.
"I thought there were parts of the movie that were amazing," says Vincent. "Although I don't think it does the book justice, I think it's a lot better than people give it credit for."
Vincent and Callahan stay true to the chaotic nature of the book and film, but they have updated the story. The original was set at an acting academy owned by Myra's Uncle Buck, a faded B-movie cowboy. In the musical adaptation, Uncle Buck's acting school is a Hooters restaurant, and the acting students that Myra quickly wins over and manipulates are Hooters girls.
"I thought, `What would be a good setting for Myra to make her triumphant entry and destroy male culture?' And that would be Hooters," says Callahan.
Taking visual cues from the movie and borrowing story lines from both Vidal's novel and Greek mythology, the pair has written a show told almost entirely through song. "Some of My Best Friends Are Men" is best described as a titillating Eastern European-influenced cabaret musical. Key compositions, such as "Queer Idea" and "Mary Ann's Theme," sound like klezmer torch songs thanks to an accompanying violin and a weeping accordion. By letting the music tell the story, Vincent and Callahan are able to convey some of the movie's more graphic moments, such as Rusty's rape, symbolically.
"We've distilled the whole disjointed story into a straightforward tale of a psychopath who wants to take over her uncle's business and destroy male culture, and every song leads to that," says Vincent.
"We're drawn to disturbing material," adds Callahan. "But we like to present it in a playful manner."
This is the second musical in less than a year from Callahan, who lives in Boston, and Vincent, of Somerville. They met at the beginning of 2004 when Callahan, who is best known as a cabaret singer and former lead vocalist of the art-rock bands Turkish Delight and Betwixt, placed a notice on an Internet bulletin board looking for bandmates. Vincent, who has done everything from leading church choirs to writing the rock musical "Fire of Life," responded, and the two quickly realized they have very compatible obsessive personalities.
Their first brush with disturbing material was a musical adaptation of Jean Genet's sadomasochist "The Maids," called "Mad Maids"; it played to standing-room-only audiences in local clubs in June. While researching costumes for "Mad Maids," Callahan stumbled across a website for "Myra Breckinridge" and was immediately enthralled by the movie stills.
"I thought it was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen," Callahan says. "Plus, I loved the stories of on-set catfights between Mae West and Raquel Welch. I've never been interested in classic theater or anything straightforward. I like the fact that we can interpret `Myra,' and it's already kind of a mess, so if we make it a mess, it doesn't matter."
The show's diverse cast includes a choreographer, a burlesque performer, and a classically trained opera singer. At a recent rehearsal at the Dance Complex in Cambridge, it's clear that the actors and singers have a strong affinity for the show's creators and their songs.
"I was really impressed with the music that Leah and Jonathan wrote for `Mad Maids,' and I could see a lot of potential in what they were doing," says cabaret singer Miss Mary Mac, who plays Myra's parsimonious, sexist Uncle Buck in the new show. "I'm definitely drawn to darker material, and there isn't a lot of opportunity to do this kind of thing here."
The pair are hoping audiences, and ultimately investors, feel the same way. Despite the fact that "Some Of My Best Friends" is a no-budget production with minimal costumes and no sets, they would eventually like to see their naughty vision and randy songs reach a wider audience.
"My dream is to see Myra onstage at the Colonial in front of a big audience," says Callahan. "It's about time she got some respect."
