by tom andrew –
Founded by Charles Rowland, the multiple award-winning Celebration Theatre has been bringing LGBTQ-themed material to Los Angeles patrons since its inception in 1982. The theatre was and is now helmed by Executive Director Michael C. Kricfalusi and Co-Artistic Directors, Michael Matthews
This February, Celebration opened the show Born To Win starring Drew Droege (Eating Out 4: Drama Camp and Big Gay Love) and Matthew Wilkas (Gayby, who also wrote the show with playwright Mark Setlock.)
Born To Win could be about a gay teenager who fights against the odds to become his school’s winning quarterback and earns a scholarship to a top university. Or, it could be representative of anyone who fights to do what they love and become a winner against all odds.
The Wilkas/Setlock play, however, is a satirical look at the life of child beauty pageants originally entitled simply enough Pageant Play, debuting in 2008 with another run in 2012. The current show, with some recent nips and tucks, as well as tweaks here and there, including careful use of butt glue, flippers,
Oddly enough, neither of the actor/playwrights knew much about child pageant life. “It’s been re-written quite a bit and has a new title now,” offered Matthew Wilkas. “Neither of us has had any personal experience with pageants at all, but we were inspired to write Born To Win after watching a documentary about child pageants called Living Dolls. There are so many fascinating characters in this child pageant world and so much material to draw from, so we decided to do a deep dive and research and interview people to really get into it,” he shared.
“Mark [Setlock] had previously created a hundred or so characters when he collaborated with Becky Mode on the script of Fully Committed, so we did the same thing with Pageant Play and then Born To Win.”
Through the research Wilkas did for the show, he did come across a few things that he admired about the crazy business of child pageants. “In my research, I did find some super inclusive pageants that celebrate diversity and I think that’s great… there’s actually a Little Miss Wheelchair America for disabled kids. Pageants teach kids a lot of things that are redeemable, like discipline and the importance of working hard, etc. But ultimately, the focus pageants put on ‘beauty’ is just really unhealthy.”
As you might imagine, the show has many outlandish and outrageous characters, making one wonder if Wilkas or Setlock based any of them on people they know personally? “I can’t say I consciously based any of the characters on people in my life,” Wilkas admitted. “Though I will say that both the characters Pinky and Marge were fully inspired by the actresses who played the parts in development.”
“Jenn Harris played Pinky originally, it was her insane fearlessness as a performer that allowed us to create such a powerful character,” Wilkas continued. “Daiva Deupree, who has played Marge from the get-go and is currently playing her, is a wonderful actress and is able to make this character—who has ultimately done terrible, terrible things—still be sympathetic. She is the heart of the play.”
Wilkas stars in the show also, in a few pivotal roles that might seem familiar to those addicted to pageant reality shows. “Drew [Droege] and I play two characters each,” Wilkas shared.
“I play Bob, a submissive, sweet, not-super-bright pageant coach and Drew plays Bob’s other half Bobby, who is also a pageant coach. Together they own a business called ‘Touch The Sky Finesse Coaching.’ I also play Gunnar, a rough and tough cowboy, who is husband to Pinky, and Drew plays Buddy, an abusive, redneck convict. We both switch between these characters a lot during the play and it’s super fun.”
Born To Win runs through Sunday, March 31 at The Lex, 6760 Lexington Avenue in Los Angeles. For tickets and more, call 323.957.1884 or go to celebrationtheatre.com/born-to-win.