Christine Jorgensen Reveals
Review by Scott Harrah
In 1952, Christine Jorgensen was the most famous woman in America for one reason: she used to be a man. Jorgensen traveled to Denmark to undergo a sex-change operation, and when she returned and stepped off a pla ne at New York’s Idlewild Airport, media chaos ensued. Anyone familiar with Jorgensen has likely seen Irving Rapper’s campy 1970 biopic The Christine Jorgensen Story, but that infamous film merely sensationalized her life. In Christine Jorgensen Reveals, performance artist Bradford Louryk gives audiences a more accurate, honest, and tasteful portrayal of the world’s first famous transsexual (who died of cancer in 1989).
Hundreds of articles were written about her, but only one recorded interview with Jorgensen still exists: a rare LP of a talk she had with a man identified only as Mr. Russell in the 1950s. That recording (which has been digitally remastered and enhanced) is the basis of Christine Jorgensen Reveals, and Louryk brings Jorgensen to life via demure mannerisms, gesticulation and seamless lip-synching. On a sparse set, we see a 1950s-style microphone and television. Jorgensen enters the stage sporting an elegant dark taffeta jacket with a matching skirt and mink coat. As she sits down, Mr. Russell (Rob Grace) appears on the black and white TV screen and begins the interview. Within minutes, Jorgensen debunks and dismisses all the inane media myths about her life, and comes across as an eloquent, funny and well-educated lady instead of a freak or curiosity. Each time Russell asks an ignorant question about sexuality or gender, Jorgensen politely puts him in his place with her razor-sharp wit, intellect and candor.
Anyone expecting a tacky drag show will be disappointed with Christine Jorgensen Reveals. This is an insightful portrait of one of the 20th century’s most misunderstood celebrities and Louryk is so natural and convincing as Jorgensen that one almost forgets that he’s wearing a blonde wig and lip-synching to a recording. Josh Hecht brilliantly directs Louryk, and the actor portrays many subtle mannerisms that make the performance believable. When the interview ends, Russell seems choked up and remarks that the eveni ng has been surprisingly illuminating, and indeed it is. The show has only one flaw: one wonders why the director decided to put the interviewer on a TV screen. Everything would simply have been more dramatic and realistic if the interviewer was actually onstage with Jorgensen.
is playing in New York on July 26, 27 and 28 as part of the East to Edinburgh Festival at 59 E59 Theaters, a preview of plays scheduled to be performed in the United Kingdom at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe of experimental theater starting August 4th.
