The story of the (late) great The Lady Chablis the larger than life trans club performer that the whole world met though the bestselling nonfiction book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, has just made it to Broadway. She must be wildly grinning from her grave.
The book, written by John Berendt is about the shooting of Danny Hansford, a local male prostitute by respected antiques dealer Jim Williams, who was also his employer and casual sexual partner. The Lady Chablis was not involved in the crime but was one of a wide wide range of eccentric personalities in and around Savannah that were part of the background to Berendt’s story.
When he wrote the book she was performing working at The Pickup a gay bar on Congress Street., but when she appeared as herself 1n the Clint Eastwood-directed movie adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in 1995 starring Kevin Spacey and John Cusack, she became so much more than a mere local celebrity . In fact one year later she published her autobiography Hiding My Candy: The Autobiography of the Grand Empress of Savannah
In the musical the part of Lady Chablis is played by the non-binary and pansexual Tony Award winning actor J. Harrison Ghee, We think Lady C would be also be thrilled that the book of the musical has been written by the multi-talented legendary performance artist etc Taylor Mac. The music is by Tony Award Winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade), and direction by multi-award winner Rob Ashford . Its still in Previews on Broadway but based on the reviews it received in Chicago, they have already extended the Broadway run
https://www.goodmantheatre.org/show/midnight-in-the-garden-of-good-and-evil/
Labels: 2024, Broadway, J Harrision Ghee, Midnight In The Garden of Good & Evil, preview, Taylor Mac, The Lady Chablis
