With all the theaters in the state of Florida, few have been able to set themselves apart with a unique and definitive voice like freeFall Theatre Company in St. Petersburg. The people at freeFall follow a specific set of guiding values that they apply to each show, which include risk taking, a sense of daring and authenticity – all of which is what makes performer and Community Outreach Director to freeFall Matthew McGee such a perfect fit for them.
Whether he is performing as half of the dynamic act known as The Scott & Patti Show or rubbing elbows with stars like Deborah Cox at the AsoloRepertory Theater in Sarasota, McGee entertains with the same bizarre, unconventional and extraordinary talent that we get at freeFall Theatre Company.
Watermark sat down with McGee at freeFall to talk about why Tampa Bay can’t get enough of him and the theater.
When did you get started with performing?
I was so painfully shy when I when I was a kid. When I was a small child, I used to like to be in plays, but then I hit puberty and, at the time you would get made fun of if you were in theater, especially if you were in any way effeminate growing up in Georgia like me. Then I got tapped to be in a show choir, sort of like Glee, and it pulled me back in to performing. Then I went to college, got into theater and that’s where I did my first appearance in drag.
How did that happen?
It was an old Hollywood-style dance showcase and they needed a Carmen Miranda. They had asked all the girls audition for the part, and none of them seemed to get it, many of them didn’t know who it was, so I said, “You know I can do Carmen Maranda. I know exactly who that is,” and they put me in the hat and all. I got a huge response to it, people loved it. I realized that I was getting laughs and people were enjoying it. There was a certain amount of escape, and it became something that followed me throughout my career.
Is that when Patti was born?
No, Patti came along much later on in my life. Patti was kind of a creation born out of necessity. When I lost my job back in 2012 at the Show Palace, I had to find other ways to make ends meet. I went from a salaried position to the world of non-profit, so I had to find a way to supplement some income, and my good friend Scott Daniel and I came up with the idea for Scott & Patti as a joke. We said,“Let’s do a show where we play a gay son and his mother, and we do a cabaret act and we throw wise cracks at each other. I mean, we made sure the costumes are outrageous and that we have a good time and maybe people will dig it. We started it as a joke, and honestly thought people would hate it, and it just became huge.
What was the first show of Scott & Patti like?
Our first show was supposed to be one night here at freeFall to try it out, and it was so packed we ended up holding it over for a few more nights. The original show explained who these characters were. It was more like a play, like meet Scott and Patti, this is their story. The idea was Scott and Patti were going to split at the end so he could go work on cruise ships, and this was their final show together, just like Cher and her final tour. People just ate it up; they could not get enough, so Scott and Patti were born. We have opened for several acts that have come through the area, including Debbie Reynolds, Del Shore and Lea DeLaria.
What is it that has made the freeFall Theatre Company so popular with the LGBT community?
We like to put our own spin on shows that get people talking. We did a different take on Cabaret; we did Mame with me in the lead. Also, don’t get me wrong, I think all the theaters in this area are gay-friendly, but for here I think it is the staff. There is a certain passion that our artistic director Eric Davis has. He brings so much talent and a sensibility to each production, and I’m not saying it’s because he’s gay, but it probably doesn’t hurt [laughs]. The only reason freeFall works and is as popular as it is is because of Eric Davis. He takes risks.
Is that what sets freeFall apart from other theaters, the risks?
Absolutely. They come from all over to see a freeFall show, because they know they are going to get to see things they would not see at other places. Things like Into the Woods set in a psychiatrist office, or The Importance of Being Earnest with zombies. Just crazy things you think wouldn’t work; he just makes it work and makes it brilliant. We are finishing the current season this summer with The Pirates of Penzance set in space. So you have this classic operetta all about sending up imperialism at the time and we add in a sci-fi element.
freeFall just announced its next season of shows which begins this fall. What risks can the audience expect to see?
We are opening the season with Steven Sondheim’s Assassins. Sondheim has always said that Assassins is his finest musical. It’s an evening where you get to hear from the likes of Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth, that doesn’t glorify them but it gives you a look inside their heads. Another thing we will be doing next season is performing two shows within the same run. We are doing Peter Pan, as well as the origin story of Pan, Peter and the Starcatcher. We are running both shows simultaneously with the same sets and casts in both shows. We also have Red Velvet, a show about the very first black actor to play Othello on the London stage, and After the Rainbow, which is the story of Judy Garland’s last days. The season will close out with a production of Marie Antoinette, but this version will take place on a fashion runway. It takes a look at pop culture and our celebrity-obsessed society. Imagine mixing selfies, social media and the Kardashians with the French Revolution.
With all this you still have time to be in a musical in Sarasota at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota?
Yeah, it only works because I have no social life. I am performing in the Broadway tryout and world premiere of Josephine. It’s a musical on the life of Josephine Baker who is being played by the one and only Deborah Cox, and I play her make-up artist, assistant and best friend Zhu Zhu. So I spend my days working at freeFall and my nights heading down to Sarasota for rehearsals for Josephine and playing Deborah Cox’s best friend. I’m the luckiest guy alive.
