UD playwright, actor appears as Dame Edna

Scott Mason as Dame Edna

1:08 p.m., March 12, 2004--Scott Mason, associate director of student centers, is trading his suit and tie for a dress and earrings during his run as Dame Edna Everage at the Chapel Street Theatre this month.

Adopting the voice, mannerisms and over-the-top get-up of wig, granny glasses and glam gown, Mason will impersonate the greatest female impersonator of all time in a 15-minute curtain speech that will precede “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife,” the Charles Busch play, which Mason also is directing.

Scheduled Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., March 12-13, 19-20, 26 and 27, and for Sundays at 2 p.m., March 14 and 21, “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” recently enjoyed a run on Broadway and stands out as a comedy, Mason said, that works well with the theme of cross-dressing.

“Dame Edna has a unique connection to the play because the playwright, [Charles] Busch, is a drag artist himself. Busch has appeared in most of his own works in drag, and I thought that adding the curtain speech by Dame Edna was a neat twist.”

Mason, who writes and acts in plays and frequently volunteers at the Chapel Street Theatre, also drew inspiration for his pre-play routine at a Chapel Street Theatre fund-raiser this past summer. After an impromptu impersonation of the Dame won him laughs and applause, Mason said he knew he was on to a good thing.

“I think it’s funny how a man in a dress is always something that people—all people—adore,” he said. “It cuts across gender lines and age gaps. I also think that what’s fun about being someone else is that when you say something that’s not p.c., [politically correct] you’re not really the one talking.”

Dame Edna Everage, a Broadway sensation who won a Tony Award in 2000, is known for, among other things, her larger-than-life monologues and instructive quips about the world.

The Chapel Street Theatre is located at 27 North Chapel St., in Newark. Tickets to “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” and Mason’s curtain speech are $12 and $10. For more information, call 368-2248.

Article by Becca Hutchinson
Photo courtesy of Scott Mason

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