Arlene Weiner: The Real Thing

The college staged a musical, “The Scottsboro Boys,”

with roles for half a dozen young Black men.

Almost a vaudeville. Maz walked out 

in the middle—”couldn’t take it.”

.

I stayed, but I saw his point: 

I wouldn’t go to “Anne Frank, the Musical,”

and in fact I’ve passed up “Parade,”

about the lynching of the Jew Leo Frank.

.

Maz is a theater person: actor, 

writer, director. Triple threat. Gay. 

His partner Donny’s a drag queen,

Dawna Day. Once I asked Maz,         

“Is drag womanface?”

.

When they did a two-hander as rival women, 

Donny was hilarious. He pursed his lips, 

flounced, batted his eyes, spoke in a screech. 

Maz, with padded bosom, became an actual woman, 

gave her speeches dignity. He can’t help it:

He’s an actor, the real thing.

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Copyright 2022 Arlene Weiner. From More by Arlene Weiner (Ragged Sky, 2022).

Arlene Weiner is a poet and playwright who lives in Pittsburgh.