Disco heat will warm up the early days of spring when “Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical” comes to the Painted Bride Arts Center.
Co-directed and co-produced by actor Anthony Wayne, who plays Sylvester, and costume designer Kendrell Bowman, “Mighty Real” celebrates the life and music of disco star and gay icon Sylvester, who was famous for his soaring voice, flamboyant, androgynous style and a string of disco hits like “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real),” “Do You Wanna Funk” and “Dance (Disco Heat).” Sylvester was also an activist who campaigned against the spread of HIV/AIDS before the disease claimed his life in 1988.
Wayne said he and Bowman were inspired to create “Mighty Real” when they saw a “Behind the Music”-style documentary that featured Sylvester.
“There was a TV show on TV One, ‘Unsung,’ that did an episode on Sylvester and I was inspired by his drive to be who he was,” Wayne said. “As we started talking about the music and how it excited us, we did a concert in 2012. And from there it exploded.”
“Mighty Real” made its debut in a series of performances at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City in 2012. Sold-out performances in Washington, D.C., and Miami followed the next year.
The show soon caught the attention of actor, activist and original “Dreamgirls” star Sheryl Lee Ralph, who signed on as co-producer.
“Sheryl Lee Ralph came into the picture a year ago,” Bowman said. “Anthony and I have been creating the show for the past three years. So while we’re doing the show, we wanted to take it further than Off-Broadway. We wanted someone else to come on board with us. I went on Twitter, believe it or not, and just started tweeting people like Whoopi Goldberg and Sheryl Lee Ralph, people we thought would be great for the project. All of these people responded to these tweets. We went to Philadelphia to meet with Sheryl Lee Ralph with a packet presenting what we have been doing for the last three years. She agreed to come on board as a co-producer and since then we’ve been like the Three Amigos, on the phone doing everything together.”
Bowman said “Mighty Real” isn’t a tribute performance as much as it is a celebration of Sylvester’s life.
“It’s not a concert,” Bowman said. “The premise of the show is that Sylvester comes back for one night only and tells the story of his life through monologues and his songs with his cast of five backup singers, including Martha [Wash] and Izora [Armstead] — Two Tons of Fun now known as The Weather Girls.”
He added that a lot of research went into the creation of the show, as none of the performers had the opportunity to ever see Sylvester in the flesh.
“No one has seen him perform live except Sheryl Lee Ralph,” Bowman said. “We’ve had the opportunity to meet his family and friends and Martha Wash. Two of the girls who play The Weather Girls, they sing backup for Martha Wash now. So it was an easy fit for us. We had to do a lot of research in the past to develop this story. That’s why we took our time to be very true to Sylvester and his life story.”
Bowman also paid careful attention to detail when recreating the wild fashions that Sylvester liked to wear both on stage and off.
“I took my time with that,” he said. “I went and recreated all the major iconic looks. I recreated the white tuxedo with all the fans and all the accessories. I have a big kimono. You know, Sylvester was buried in a kimono. Of course I have furs. He was known for riding around San Francisco on his moped and walking around in long furs. I recreated all the looks. I didn’t try to go too outside the box. I want people to have flashbacks and say, ‘Oh my God! That’s when he wore that!’ And that’s what happened. When we were in San Francisco recently, we went to the [GLBT History Museum] to see Sylvester’s archival costumes. One of the jackets I recreated in the show, I got to see the original. Everything you see in the show, you’re going to trip out because you’re going to be like, ‘Oh my God, he is reincarnated.’”
Wayne said “Mighty Real” is attracting audiences who were fans of Sylvester in the 1970s and ’80s, as well as younger audiences that are being introduced to his music.
“All of his fans are still around and they enjoy his music,” Wayne said. “They come to the show to enjoy how it’s done and how it’s coming out with that energy. But we’re definitely getting new fans who didn’t know of him from back then. The great thing about our show is you look in the audience and it’s not just people from the ’70s and ’80s. I see families and that is great. I see people coming with their moms and dads and they are all jamming together and having a good time. It’s all different demographics that our show reaches because it’s not just about the music and disco. Our show has a story that inspires anyone to be themselves no matter what. We see that with 60-year-olds, 20-year-olds, people of different ethnicities. We’re really proud of our show. It’s for everyone.”
Both Wayne and Bowman said the production also shines a light on how groundbreaking Sylvester was as an artist — unapologetically out and proud in an era when pop stars either stayed in the closet or remained underground phenomenona.
“He was innovative,” Wayne said. “He just stepped outside of the box and wanted to just work and put himself forward. He found strength in his music and personality. He was larger than life. We show the heart of the man. We don’t just show you the flash, the glitz and the glamour. You actually see the passion of who he was. That’s what made him outside the box.”
“You can see it right now,” Bowman added of Sylvester’s influence. “You have RuPaul. You have Adam Lambert. You even had Boy George. You have all these people who came after Sylvester. No one was doing what he was doing in the 1970s. Back then, just walking outside of your house in drag, you could get arrested for that. You had a man who was well over 6-feet tall and 200 pounds walking the street in women’s clothing and didn’t care. He was doing it first and he did it with pride and strength. He opened the doors for other performers who are doing it now.” n
“Mighty Real: A Fabulous Sylvester Musical” runs April 3-5 at the Painted Bride Arts Center, 230 Vine St. For more information or tickets, call 215-925-9914 or visit www.FabulousSylvester.com.