Tyler Anthony Smith is reigning in the role of Elizabeth I in Hell in a Handbag’s production of Queen for a Day. He is also the playwright of the piece and composed the script from a queer, campy perspective. The hard work and homework paid off as bits of history are mixed and told through a trio of unforgettable characters.
Smith captivates as the Queen of England who is magically transported into a crucial period of Roy Halston Frowick’s life. Set in Halston’s Olympic Tower office, Elizabeth is commissioning the fashion icon to design a dress for her. Will Lidke portrays Halston with narcotic vigor and Dakota Hughes hits all the right notes as Judy Garland’s daughter.
Smith is an ensemble member of the Chicago-based troupe Hell in a Handbag and brought last season’s project, Poor People! The Parody Musical, to life. The versatile performer answers to any pronouns and is no stranger to onstage drag with last year’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch for Haven Chicago.
Windy City Times: Begin by talking about your history in theater.
Tyler Anthony Smith: I have worked in theater for a long time. I have been in Chicago for 12 years now and I am originally from Pittsburgh. I moved here for school.
WCT: Did you go to Colombia?
TAS: I did, which is where I met Stephanie Shaw, who is directing the show.
WCT: You wrote Queen for a Day. How did the concept come about?
TAS: I thought of it about three years ago. I made it because I wanted to look like Queen Elizabeth and thought it would be fun. It was around the time that the Halston series came out on Netflix. I thought about them being in the same room together and I would write occasionally about it.
I was scheduled for another play called Annie Cokeley this summer, but the venue double-booked the bigger theater. I had this smaller show on the back burner, so I pulled this script and I hadn’t touched it in forever.
I got rid of almost everything I had written previously and kept about three lines. I wrote the current show in two weeks!
WCT: Sounds like it was crunch time.
TAS: It forced me to do it and sometimes that’s when a brain is at its best. I locked it in and finished it in time. Now we are here!
WCT: How do you explain a show like Queen for a Day to people?
TAS: I tell them it’s about the designer Halston. If they don’t know who he is, then I refer them to the Netflix show and if they still don’t know who he is, then there’s no hope.
I say it’s Halston in his office in the ‘80s and Elizabeth I comes in. He’s going to design her a gown and then the story goes on from there…
WCT: Do you think the story could be visions from a drug-fueled haze of Halston’s?
TAS: Absolutely. From the beginning, it was 1984 and he was on drugs. He was eventually kicked out of his office after losing accounts like JCPenney. All of his employees quit because he was so abusive towards them.
WCT: So Elizabeth could be a financier that he hallucinates as a queen?
TAS: Yes or even a janitor.
WCT: Is your version of Elizabeth based on Cate Blanchett’s Elizabeth movie character?
TAS: No, it’s a general version of Elizabeth I. Sometimes people will think it’s Elizabeth II, who died three years ago and then I will tell them it’s the Elizabeth that Cate played in the movie.
WCT: You do tone down your voice to sound like Cate’s voice, though.
TAS: Yes, that is me admiring Miss Blanchett’s performance, not so much Bette Davis’ version in The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex.
WCT: Why do you think Elizabeth likes to eat shawarma?
TAS: I think people like anything when they don’t know what it is. When traveling to another country, people will try foods that are foreign to them.
WCT: Dakota Hughes deserves a Jeff Award for that performance.
TAS: Every show needs a 20-minute Liza Minnelli tornado in the middle of the script!
WCT: Having the tech person stay onstage as a worker behind a desk was genius.
TAS: Theater is theater, but I don’t like hiding what is going on behind the scenes.
WCT: What would you like people to take away from Queen for a Day?
TAS: I want people to laugh a lot. It’s a comedy until it’s not and then it still is a comedy in some ways. It’s about grief and time. Nothing ever goes away completely. Even when you face something head-on, it will always be there at least a little bit. There’s a price to pay when you live life. We have no control, ultimately, at the end of the day, which is terrifying.
Queen for a Day rules the roost at Bramble Arts Loft-The Berry, 5545 N. Clark St., now until Aug. 3. Tickets are on sale at handbagproductions.org.