Grelley Duvall Best Actress is a two-hour recap variety show that showcases a multitude of movie moments at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. The overall theme focuses on females and will keep theater goers guessing what campy classic will come next.
Act One begins with music from Donna Summer and Madonna, combined with a take on the 1947 motion picture Black Narcissus. Scenes shift to films from different time periods that are paired with previously aired television acceptance speeches from Oscar winners.
Queer performer Alex Grelle and his team have edited together taped video segments using local performers portraying iconic roles and then projected them onto a big screen at the Chopin. In between the retrospectives, new material is placed into the mix with live actors, singers and dancers. Thanks to dynamic drag artists, energetic choreography and clever puppetry, Best Actress stands out from the rest of the Showgirls.
Grelle has brought a rich comedic background to the table as a writer, and The Grelley Duvall Show project has continued to evolve since 2015. Incarnations of Grelle’s work have been seen at the Steppenwolf Theater, The Hideout and Theater on the Lake.
Previously, Grelley Duvall V ran for four weeks at the Chopin and Grelle returns to the venue for his latest endeavor.
Grelle provided commentary and context about his creative moments following the world premiere of Best Actress on opening night.
Windy City Times: Start with your background.
Alex Grelle: I grew up in Missouri and I did theater when I was in grade school. It was a small town and I eventually started theater in college.
WCT: Talk about your last name and how it’s used in the show.
AG: It’s pronounced Greh-lee. I wanted to do a show like I was Carol Burnett or Cher hosting a ‘70s variety show. They were huge inspirations for me.
I have been playing Shelley Duvall for years. When I first started, my costume designer called me Grelley Duvall; it stuck.
WCT: What a great drag name. I saw your parody of STEPMOM at the old Ethan Allen space and noticed actor Rob Lindley, who was in that, is also in this show for a video segment.
AG: Rob was so good in that show as Susan Sarandon.
WCT: What inspired this particular project?
AG: I was doing a weekly show called Salonathon. It was a variety show that was curated at Beauty Bar Chicago. It ran for six years. I was constantly doing scenes with a myriad of Chicago actors.
I would play Juliette Lewis in Cape Fear and Sharon Stone in Casino. I wanted to keep going with it and then I performed at the Steppenwolf space, where you saw STEPMOM. The show was called Shelley Duvall’s Women Under the Influence.
I added music and performed at The Hideout in Chicago. I have been making variations of the show for 11 years now.
WCT: What a large venue you are in now.
AG: The Chopin Theatre is a really nice space.
WCT: What Best Actress scenes wound up on the cutting room floor?
AG: There have been many cuts over the years. This was my dream project that I started writing during the lockdown. I envisioned it playing at the Chopin the whole time.
There was some good stuff, like an Annette Bening impression that I have always wanted to do. There was a 3 Women music video that was also cut.
WCT: Is the process just trying out things and seeing what works?
AG: Yes. I wrote this with Jesse Morgan Young. I came to him with 50 ideas and we whittled them down to around 25.
WCT: What was the most challenging video segment to shoot?
AG: Well, it wasn’t hard to shoot, but it was difficult figuring out the hitchhiking scene in Showgirls with the green screen.
Luckily, I have incredible filmmakers as friends like Glam Hag and Eon Mora. They are geniuses with films.
WCT: How did you find your band?
AG: A friend of mine hooked me up with Aunt Kelly and she already had that band except for the violin player. This is our fourth project together after Lady Di at the Empty Bottle for two years. We also perform at The Green Mill together occasionally.
WCT: You have worked at so many different places in Chicago. I remember seeing your work in several Hell in a Handbag Productions.
AG: Yes, I worked with them for over six years. Ed Jones from that theater company is in a video segment for this show and Lolly Extract is our puppeteer.
WCT: Your theater job includes a lot of networking.
AG: Yes, the Chicago theater industry is all about who you know in the community.
WCT: What do you want to do next?
AG: I have a show planned for June that I am excited about. Tyler Anthony Smith is doing Out Darn Spot! in the basement here at the Chopin. We are doing a show together.
WCT: For Pride?
AG: Yes. It will be at The Den Theatre.
WCT: What is one dream project you would still like to do?
AG: Well, I turn 40 years old in May and my dream for my birthday is to make a show just like this one, but it’s the arc of Ellen Ripley in the Aliens franchise. I would like to cover everything from Alien one, two and three to Alien: Resurrection.
I only want to parody the movies that Sigourney Weaver is in because she’s an idol of mine.
WCT: If you could only pick one person who do you think is the best actress ever?
AG: It’s the performance that Mary Tyler Moore gives in the film Ordinary People.
I love that movie.
WCT: You have a scene in Best Actress from it. Is it hard to entertain an audience with Ordinary People because it’s so heavy and sad?
AG: It is. I grew up watching her on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She was different and so happy on The Dick Van Dyke Show. She was way too supportive of her husband, which made the show misogynistic. I watched it recently and that part was not good.
To see her in Ordinary People, though, she gives the best performance of all time. I love her in that.
WCT: What would you like to tell the LGBTQ+ community about your show?
AG: When I was a little gay boy growing up, the Academy Awards were my movie guide. The Best Actress category was my favorite and that is what the show is about. I love emulating all of my favorite performers using a tightly curated list.
All the films are must-sees except for Out of Africa. I hate that film, but many moms love it.
This is a show celebrating gay icons and I hope people like it.
WCT: Congratulations on the project and it’s easy to tell you have put a great deal of work into it.
AG: Thank you. It’s a crazy marathon to run.
WCT: Audiences shouldn’t leave before the curtain call ends because there are some surprises at the end.
AG: Yes, they should stay until after the credits roll.
Grelley Duvall Best Actress lampoons the world of cinema until April 12 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. Purchase tickets for the two-act revue running almost two hours at chopintheatre.com.