Hamilton Spectator
October 2000
article written by Gary Smit
Sharron revels in a romp on the seedy side with disco dollies and drag queens
Sharron Matthews is getting out her black leather. The Hamilton-born singer with the big voice, is currently on stage in the musical version of the Craig Russell cult film Outrageous.
Playing a leather dyke in a grungy gay bar, Matthews is having the time of her life.
After roles in Hal Prince’s version of Showboat, not to mention the musicalized Les Miserables, she’s happily set loose in a raunchy, rambunctious romp. It’s a musical that takes her to the heart of Toronto’s seedier side.
Disco dollies, drage queens and leather dykes inhabit this culture of passion and pain. Yet Outrageous, for all its raunch, is basically a love story, non-sexual in nature.
Growing up on Hamilton Mountain, Matthews admits she was sexually naive.
“I had no idea about drag queens and stuff. I went with my mom to the hairdresser’s every week, somewhere on the Mountain. And I met all these great guys. Some of them quite gorgeous. I wondered why they didn’t have girlfriends. It took me long time to catch on.”
Like a number of young performers Matthews began her theatre experience in high school, Hill Park to be exact. With drama teacher Bill Cook to guide her, she fell in love with the Broadway musical.
“He did a big one every year. And believe me he was very good. He used to beg, borrow or steal, trying to get the money to put a show on. He loved theatre so much, he made me love it too. And in a high school world, where the arts didn’t count for too much, he made me feel I belonged. I guess you just have to find your own niche. Theatre was that for me. Thank goodness there are a few teachers who understand that. Bill always said, ‘Embrace who you are. Just be yourself.’ You can’t know what that meant to an awkward, young teen.”
From Hill Park, Matthews found her way to Sheridan College where she perfected her art. Amazingly, she went straight from the Oakville school to her first professional job, a stint in Hello, Dolly! at The Limelight Dinner Theatre in Toronto.
“Believe me it was tough. The Limelight was hardly the apex of bigtime theatre. People used to light up during the show and blow smoke in your face. But I learned a lot there. It was baptism by fire.”
Matthews, married to fellow Hamilton actor George Masswohl, says she has no idea why so much talent comes from Steel City.
“Maybe it’s becaue people are so supportive of young performers there.”
Her own journey, from the Limelight to major roles in Les Miserables, Showboat and Beauty And The Beast, was pretty swift.
“I’ve been lucky to work with people who’ve been generous with their wisdom. And I think I have hope for the future. But like most performers I live from day to day. It’s right now that’s important to me, not something down the road.”
Right now for Matthews, is the Toronto production of Brad Fraser’s Outrageous.
“I think it’s going to be a very big musical. Well, that’s what I hope. The book captures the feel of the film, and the music, techno-disco in style, frames the piece. As you might expect, given it’s dramatic proportions, it’sa musical of emotional highs and lows.”
Matthews sees it as a return to musicals about personalities, not scenery.
“Don’t get me wrong, I loved doing all those big Broadway shows, but in a way they’re like clockwork. There’s little room for deviation. If you saw Les Miz here, you saw the same show you’d see in Tokyo. Everything moves to a very ordered plan. These shows are about ensemble, rather than individuals. Outrageous goes beyond that, back to a Broadway that allowed its performers to take centre stage.”
For Matthews, Outrageous remains remarkably faithful to Richard Benner’s 1977 film, as well as Margaret Gibson’s stories in The Butterfly Ward, which inspired the whole thing.
“It’s raucous, but it’s also very sweet. the story of a troubled schizophrenic girl and drag queen hairdresser is amazingly moving. It’s a story about changing, about knowing who you are. I’ve worked with drag stars like Bitch Diva, and in some ways, what they do is a particular form of art. It’s isn’t just about a man wanting to be a woman. It’s a very specific form of performance. Women, after all, don’t dress the way someone like Craig Russell did on stage. It’s a heightened form of reality.”
Matthews thinks it’s a mistake to connect Russell too closely with the musical Outrageous.
“He was an actor playing that role, it wasn’t about his life after all. Certain parallels do however apply. Russell wasn’t treated as a performer. He was treated as a freak. He couldn’t break away from that image, and it’s probably what destroyed him in the end. A lot of these boys go through such hardships. It they’re gay they feel rejected. And sometimes they feel they’re not manly enough, whatever that means.
“It’s not just about being gay. there’s a definite order here and drag queens are often treated like dirt. I’m not a gay man, so I can’t make any real judgements. Although sometimes I feel like one. We won’t tell George that will we. He need never know.”
A big laugh erupts from Matthews’ throat.
“Oh, by the way,” she adds, “I’m coming back to Hamilton for Joseph And The Technicolor Dreamcoat at Aquarius in December. Now, there’s a stretch. From the leatherbar to the Old Testament.”