J. Harrison Ghee tapped for Lady Chablis role in ‘Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil’ musical
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Riding on the wave of a historic 2023 Tony Award win, J. Harrison Ghee is ready for another close-up.
The “Some Like It Hot” star, who this year became the first openly non-binary performer to win best lead actor in a musical, has been tapped to channel The Lady Chablis in a reading for the musical stage adaptation of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”
A two-day, invitation-only reading of the in-development project will take place in New York City on Thursday and Friday.
Chablis, a transgender nightclub performer in Savannah, Georgia, died in 2016 at age 59. She found fame in the 1990s as a memorable character in John Berendt’s 1994 best-selling novel and Clint Eastwood’s 1997 movie adaptation starring John Cusack and Kevin Spacey. She authored the 1996 memoir “Hiding My Candy: The Autobiography of the Grand Empress of Savannah.”
A finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize, “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” centers on the real-life events of a prominent historic preservationist and antiques dealer who was tried, and retried, for the murder of a local male sex worker.
According to production rep Candi Adams, two-time Drama Desk Award nominee Steven Pasquale will join Ghee for the reading, alongside Amber Gray, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Harriet Harris, Paul Nolan and Lance Roberts.
Tony Olivier Award, Emmy and Drama Desk Award-winning director and choreographer Rob Ashford is attached to helm the musical, which is produced by Hal Luftig, Craig Haffner, and Sherry Wright.
“Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” is written by MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-shortlisted drag artist Taylor Mac with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. Tanya Birl and Jovan Dansberry are set to choreograph.
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