Photo by Kevin Hinkle
ASBURY PARK – In 2010, Jason B. Schmidt was living in New York City when he saw an audition post for a stage show called “Thank You for Being a Friend.” The producers of “The Golden Girls” drag parody were looking for a Bea Arthur-type – someone tall with a deep voice. Before he knew it, Schmidt was cast in the East Village show.
“It was wild and crazy and a little raunchy,” he said.
Schmidt, who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from Adelphi University, was well acquainted with the work of Beatrice Arthur. While on tour with “Singing in the Rain,” he had listened on the bus to her recording, “Bea Arthur on Broadway, Just Between Friends,” on which she sang songs and told stories about her long and eventful career. The actress is best known for her role in the 1974 movie, “Mame,” as well as her two television shows, “Maude” and “The Golden Girls,” the latter of which seems to be as popular now as it was when it aired in the 1980s.
“I realized I didn’t need the show,” he said. “I could do my own Bea Arthur thing.”
In 2014, he created his first show, “Bea Arthur: Astral Dame,” in which he imagined the actress coming down from the heavens for one last musical hurrah. The Neptune resident will present his latest show, “Jason B. Schmidt is Bea Arthur – A Nightclub Act” at McLoone’s Supper Club in Asbury Park Thursday, Jan. 16.
Schmidt, who also works as a paralegal, will perform the nightclub act Arthur always dreamed of and frequently spoke about. It will include standards from Broadway, television and “bea-yond.” As Arthur, he will sing, tell stories and cavort, backed by his band, the Jerry Hermanettes. The new show is less scripted and “Arthur” will spend more time chatting with the audience.
“In interviews, Bea said she always wanted to be a nightclub singer but didn’t have the looks or the voice to be offered one,” he said. “I wanted to do her nightclub act, dressed in a swanky gown with background musicians. I love her ability to tell a story and interweave a song with it. I love the audacious, loud character she played when I know she was an introspective and quiet person. And I love her comic timing.”
The show, with music direction by Mason Griffin, will include songs that Schmidt enjoys singing and others that Arthur sang in her Tony Award-nominated show, which ran on Broadway for two months in 2002. Some of those songs include “Just One of Those Things,” “Just in Time,” “The Man in the Moon” from “Mame” and “I Know a Place,” a 1965 song recorded by Petula Clark.
“I want to do a whole Petula Clark medley,” said Schmidt. “I want to sing songs, tell stories and brighten a world that’s a little odd at the moment.”
Schmidt may even perform a snippet of the song Arthur sang in the critically panned 1978 “Star Wars Holiday Special,” as well as a disco version of the theme from “Maude,” as it was once performed by Sammy Davis Jr. (Yes, really).
It takes Schmidt about two hours to transform himself into Arthur. He glues down his eyebrows and turns his face into a blank canvas.
“I wipe away Jason and draw in Bea Arthur’s features,” he said. “As soon as the hair goes on, she shows up.”
Schmidt is also a co-creator of The Golden Gays NYC, which debuted in 2017 at RuPaul’s DragCon and has since toured the country several times. Why does he think the 1980s sitcom is appealing to a whole new generation of fans?
“ ‘The Golden Girls’ is a wonderful gem frozen in time,” he said. “We’re having a Golden revolution.”
“Jason B. Schmidt is Bea Arthur: A Nightclub Act” will be performed at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 16 at Tim McLoone’s Supper Club in Asbury Park. Tickets are $18-$30 and are available at timmcloonessupperclub.com.
Arts and entertainment reporter Mary Ann Bourbeau can be reached at mbourbeau@tworivertimes.com.
