‘Casa Valentina’ at Pasadena Playhouse Questions Gender Identity

John Turner

“Casa Valentina” makes its west coast premiere on March 15 at Pasadena Playhouse. This play propels the concept of freedom to a thought-provoking and fascinating level. Told through the powerful, relevant eyes of playwright Harvey Fierstein and directed by veteran TV producer David Lee (“Frasier,” “The Jeffersons”), this play chronicles the goings-on at Chevalier d’Eon, an early-1960s Catskills resort where straight-laced married men (often accompanied by their wives) come to dress and behave as women. And the Chevalier d’Eon of Fierstein’s play is based on a very real place: Casa Susanna was an old bungalow-style camp in Hunter, NY, about 10 miles north of Woodstock where, starting in the late 1950s, men flocked from around the country to live for a time as ordinary women. The heyday of the actual resort is recorded in “Casa Susanna” (PowerHouse, 2005), a photo book by Michael Hurst and Robert Swope.

“Casa Valentina” takes these stories of men – business executives, accountants and other white-collar professionals, all with transgender tendencies – and skews them in inimitable Fierstein fashion. After Hurst and Swope published their book in 2005, Fierstein said that he was urged by numerous theater producers to bring the “Casa Susanna” story to the stage. The play’s central conflict occurs when Charlotte, one of the resort guests who doubles as a political activist in her “male” life, appeals to the other guests to create a publicly recognized transgender organization – meaning the men would expose their true identities. Not only that, Charlotte declares the organization would be open to heterosexuals only, which all of the play’s cross-dressing characters seem to be. Charlotte’s announcement leads to fierce debates among the guests and causes each to determine the true importance of their alter ego.

In addition to director David Lee, Pasadena Playhouse’s production of “Casa Valentina” stars Robert Mammana as George/Valentina, Valerie Mahaffey as Rita (George/Valentina’s wife; the couple are the resort’s co-owners) and Christian Clemenson as Isadore/Charlotte.

“Casa Valentina” makes its west coast premiere at Pasadena Playhouse on March 15 and runs through April 10. For more information and tickets, see this event page.