Frontmezzjunkies reports: September L. Davis is ready to apologize, whether Broadway is ready to forgive her or not

By Ross

I have always had a soft spot for a theatrical apology that arrives with absolutely no guarantee that the person doing the apologizing has learned anything. Hand me a fictional actress with an enormous ego, questionable talent, a grievance against Broadway, and enough self-confidence to fake her own death, and I am already falling over at the sheer brilliance of the construct. And inside that wonderfully wacky framework, Ana Gasteyer has decided, whether we like it or not, to bring September L. Davis, her campy online alter ego, to the stage for the first time in September L. Davis: The Apology Tour, and I suspect forgiveness is going to be difficult to come by, and considerably harder for September L. Davis to deliver with any sincerity.

The nine-performance run will play Studio Seaview Off-Broadway September 20 through October 5, with Gasteyer stepping fully into the character she created around the time of Schmigadoon!’s Broadway opening. The fictional Davis has long believed that Gasteyer stole the role of Mildred Layton from her, which is an impressively dramatic accusation to level at the person who actually played the character. Davis even made a surprise appearance on the Schmigadoon! opening night red carpet, because apparently a Broadway opening is exactly where you go when you have a grievance that absolutely cannot be contained.

Since then, Davis has been busy. She has beefed online with Broadway personalities, faked her own death most gloriously, and generally behaved like someone who has never encountered a spotlight she did not believe belonged exclusively to her. Now she is ready to apologize to the people she has wronged, although the presence of an audience suggests that some of those apologies may require court witnesses. The evening promises “apologies, memories, and music,” which sounds perfectly reasonable until you remember that September L. Davis is the person doing the apologizing.

The first slate of special guests is already enough to make this particularly tempting, with Betsy Wolfe, Matthew Wilkas, Kate Reinders, and Greg Hildreth joining the festivities. More guests are still to be announced, which means Davis apparently has even more people to charm, annoy, accuse, forgive, and/or ask for forgiveness from. Kevin Cahoon is at the helm, with music direction by Nate Patten and choreography by Richard Yoder. Nick Solyom handles lighting design, and Connor Wang provides sound design.

For Gasteyer, Davis is another wonderfully ridiculous addition to a comedy career that has already given us an entire catalogue of unforgettable characters, from Bobbi Mohan-Culp and Margaret Jo McCullen to her impressions of Céline Dion and Martha Stewart. Her Broadway résumé includes Wicked, Threepenny Opera and Once Upon a Mattress, along with her Tony-nominated turn as Mildred Layton in Schmigadoon!. Davis, naturally, has her own version of that history, and I have a feeling she will be very happy to explain it to us.

So bring your grudges, your memories, and perhaps a willingness to participate, because September L. Davis is coming to town with something to say. Whether anyone asked for an apology is entirely beside the point. She has decided that we are getting one, and if there is anything I have learned from a character this magnificently committed to herself, it is that the apology tour is probably going to be the least apologetic apology tour imaginable. I’ll forgive her, but I certainly won’t be forgetting any of this.