Through June 26

Show business can surprise aspiring performers. Now playing in the Beck Center’s Studio Theater, The Legend of Georgia McBride lightheartedly sketches one man’s unanticipated route to success. Written by Matthew Lopez and directed by Eric Schmiedl, the show allows for plenty of laughs thanks to a small and appealing cast.

The story runs a simple course: Florida club owner Eddie (Brian Pedaci) must fire so-so Elvis impersonator Casey (Matt Gittins) and bring in a new act. When Casey’s replacement, Miss Tracy Mills (Jason Eno), blasts into the scene, everything changes. The glamourous Miss Mills generously shares drag queen tips — how to dress and how to strut. When the club shifts focus (and a third dancer, Jason, AKA Miss Anorexia Nervosa, joins the troupe), the money pours in. Casey’s life (and his act) changes for the better and even Jo, his wife (Bryce Evan Lewis), finally embraces their new life.

As Eno’s character teaches us (and Casey), becoming the impersonator and entertainer Miss Georgia McBride takes more than putting on a dress, slipping into heels and lip-synching Edith Piaf or Dolly Parton hits. Hat tips to the nimble Gittins who manages to put on two pairs of stockings (one over the other), add strategic padding, and squeeze into tight shapewear while standing and without missing a beat.

But the true “Queen” is Eno’s Miss Tracy Mills. Eno not only shows Casey how to build a voluptuous female form on a slim male body (and deck it with fancy gowns), but also how to sparkle. Eno’s gold jumpsuit (thank you, costume designer Suwatana Pla Rockland) deserves its own credit, but all the other costumes were extravagant and fun.

Thanks to Veranda L’Ni (Director of Drag) for sharing trade secrets. (Watching swept me back to middle school days when we girls were expected to wear fluffy petticoats, cinch in our waists, and tuck a strategic handkerchief here and there. So much freedom today — I love it!)

 The show’s ample selection of brief golden oldies rocked the crowd and by the end, when everything turned disco, we knew we had been at a memorable party.

Downsides? The first scenes setting up Casey and Jo, their marriage, and their poverty took longer than they needed to. (Someone two rows behind me snored after the first ten minutes.) I have also seen swifter set changes in the Studio Theatre. For this show a clunky stage had to be pulled out and then stored every time action moved from the club. None of this might have mattered except that the event ran over two hours with no intermission. That is a long time for a crowd that brought in drinks before the show began.

But all seemed forgiven by show’s end when “We Are Family” filled the room and every face I saw had a big smile on it.

Bottom Line: A fabulous (yes, darling, I do mean fabulous) party and celebration to kick off summer.