In the Bob Fosse musical “Chicago,” the character Velma Kelly brings both the femme and the fatale: a sexy, slinky murderess in heels, hose, and matching blood-red lipstick and nails. Over the years she has been famously played by Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth and Catherine Zeta-Jones, among many.
“In my day-to-day life I don’t wear dresses, I don’t do my nails and I don’t actually own a pair of heels,” said Logan Floyd, who steps into Velma’s very high shoes in the Broadway in Atlanta production that plays at the Fox Theatre Friday through Sunday.
Credit: Jeremy Daniel (www.jeremydanielphoto.com)
Credit: Jeremy Daniel (www.jeremydanielphoto.com)
“I had a little bit of trepidation, a little bit of anxiety about how people would view me after seeing me play a woman on stage, a very feminine woman,” said Floyd. “I was nervous about people mistaking me, Logan, for Velma.”
Floyd identifies as non-binary and uses the pronouns they/them. Non-binary people, in general, say that since gender is a cultural construct (as distinct from biological sex), they prefer not to categorize themselves as either male or female, and frequently use the neutral pronouns they and them. Non-binary people have existed throughout history, although the term itself was introduced about 20 years ago.
“When I started this tour in 2019, my pronouns were she/her and I identified as a woman,” Floyd continued. “Somewhere along the way in my journey I no longer identified as a woman, and I don’t identify as a man, so non-binary is the closest identification that hits home for me.”
Floyd’s gender identity wasn’t all they were dealing with at the time. The “Chicago” tour, billed as “25 Years of Razzle Dazzle” (keyed to the big 1996 revival rather than the original Broadway debut, which was in 1975) had just started when it was shut down by COVID-19.
Credit: Jeremy Daniel (www.jeremydanielphoto.com)
Credit: Jeremy Daniel (www.jeremydanielphoto.com)
“We did 16 performances, then COVID hit. Three years later here I am finally doing it,” they said.
Their phone interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the first they have done about being non-binary.
Floyd grew up in suburban Washington, D.C., and started taking singing lessons when they were 9 years old. “From there I worked my way into theater and acting and dancing. Eventually it just took over my life and one hour became two became three became 20 hours a week,” they say. They attended drama school at Texas State University outside Austin.
“Pretty much the day after I graduated, I moved to New York City, and a few months after moving I got this tour.”
That makes the actor’s life sound incredibly easy in retrospect, which of course was not the case.
“Yeah, I took out all the bad parts,” they laughed. “But I feel so absolutely lucky that I can’t really grasp it. This is my first professional gig, the first time I’ve ever been paid to be onstage. The Fox Theatre will be the biggest theater I’ve ever performed in. It’s shocking.
“I really am having the time of my life, fulfilling my life’s purpose,” they continued. “Which sounds a little woo-woo, but it IS a little woo-woo!”
Credit: Jeremy Daniel (www.jeremydanielphoto.com)
Credit: Jeremy Daniel (www.jeremydanielphoto.com)
Family, friends and co-workers have been supportive of their new identity, Floyd said.
“It’s been really joyful to watch family and friends ask me questions and approach me with curiosity,” they said. “With family, they’ve known me for decades, so it’s been a subtle shift. With new friends, I meet them now as Logan, who is they/them. It’s really touching when people approach it with curiosity rather than fear about making a mistake. When people ask me a question, it opens up a conversation.”
While some people focus on the use of they and them pronouns, that’s really just a small part, they say.
“It’s how I move about in the world. It’s how you see me. Pronouns are cut and dried, but everything for me is more fluid. We can talk about pronouns till the cows come home but the more interesting, deep conversation is life experience and how it changes and shifts.”
Once they got over their qualms about audiences identifying non-binary Logan with the very feminine Velma, everything started falling into place.
“It’s really not in my control,” they said. “Once I was able to let that go, I was able to welcome in the ideas of how I can use gender as just another thing to play with onstage.
“There’s me as a person and then there’s what I do. And what I do is I act and I take on characters. I tell that story.”
THEATER PREVIEW
“Chicago”
Oct. 21-23. $34-$129. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta. 855-285-8499, foxtheatre.org.
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