Performance: I Am a Mistery
October 7 @ 6:00pm – 7:30pm
Join us for the debut performance of I Am a Mistery, a play based on the life of the enigmatic Amanda Lear. Throughout her life as a model, artist’s muse and disco queen, Lear—who has been linked to both Salvador Dalí and David Bowie—has denied and yet playfully fueled the rumors that she is transgender. One of her teasing disco songs—the deliberately misspelled “I’m a Mistery”—inspired this play’s title.
Written by Margo Hammond, the play is directed by Bob Devin Jones, with performances by Eugenie Bondurant, Michael Gregory, Mary Rachel Quinn and Jim Sorensen who all appear in multiple roles. Beginning on an imaginary set of the now defunct To Tell the Truth quiz show where two female actors and one male actor all claim to be Amanda Lear, I Am a Mistery explores the lives of these multiple Lears. So who is the real Amanda Lear? “Come decide for yourself at this play about gender matters that will have you pondering whether gender matters,” says Hammond.
After the performance, the play’s creative team will curate a talkback about the play’s themes: society’s obsession with gender and labels and the importance for artists to find their own unique ways of defining themselves. You are invited to join in the discussion.
Location: The Dalí Museum’s Will Raymund Theater
Tickets: $15
Admission to the galleries is not included.
CAST (performing in multiple roles)
EUGENIE BONDURANT
SAG actress, TV/film coach, international model, voice-over actor and cabaret singer. Among Eugenie Bondurant’s many credits you can see her in The Conjuring – The Devil Made Me Do It, Hunger Games: Mockingjay 2, and Marvel’s Werewolf By Night. Locally, you can find her herding her acting cats at Station 12 Studio at Green Light Cinema.
MICHAEL GREGORY
Veteran actor based in St. Petersburg, Michael Gregory counts among his most memorable performances TampaRep’s production of It’s a Wonderful Life at the Straz, All My Sons at the Asolo, the American premier of Seasons Greetings at the Alley Theater in Houston and New York City, Hamlet at The Studio@620, One Slight Hitch at Early Bird Dinner Theater and Macbeth on Broadway (starring Christopher Plummer).
JIM SORENSEN
Actor, singer, administrator, designer, director, and all-around theatre practitioner for over 30 years, Jim Sorensen has worked in theaters from Alaska to Florida, from New York to California, and even cruising the world. He currently serves as Managing Artistic Producer at TampaRep. Previous management credits include American Stage, freeFall Theatre (as part of the founding team), Florida Studio Theatre, Music of Denali Dinner Theatre, and the Melodrama Musical Theatre.
MARY RACHEL QUINN
Actor and producer of award-winning documentaries and short films for over 30 years. Mary Rachel Quinn’s television and film credits include “Fear the Walking Dead,” “Dear John” “Fantastic 4″ and Rob Reiner’s “LBJ.” Currently, you can see her in her recurring role as Dr. Thornton on Netflix’s “Outer Banks” and as Connie on Peacock’s “M.I.A.” Locally, she teaches short-form improv in the Core Scene Study class at Station 12 Studio at Green Light Cinema.
BOB DEVIN JONES
Director
Actor, director and playwright from Los Angeles, Bob Devin Jones is the cofounder of The Studio@620 where he served as artistic director for over 20 years. He has written more than a dozen plays, including Uncle Bends: A Home-cooked Negro Narrative performed across the U.S. and in Ireland and Manhattan Casino, a musical which premiered at the Coliseum. He wrote and directed Further on Down the Road, a play about the Florida Highwaymen, staged at The Studio@620, and Until the River Never Grieves, a celebratory “corepoem” about Aimé Césaire which debuted at the Dalí. Jones’ directorial credits also include numerous performances of Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity at the Palladium, four August Wilson plays for American Stage and, most recently Hamlet at The Studio@620.
MARGO HAMMOND
Playwright
Working in journalism for over 50 years — including stints at Variety (in the Rome bureau), The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Star, The Baltimore Sun and The St. Petersburg Times — Margo Hammond has returned to her lifelong dream of writing plays. In 2020 her 10-minute play Notorious was included in USF’s Emerging Playwrights: A Virtual Stage Reading under the direction of her teacher, local playwright William Leavengood. Other playwriting teachers who have inspired her are Obie winner Harry Kondoleon, Emmy winner John Ford Noonan, and Producing Artistic Director of American Stage Helen Murray.
Thank you to the supporting sponsors of I Am a Mistery: The Guild at The Dalí 2024 President Marion Rich and member Peggy Silvergleid, veteran theater patron Al May, and Radio St. Pete’s Nanette Wiser.
