Tim Lawton Directs the Gold Dust Orphans in 'Legally Blind - The Helen Keller Musical!'

Even if you somehow aren't familiar with the source material Ryan Landry has riffed on over the course of his two-decade career as Boston's leading stage satirist and guru of gay theater, you certainly know at least some of the rollicking parodic plays his troupe, the Gold Dust Orphans, have put on: "The Little Pricks." "All About Christmas Eve." "Whizzin'," "Willie Wanker and the Hershey Highway." "Pornocchio."

The Gold Dust Orphans is a theatrical troupe more fabulous than a whole passel of drag queens crossed with Studio Hollywood silver screen glamour queens. (Which is, come to think, a fair description of the company.) Their plays take camp classics, add a jigger of knowing contemporary snark, and then blend to frothy perfection. More recent entries into the Landry Library include "Thoroughly Muslim Millie," "Little Orphan Tranny," and "Jesus Christ, It's Christmas!"

The shows usually take place in the basement of Machine (in a dance space called Ramrod -- hence, Landry's running gag about his work being hosted by "The Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts"), but which have been known to break out and prowl the streets of the greater Boston area, with productions of like "The Rocky Horror Show" (with Landry in the role of Dr. Frank N. Furter) fetching up at Oberon in Cambridge in 2011 and the noirish "M" at the Huntington Theatre Company's main hall, the BU Theatre, in 2013. (The Gold Dust Orpahns are also a summer staple in Provincetown.)

The Gold Dust Orphans are back for what might be their fiercest and most fearless turn yet: "Legally Blind - The Helen Keller Musical," a mashup of "The Miracle Worker" and "Gypsy." It's an obvious combination, right?

Well, of course it is. And here to tell us all about it is the director of the piece, Heathcliff Van Pels (as he's known on the press release), a.k.a., Tim Lawton.

EDGE: How did you come to join the Gold Dust Orphans fold?

Tim Lawton: I joined in 2011, technically. I was in a musical at Oberon and a few of us were invited to audition for GDO's production of "The Rocky Horror Show." We did two runs in Cambridge, and afterwards Ryan asked me to join up for "Rudolph the Red Necked Reindeer."

EDGE: Since you joined the Gold Dust Orphans, the group has produced more than ten shows, including the much-lauded "Mildred Fierce," "Snow White and the Seven Bottoms," and "Thoroughly Muslim Millie." Ryan, of course, works like a fiend -- how do the rest of you keep up with him?

Tim Lawton: It can be exhausting, I'll tell you that! But when you work with someone like Ryan, the energy and drive is infectious. And the actors who stay for many productions are the ones who feed off of that energy with gusto.

EDGE: I always imagine that the Gold Dust Orphans' works spring fully formed from Ryan's mind. But is it a more collaborative process than that?

Tim Lawton: The first ideas always spring from The Mind of Landry, but once we get in rehearsals things tend to get a touch looser. As we hit roadblocks or invent new ideas on the fly, I and the cast work through and help form the final product.

EDGE: You've musically directed all the shows the Gold Dust Orphans has produced since you joined. How do you and the director of any given project tend to mesh?

Tim Lawton: It's a healthy collaboration, be it with Ryan or other directors, like Larry Coen, who have worked with us. I feel, even before coming on as director, that a musical director does have input in guiding the actor through a song. The Orphans have happily given me that freedom, which has been a great way to work.

EDGE: You're not only musically directing "Legally Blind," but directing as well. Is it more of a challenge to do both jobs on the same project? Is it easier? Or is it a mixed bag?

Tim Lawton: It was certainly something I fell into. I did some blocking for Nan as a favor when we first started, and after seeing what I put up, he offered me the reins. It takes a lot of focus, but it makes the payoff that much better when the sound and picture sync up perfectly. I can't express how thankful I am to Ryan for the opportunity to let me play in his most wonderfully bizarre sandbox.

EDGE: The usual GDO players will be involved, of course, but also -- so we hear -- some new faces. Were you part of that casting process?

Tim Lawton: Yes. We are very unique in our casting, as in this was the first show in my time we actually had open auditions for! We are starting to plan further "general auditions" to expand our Rolodex!

EDGE: Would we have seen your work in any other theatrical productions around Boston (possibly under an alias)? Or are you a one-troupe sort?

Tim Lawton: I have hitched my wagon with Ryan the last few years, but I have snuck out a few times to appear in productions elsewhere. I did "Tonya and Nancy: The Rock Opera" at Oberon, as well as "To Kill a Mockingbird" with Boston Children's Theatre.

EDGE: "Legally Blind" is the story of Helen Keller as a blind stripper. Why Helen Keller?

Tim Lawton: Why not? Ryan's challenge was to make Helen a sex symbol. I feel he has succeeded, LOL!

EDGE: Part of the source material that "Legally Blind" riffs on is "Gypsy," which is based on another real person -- Gypsy Lee Rose. What is it about "Gypsy" that's so compelling to a gay audience?

Tim Lawton: Speaking as a rare straight man in the Orphans, I think its appeal to the gay community lies in Louise (later Gypsy Rose Lee) and her journey. She is shy, maligned, and introverted. But by the end of it all, she has broken free and become not just a star, but the star.

EDGE: Something you can always count on with a Gold Dust Orphans production is fantastic song and dance. Who have you got writing the songs and choreographing the show?

Tim Lawton: In traditional Orphans style we do song parodies. Ryan writes the lyrics (masterfully), but the melodies will be familiar. I won't say much more -- half the fun is seeing how we twist the songs to fit the moment!

EDGE: Another hallmark of a GDO production is the costuming. The press release promises that Scott Martino's work on this show is "mouth watering." Are we talking lingerie? Bangles? Feathers?

Tim Lawton: Baubles and Bangles and Beads indeed! The House of Martino has created looks that range from sumptuous to pure "shock and awe."

EDGE: This production is billed as "an adult parody." How adult? Are we talking naked on the stage, a la "Bootycandy?" Are we in for wildly sophisticated double entendre? Or perhaps -- gasp! -- the smoking of tobacco products on stage?!

Tim Lawton: Well to start the source material is about a stripper... so... there's that. But expect salty language, plenty of double entendre, and any full nudity only from our wonderful puppets!

EDGE: I always feel that there is a morality play going on under the surface of a GDO production. Is that true here as well?

Tim Lawton: There is the underlying moral. Like "Gypsy" (billed as A Musical Fable), it has the theme of what happens when you push your dreams on others whatever the cost. But we also hit the fact of how for granted we take our own faculties.

"Legally Blind - The Helen Keller Musical" plays at the Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts through May 22.