‘She the People’ – Written by Carisa Barreca, Alex Bellisle, Marla Caceres, Katie Caussin, Carly Heffernan, Maria Randazzo, Rashawn Nadine Scott, Tien Tran, Kimberly Michelle Vaughn, and Lauren Walker. Resident Director/Choreographer; Carisa Barreca, Original Director/Head Writer; Carley Hefferman, Music by Mary Mahoney; Music Director & Sound Design; Jacob Shuda. Presented by Huntington Theatre Company, Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street, Boston through March 8
by Leslie Rosenberg
In the immortal words of Cyndi Lauper, “Girls just want to have fun.” And that’s precisely what the touring company of the Second City delivers with their production, She the People: Girlfriends’ Guide to Sisters Doing It for Themselves, now playing at the BCA through March 8th. It’s a show I found alternately overwhelming, hysterical, infuriating, and at times, just plain silly. Warnings are given, realities are faced – but the lessons are made easier through the imaginative comedy, song and dance.
She the People is sketch show entirely created, designed, and performed by the women of The Second City, featuring original material produced by past and future cast members. Shelby Plummer brings together a marvelously talented cast; Lexi Alioto, Jess DeBacco, Kazi Jones, Lori McClain and Yazmin Ramos, a group that can leave you in tears – either from laughter, or frustration at the absurdity of the real life situations at which the show takes aim.
There’s a game show sketch hosted by Lexi Alioto, called “You Oughta’ Know” (which draws its name from the Alanis Morissette hit), which highlights facts that, well, you really oughta know, The skit reflects how ignorant the average person is in regard to everyday political issues, all while being well-versed in reality television shows like the “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”. In another sketch, the women throw a bachelorette party for newly engaged Yazmin Ramos, at – where else – but the local strip club, where the scenic entertainment is enough to make a lesbian wander.
There’s a passionate dance done by Lori McClain to the 70’s band Chicago’s song “You’re the Inspiration’, with the “you” in the song’s title being a small handgun. The dance reflects society’s passionate love affair with guns, and ends with a crotch shot – from the handgun.
One of Kazi Jones’s characters performs the hardest act in the entire show – trying to explain the words “Feminist” and “Feminism” to a dinosaur/stone age living male character, and while I’m speaking metaphorically, there is an actual dancing dinosaur in the production. There’s even a baby in the show – who may or may not be gay. The baby is both sung about and to by Jess DeBacco and the company, all the while being passed overhead by the audience members like a body surfer during a rock show. Paraphrasing the beliefs/words reflected by Avenue Q, and of this writer, ‘Gay is Okay’!
To give away any more of the material would ruin the surprise, but suffice to say that Second City and She the People deliver a lot more than just laughs with this show. For tickets and information, go to: www.huntingtontheatre.org
