La Scène Sociale (The Social Scene) New Orleans, Pasadena Photos by Frankie Fierce, Tony Leggio, Paul Melancon, Rip Naquin

SPI LA’s Sister Magically Deeilshes & Big Easy Sisters’ Rikki Gee & DJ Ping host 20th Moana Moans-a-lotts join Sister Turn-A-Bout Gala @ Friends & Staff with Ken Matherne Gras @ the Phoenix Good Friends Bar @ Louie’s @ Congo Square Kookie Baker in Jubilee @ The Golden Lantern

Joseph in Good Friends’ 20th Turn-a-Bout Gala Reba Douglas headlines Jubilee @ The Golden Lantern

Bartender Jeff welcomes you to the all new Lucky Pierre’s Big Easy Sisters’ Eileen Eulick welcomes you to Sister Gras @ the Phoenix

Myles & Jay in 20th Turn-A-Bout Gala @ Good Friends Bianca Devereaux in Michael’s On The Park NYE show

John & Manny join Darwin & Opal Big Easy Sisters’ Gloree Bea @ 125th Rose Parade in Divine & Cathi Terr kick off Pasadena, California Carnival Season @ Sister Gras

Rene in Good Friends 20th Turn-A-Bout Gala

Aunt Ida in Michael’s On The Park Athena Jewelle & Monica Happy New Year from NYE show Synclaire-Kennedy @ the Phoenix The Corner Pocket Boys for Sister Gras La Scène Sociale (The Social Scene) ~ New Orleans, Pasadena ~ Photos by Frankie Fierce, Tony Leggio, Paul Melancon, Rip Naquin La Scène Sociale (The Social Scene) ~ New Orleans, Pasadena Photos by Frankie Fierce, Tony

Lords of Leather’s Lord King Pat Joseph in 20th Turn-A-Bout Gala Lords of Leather Fetish Ball @ the Cookie St. Ann & Greg NYE @ & partner Ben join Sister Gras @ Good Friends Phoenix New Year’s Eve Michael’s On The Park

16 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • Jan. 14-27, 2014 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM SouthernDecadence.COM • Jan. 14-27, 2014 • Facebook.COM/AmbushMag • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • 17 trodding the boards

by Brian Sands Email: [email protected]

Curtain Up on 2014! First up is a remount of Jon Broder’s By the time you’re reading this, Colin Tyler With A ‘T’: You Don’t Wanna Miss Quinn, Alice Ripley and Southern Rep’s It One Man Musical Supershow Extrava- New Play Bacchanal will have already ganza which was recently seen at the N.O. come and gone, but there’s still over twenty Fringe Festival. This send-up of cabarets shows that will be “lighting the lights” be- and rock concerts features Alex Martinez tween now and Mardi Gras. Before “The- Wallace as the 9-year-old protagonist, Tyler, ater” moves from prosceniums and black a star in his own mind. (Jan. 16-18) boxes into the streets, here are some up- Tyler will be followed by An Outopia coming possibilities for drama and comedy for Pigeons by Justin Maxwell, an absurdist that have nothing to do with February 1’s comedy about extinction and hopeless- citywide primary. ness featuring Cotton Mather, Martha Of course, politics and theater are Washington—the historically real, last pas- intertwined as seen in The Kingfish: The senger pigeon—and a not-so-historic an- Life & Times of Huey P. Long which gry sperm whale named Charles Bronson. comes to the Joy Theater on Canal Street Bonnie Gable directs Rebecca Eliza- for two performances on Friday & Saturday, beth Hollingsworth, Stacy A. Smith, James Jan. 24 & 25, at 8pm. John “Spud” Patrick and Glenn Aucoin. Outopia runs McConnell returns in his off-Broadway- February 6th through 23rd. starring role in this revival about the life and Returning to politics, Southern Rep times of the ultimate Louisiana politician, presents the National New Play Network the very theatrical Huey P. Long. Rolling World Premiere production of Peter Written by Larry L. (The Best Little Sinn Nachtrieb’s The Totalitarians, a dark, Whorehouse in Texas) King & Ben Z. raucous comedy about the state of modern Grant and directed by Perry Martin, The political discourse, relationships, and how Kingfish displays Long’s many facets and easy it is to believe truths without facts, all considers how he might have commented set in Nebraska. on current politicians and recent events as The Totalitarians features Ben Carbo, well as his own assassination. Leon Contavesprie, Judith Hawking, and The Kingfish will be followed at the Jessica Podewell, and will be performed Joy by a show based on the life of Marilyn January 29 through February 23 in multiple Monroe, who certainly knew her way around spaces around Mid-City Theatre to de- politicians. Award-winner Sunny Thomp- liver a uniquely participatory audience ex- son stars in Marilyn: Forever Blonde, a perience. I like the sound of that. one-woman play with music which takes us Le Petit will also be in a political frame back to a photo shoot before Monroe’s of mind with Golda’s Balcony by William untimely death and, using her own words & Gibson (Jan. 24-Feb. 8), the longest-run- songs associated with her, reveals how she ning one-woman show in Broadway his- contemplated her fame, marriages, affairs tory. Carl Walker directs Clare Moncrief as and endless internal struggle. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, who rose The audience will play an integral part from an impoverished Russian childhood to of the performance as the “Photographer.” become an international figure. Sounds interesting. Marilyn: Forever Another national leader, though not as Blonde will be at the Joy from January 29 grandmotherly as Meir, will be seen when to February 1, with matinee and evening Skin Horse Theater presents its surreal performances. Tickets for both shows are version of Macbeth in what promises to be available at www.thejoytheater.com or by “what the Bard’s tale of bloodlust and be- calling 504-208-1180. trayal might look like as filtered through the Across the street from the Joy, Rain: A mind of David Lynch.” Tribute to the Beatles (Jan. 17-19) and Dylan Hunter and Veronica Hunsinger- Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Feb. 4- Loe will portray the doomed Scottish power 9) return to the Saenger Theatre. Actually, couple, directed by Nat Kusinitz at The a mash-up of the two, with the classic tale Tigermen Den (3113 Royal St.). Previews told through Beatles song, would be some- begin January 31 and the tragedy contin- thing I’d really want to see! ues through February 18. The Shadowbox Theater on St. On a lighter, but still regal note, Lisa Claude Avenue will also be hosting two [continued on 19] different shows in the next few weeks. 18 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • Jan. 14-27, 2014 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM trodding the boards ...from 18 Picone and Dorian Rush are collaborating on The Queens of King: A Tribute to Carole King, a new cabaret show that will be at The AllWays Theatre on St. Claude. The show opens January 16 and runs until January 25. The Queens of King pays homage to King who wrote or co-wrote over 400 songs for 1,000+ recording artists. Picone and Rush will perform songs she made famous (I Feel The Earth Move, It’s Too Late, So Far Away) as well as songs she wrote that others made famous (Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, You’ve Got A Friend). The music will span King’s career from the sixties to today. Unlike last year when there weren’t multiple productions of the same play, there’ll be two Cat on a Tin Roof’s opening on February 7, one at the Anthony Bean Community Theater (running through Feb. 23) and one at Furhmann Audito- rium in Covington (through Feb. 16). And if that isn’t enough Cats for you, The NOLA Project will be mounting another one in March! Elsewhere on the North Shore, Jubi- lee Entertainment, a new production company, will present Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World at the COPA in Covington, January 17-25. Over in Slidell, Cutting Edge Productions opens its season in the Attractions Salon with Cabaret (January 17-February 7). Katie Lynn Cotaya stars as the Kit Kat Klub’s Sally Bowles with Brian Fontenot as the Emcee, and Cutting Edge regulars Jim and Sara Pagones as Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz. Nearby, the Slidell Little Theatre will present that old chestnut Arsenic & Old Lace (Jan. 17-Feb. 2) but then gives us Radium Girls (Feb. 28-Mar. 16), an inspired-by-a-true-story drama set in 1926 involving Madame Curie, radium, luminous watch dials, and the girls who painted them. It’s gotten good reviews in previous productions elsewhere and I’m looking forward to it. Heading west, Under The Boardwalk is already running at Rivertown in Kenner. This original musical revue, created by New Orleans natives Richard Arnold and Kasey Marino, celebrates doo-wop and the Motown sound, and features Four Sea- sons and Beach Boys-like harmonies in such songs as My Girl, I Get Around, Walk 24 through February 9. A comic tribute to wonder what Foster, who proves you can Diavolo for the evening’s finale, Fluid In- Like a Man, Oh What a Night among many the Bogart era, Murder is one of those be a diva and a really nice person, will have finities, which is set to the music of Philip others. It continues through January 25. interactive mysteries in which the audience in store for us this time. Glass and was commissioned by the Los votes on what they want the noir- While you’re at NOCCA, their Drama Angeles Philharmonic. ish detective to do next as he Department, whose Tartuffe in October Long before Disney, Rodgers & tracks down a killer. Was it the was one of last year’s highlights, will be Hammerstein or Stephen (Into the Woods) French madame/club manager, the presenting Our Country’s Good, Sondheim created their versions of voodoo priestess, the shyster Brit- Timberlake Wertenbaker’s award-winning Cinderella, there was Jules Massenet’s ish attorney, the black marketeer drama about a group of Royal Marines and Cendrillon. Having made its American or the femme fatale? If you miss convicts who put on a production of The debut in New Orleans in 1902, New Or- the denouement in Westwego, Recruiting Officer in a penal colony in leans Opera premieres a new production you’ll still have a chance to dis- Australia in the 1780s. It runs January 23- of this bonbon of a French opera on cover whodunit February 28- 25. Valentine’s Day at the Mahalia Jackson March 2 when Murder transfers to Want to see one of the stars of Pink with a repeat performance on February the Northshore Harbor Center Flamingos, Female Trouble, Polyester, 16th. in Slidell. Hairspray, Cry-Baby and Serial Mom up And on February 1, doors will open at In addition to these extended close and personal? Mink Stole, who has The Eiffel Society (2040 Saint Charles Michael Taravella, Frank Von Hoven, Rich runs, there are some blink-and- appeared in virtually all of John Waters’ Ave.) revealing an “enchanting, yet twisted Arnold & Marc Fouchi in Under The you’ll-miss’em events coming up. films, brings her cabaret act to the AllWays love story” called Mascherarsi (Italian for Boardwalk Sutton Foster and Seth on February 7 and 8. “masquerade”). Inspired by literary clas- Rudetsky return for this season’s On January 25 at the Mahalia Jack- sics and the music of Monteverdi and Mozart, On the West Bank, “Uncle” Wayne final installment of Broadway@NOCCA son Theater, New Orleans Ballet Asso- the Reese Johanson Collective has cre- Daigrepont directs Murder at Café Noir at on January 27. When she was here in ciation presents Diavolo Dance Theater ated a cabaret/theater/rock opera experi- Jefferson Performing Arts Society’s March, she sang songs from Annie, Grease, which redefines dance as an extreme sport. Teatro Wego! in Westwego from January Les Miserables and Anything Goes. I The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra joins [continued on 20]

SouthernDecadence.COM • Jan. 14-27, 2014 • Facebook.COM/AmbushMag • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • 19 trodding the boards ...from 19 ence, with dinner, involving a love triangle amongst a Contessa, a Gondolier and a Maid. With mistaken identity, a magical mermaid and gypsy high jinks, it sounds like the perfect entertainment for the Carnival season! Enjoying Flip Side Bar & Patio Happy New Year John, Amber & Lee mobile Broadway@NOCCA paparazzi through January 27 Broadway@NOCCA returned to NOCCA, after Charles Busch’s Café Miss Empire State Gina Germaine Istanbul gig, with Alice Ripley, the 2009 Tony Award-winning Best Actress in a Mu- sical for Next to Normal. Appearing on the frigidly cold recent Twelfth Night, Ripley entered the Nims Blackbox Theatre wearing a mask, beads and a snazzy red dress looking like she was ready to party. But as things progressed, the evening felt more like a wake than Happy Birthday Zac anything approaching a kickoff to Carnival season. Miss USofA with Miss Venus Ripley began with the opening number from The Rocky Horror Show, Science Fiction/Double Feature (she was Janet Weiss in the 2000 Broadway revival), which seemed like a fun idea until she decided to do e-v-e-r-y verse at an extremely slow tempo. This was followed by Who Will Love Me As I Am?, the first act finale of Side Show, for which she and co-star Emily Order of Pan’s King Peter Skinner received a rare joint Best Actress Tony nomination. It’s a nice enough song and led into a charming story of her being recognized in an off-the-beaten-path lo- cale in Hawaii by two guys who were about to be married and were going to use that Mobile’s Supreme song in their ceremony. But then came Lush Life and I’ve Been, the husband’s song in Next to Normal, and Karen Carpenter’s A Song For You and Joni Mitchell’s River and Les Miz’s On My Own, all introspective songs done at fune- real tempi that drained the life out of them...and the audience. It’s a shame because Ripley seems like a sweet gal with a quirky personality Mark & Nick with Miss Cie and a droll sense of humor. Her finale, a Miss Gay USofA ShaeShae suite of songs from Tommy (another Broad- LaReese @ B-Bob’s way show she was in) for which she accom- panied herself on guitar was great—how Miss Cie with John cool to see a female rocker—but might have been even more effective had it been done earlier in the 90-minute set to change

things up. All That & More! ~ Mobile, Alabama Photos by Miss Cie John At least, about two-thirds of the way through, a snippet from Company’s Get- ting Married Today and a tale involving Stephen Sondheim’s loafers perked things B-Bob’s Realness up. These led into a slambang version of Biloxi’s Just Us Bill Hincks The Ladies Who Lunch with Ripley’s keen acting skills adding another layer to @ B-Bob’s Sondheim’s tart lyrics. And hearing her sing I Miss the Mountains, the breakout song she originated in Normal, was a treat. If her smoky alto voice, which with its warm timbre reminds one of a clarinet’s lower tones, had occasionally seemed a little ragged earlier, perhaps due to the weather and flight delays the night before, by Ladies and Mountains it sounded perfect. Jessica Means on piano was a sensitive accompanist but she’s no Seth Rudetsky. Of course, this was a different kind of evening, more cabaret than Q&A but, as with Charles Busch, Rudetsky’s exuberantly guiding pres- ence was missed. It will be nice to have him back Miss Rachel Meredith & on January 27 for Sutton Foster’s return. Happy New Year Queen Michelle Jawakatema @ B-Bob’s Miss B-Bob’s 2014 ObSinity 20 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • Jan. 14-27, 2014 • Official Gay Mardi Gras Guide • GayMardiGras.COM