running with Seussical, a musical in which Victory Swing Band. This new show Dr. Seuss’ marvelous creatures come to marches along until October 20. trodding the boards buoyant life. It continues through Septem- Don’t know much about Evil Dead: ber 8. The Musical except it’s a rock musical Another St. Tammany theater is up based on the cult film series and it’ll be the next as Cutting Edge Theater (747 Robert premiere presentation of Christopher Blvd., Slidell, 985.649.3727) presents Rent, Bentivegna’s new production company, See by Brian Sands the Tony Award-winning pop-rock opera, ‘Em On Stage. But it opens at The Shadow- Email: [email protected] based on Puccini’s La Boheme, that tells box on October 17 and terrorizes until the the story of seven friends in the drug- and 31st. Sounds like perfect Halloween fare to likely to have a large window in it (we know Venom at The Elm AIDS-ravaged New York City of the 1990’s. me. it does from the shadows cast by Mandi It opens August 30 and runs through Sep- Debuting at Los Isleños Heritage and Wood’s lighting); and the bathroom window Theatre through tember 14. Culture Society (1357 Bayou Rd., St. Ber- would probably not let out to where the front Heading down to Orleans Parish, on nard, 504.826.7783) on October 24, Cry September 21 door seems to be. Ferdinand’s efforts were September 4, The NOLA Project debuts A You One is a new site-responsive perfor- The Elm Theatre is to be admired for an avoidable distraction from the drama Truckload of Ink, an original story by local mance and multimedia project from ArtSpot commissioning a new play from a young itself. playwright Jim Fitzmorris, that takes place and Mondo Bizarro about the disappear- playwright and then giving it its world pre- Second on the “B-list” is the intermis- “in the busiest newsroom on the eve of the ance of coastal Louisiana, the people who miere. It is a major step for this adventurous sion. Venom is a short play, less than 90 most massive change to hit New Orleans live there, and what is being done to save theater company. Even more commend- minutes long. I understand local theaters’ newspapers as people fight to save a cul- their homes. ably, the commission came with the charge concern of giving patrons bathroom breaks tural institution from an out-of-state corpo- This roving performance will occur on that the play feature both black & white and generating income from intermission rate dismantlement.” Sound familiar? a stretch of land in Lower St. Bernard Parish characters and to include some kind of refreshment sales. But whether Venom’s A Truckload of Ink plays through Septem- that is rapidly disappearing and will take racial tension. intermission was in the original script or ber 21 at The University of New Orleans’ audience members on an outdoor journey That said, after seeing Clint Sheffer’s inserted at the request of the producers, it Robert E. Nims Theatre (2000 Lakeshore near the Central Wetlands. Cry You One Venom, one wonders if The Elm should’ve ought to go as it breaks the play’s tension Dr., 504.280.SHOW). Talk about ripped will play only on Saturdays & Sundays given the script a little more development just as it was beginning to build. I mean, why from the headlines. through November 24, and there’ll be a time or workshopped it first. Because, as it ask people to get off that roller coaster Not sure what to expect when scien- post-show dinner/discussions on Sundays. is now, the script simply isn’t ready for prime when it finally gets to the very top? tist-turned-comedian Tim Lee comes to Building upon their Ambie Award-winning time. As Meadow, Becca Chapman packs a New Orleans for the first time at The Shad- Loup Garou, this sounds like it will be a Venom tells the strange tale of Meadow lot of power into her small frame. The owbox (2400 St. Claude Ave., unique experience. and Waylon, newlyweds who are heading contrast between her petite stature and the 504.298.8676), September 5-8, with a blend And last but not least, the fabulous down to New Orleans from Missouri when tough talk that comes out of her mouth may of stand up comedy and science. Lee is a Broadway @ NOCCA (2800 Chartres St., their car runs out of gas in a north Louisiana be amusing, but it’s not gratuitous; Meadow comedian with a Ph.D. in Ecology and 800.838.3006) concert series hosted by town. Meadow is the daughter of a high obviously picked up some of her Dad’s Evolution from UC Davis. He’s going to Seth Rudetsky continues with Jane muckamuck in some crazy religious cult bravado. have to be pretty funny to be more comic Krakowski (October 7), the return of Patti who wants her brought back home. To that Matthew Thompson has less to work than the folks in Baton Rouge who keep LuPone (November 16), Charles Busch end he’s engaged some local law enforce- with as Waylon, who may well be a talented pushing Creationism. with special guest Varla Jean Merman (De- ment types of loose morals to do his dirty artist but that aspect of his character feels Le Petit Theatre (616 St. Peter St., cember 2), and Christine Ebersole (Janu- work. more tacked on than an organic part of his 504.522.2081) kicks off its regular season ary 6, 2014). Sheffer’s style is Tarantino by way of being. Thompson conveys well Waylon’s on September 6 with Lombardi about the What an incredibly wide range of Shepard; nothing wrong with that. But initial bewilderment at being caught up in legendary Green Bay Packers’ Coach Vince choices. Start planning now! there’s little as to what drives these charac- something he hadn’t bargained for but Lombardi. Casey Groves plays the football ters or who they really are so all we get is there’s something false about his final icon and will be joined by his real-life wife, hyped-up melodrama in a seedy motel room. drunken stupor, for which the script and reVIEW ...from 55 Rachel Whitman Groves, who’ll play the It’s unfortunate because there’s lots of direction can take some of the blame as part of the coach’s wife. Lombardi will be Cronkite... Dealey Plaza... Dallas, Texas... potential for a frothy Southern stew here. well. on the field through September 21. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Meadow’s cult considers African-Americans Thompson does impart a genuine Also opening on September 6 will be Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally “literally apes” yet Waylon’s a young black sweetness to this befuddled young man, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom with which the and Nellie... the Warren Commission... Lee man. Did she marry him to spite her Dad? but there are few sparks between him and Anthony Bean Community Theater (1333 Harvey Oswald... Jack Ruby... Vice-Presi- Or does she really love him? It’s never quite Chapman. They seem more like best friends S. Carrollton Ave., 504.862.7529) com- dent Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird... Love clear because their relationship at no time running away to the big city than passion- pletes its presentation of August Wilson’s Field... the Dallas Trade Mart... Stemmons fully comes into focus. Of course, maybe it ate honeymooners. Century Cycle. Set in a Chicago recording Freeway... Texas School Book Depository... could be a little of both, or even be left Moses brings an authentic swagger studio in 1927, the drama brought Wilson the pink and blue Chanel suit... Air Force ambiguous, but Sheffer never explores this and a mellifluous voice to Rocky, the kind of widespread recognition for its dramatiza- One... the Zapruder film... ”the single bullet dimension. role you’d expect Samuel L. Jackson to play tion of a recording session with blues leg- theory”... Secret Service Agent Clint Hill... Similarly, by featuring a corrupt Afri- in the movie version. If we never discover end Ma Rainey, her band members, and the Parkland Memorial Hospital... the grassy can-American detective, Sheffer removes what drives this badass besides money white producer & agent who make them- knoll... Dallas Police Officer JD Tippit... the the likelihood of overt racism as a motivat- and power, it’s not Moses’ fault. selves wealthy through Rainey’s record- Texas Theatre... Arlington National ing force for Rocky’s abuse of Waylon. But As Rocky’s white ex-con assistant Gum- ings. Ma Rainey plays through September Cemetery...conspiracy theories... the Eter- he fails to examine black-on-black violence drop, Matt Story reveals a different side of 29. nal Flame... Camelot... and how it differs, if at all, from that of black- his talent from the usual disaffected urban Moisés Kaufman’s 33 Variations, the These are people, places and things on-white. men he plays. Story expertly finds the hu- story of a modern-day music scholar driven you will read and hear about as we ap- In other ways, the script doesn’t clarify mor in this double-digit IQ cracker without to solve one of classical music’s enduring proach November, 22. 50 years is a long all that’s going on and plot points can be a overdoing it, leaving the audience to won- riddles—the mystery behind Beethoven’s time and this is big. Books are out, movies challenge to follow. Director Pamela Davis- der, despite his assertions to the contrary, Diabelli Variations—even as her own health have been made... look for more. Noland suitably gives Venom the exhilarat- if he’s simply not the smartest bottle in the and relationships crumble, gets its regional ing pace of a roller coaster ride, but some six-pack or if he might really be a little premiere on September 11 from Southern PARKLAND... a dramatic film from the of the necessary exposition may have got- mentally challenged. Rep. American Film Company will be released ten lost in the process. Booze and guns and The Elm has given Sheffer a wonderful The production, which will combine on September 20. It follows the events at doublecrosses and mysterious men in a opportunity. If he’s wise, he will continue to drama, moving images, and live music per- Parkland Memorial Hospital after the as- Waffle House, not to mention that work on this play so that it can fulfill its formed by concert pianist Dr. Chia-Hsing sassination in 1963. Directed by Peter wackadoodle cult and its nasty enforcers, potential. In the mean time, you have four Lin, runs at the Contemporary Arts Center Landsman, it was produced by Gary add to the menacing atmosphere, but don’t more weekends to see this work in progress. give an audience a lot to care about. And the (900 Camp St., 504.522.6545) through Goetzman, Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton and ending is absolutely ridiculous. September 29. Nigel Sinclair. Stars include Zac Efron, Tom Despite all that, I credit Davis-Noland Curtains Up The World War II Museum’s Stage Welling, James Badge Dale, Jacki Weaver, and her cast of four for holding my attention on the Fall Season Door Canteen (945 Magazine St., Paul Giamatti, Jackie Earle Haley, Billy Bob throughout; I certainly was never bored. 504.528.1943) pays tribute to Bob Hope Thornton, Marcia Gay Harden and Bitsie Summertime and the living is Baffled maybe, but not bored. And at the top with Thanks for the Memories: Bob Hope Tulloch. easy...except for all the folks who are put- of my “Bafflement List” is Anthonyka and his All-Star Pacific Tour opening on JACK KENNEDY: ELUSIVE HERO, ting finishing touches on those shows about Ferdinand’s set. Even if it was meant to be September 20 with a cast of 14 who’ll written by Chris Matthews was published to kick off the Fall season. abstract, the most squalid of motel rooms recreate Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, November 1, 2011. Matthews is the host of Slidell Little Theatre (2024 Nellie Dr., would at least have a bed and some other The Andrew Sisters, Carmen Miranda, as Slidell, 985.643.0556) is already up and [continued on 58] furniture in it; the bedroom would be un- well as Bob himself, all backed by the 56 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • August 28-September 9, 2013 • Official Southern Decadence Guide • SouthernDecadence.COM GayMardiGras.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • August 28-September 9, 2013 • Facebook.COM/AmbushMag • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • 57 reVIEW ...from 56 MSNBC’s “Hardball” and the book is a New pensacola York Times best selling biography. paparazzi Matthews, like Kennedy, is a Roman Catholic Irish American. He started life as a Repub- lican but came under Kennedy’s spell at age 11. THESE FEW PRECIOUS DAYS: THE FINAL YEAR OF JACK WITH JACKIE, was written by Christopher Anderson... former contributing editor of TIME maga- zine and longtime senior editor of PEOPLE magazine. It focuses on Jack and Jackie’s last year together and the drug use and infidelities. Both men have other books and articles on the Kennedys. Matthews book begins when Jack was a student at Choate, so it paints a broader picture. Their writing styles are different, Anderson having a background in magazines and Matthews being a political commentator and pundit. They deal with much of the same material... interviews with family members, lifelong friends, key advisors and political confi- dants. Both agree that the Marilyn Monroe stories and Kennedy’s use of drugs for his medical conditions are true. Both hint that as the older crowd dies off, we will get at more details. I enjoyed both books but if your not that familiar with the Kennedy mystique, I recommend JACK KENNEDY: ELUSIVE HERO. It is now out in paperback.

Lee Daniels’ THE BUTLER is out now. It has a fine cast and has gotten rave reviews. It opened #1 on August 16. I will review it next issue. Watch out for a new Billy Bob Thornton film, JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR. It is set in 1960s Alabama, filmed in Georgia and premiered in Berlin in February 2012. The cast includes Robert Duvall, John Hurt, Kevin Bacon and Billy Bob. It has gotten some great press... my question is why it took so long to be released in the states? It will be in limited release starting September 13. One Great Chick... Karen Black well I’d like to go to Memphis, but I don’t know the way... and I’d like to tell you how I feel, but I don’t know what to say... and I’d like to go to heaven, but I forgot how to pray... so just help me keep from sliding down some more... “Memphis”, from Robert Altman’s NASHVILLE Karen Black (July 1, 1939-August 8, 2013)

CONGRATS again to Tami Tarmac Shows, Parties & More @ Emerald City ~ Pensacola, Florida Photos by Lauren Mitchell and Venus Santiago, Southern Decadence Grand Marshals XXXIX... you girls have a great day... Next DEADLINE Tues., Sept. 3rd 504.522.8049 [email protected]

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RuPaul winner Jixx Monsoon The Devil Wears Prada @ B-Bob’s

Pensacola’s Lauren Mitchell performing @ B-Bob’s Miss NuPhinity Starr Alexander as Adele @ B-Bob’s

Order of Osiris Draw Down @ Flip Side

Excitement in Town! ~ Mobile, Alabama Photos by Miss Cie & John Excitement in Town! Mr. Personality AJ McKay with Miss Venus Happy Birthday Timothy

Pensacola’s beautiful & talented Monica Heart @ B-Bob’s Miss Cie with the Boys of B-Bob’s

GayMardiGras.COM • GayNewOrleans.COM • August 28-September 9, 2013 • Facebook.COM/AmbushMag • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • 59 60 • The Official Mag: AmbushMag.COM • August 28-September 9, 2013 • Official Southern Decadence Guide • SouthernDecadence.COM