Show: 14
Title: DIVINE/GYPSY
Category: Clowning / Comedy / Dance / Drama / Horror / Musical Theater
By: The Blair Kitsch Project
Created by: Hailey Woolverton
Location: Barker Center for Dance
Summary: The musical Gypsy, if Mama Rose were played by iconic drag performer Divine, star of several John Waters movies.
Highlights: This is a mashup that makes sense. It's a Gypsy that's a little cruder and trashier (that's a compliment, and I think what they were going for). In about 45 minutes they hit the highlights of the musical, singing along to recorded tracks (the Patti LuPone version, natch). Three local drag artists play all of the characters in the condensed story. Blair Kitsch (Hailey Woolverton) plays Mama Rose with the right amount of camp and sincerity, with an emotional high in the final song "Everything's Coming up Roses." Mink Hole (Cam Crawford) is an awkward and loose-limbed baby Louise (there's no June in this story, or maybe the two sisters are combined into one character), later transforming into the seductive stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. Pistachio Creampie (Samuel Karie) acts as narrator and plays a few other characters, with some poignant commentary on fame, identity, and self-confidence. This divine Gypsy succeeds as a fun campy drag version of Gypsy.