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A CurtainUp Review

Lesbian Pulp-O-Rama's A Very Pulpy Christmas
By Amanda Cooper




Celebrate the season with Queer cheer! 'Why would you want to be a boy? They're hairy, they're smelly, not emotionally available'. . .
---Santa (Female)
Ok, so you've never read any of the infamous Lesbian Pulp novels of the 50's and 60's. Even so, it's easy toconjure up the idea of an old time soap opera filled with butch women and femme gals who star in stories such as,"The Lonely Cheerleader." Now, keep that image in mind, throw in some millennial appropriate sarcasm, Ani Difranco influenced ditties, and a Christmas spirit. Are you laughing yet? This is what constitutes Lesbian Pulp-O-Rama's new show, and damn, is it funny.

A strong cast of women of various ages, shapes and sizes energize the stage in five holiday appropriate sketches. The ensemble consists of Heather de Michele, Anna Fitzwater, Gretchen M. Michelfeld, Beatrice Terry, Emily Burton, and Melineh Kurdian. All run around with tongue-in-cheek innocence and/or sneakiness. De Michele, also directs, displaying a knack for camp with a feisty over-the-top style prevailing throughout the show.

The performance begins with a girl chorus of "Silver Bells", which is spattered with cat fights and major groping between the singers. The bulk of what happens entails three vignettes which are framed by Kurdian's "Ballad of Ebeneza Scrooge."

Ebeneza is visited by three ghosts of her lesbian past, present and future. The titles of the other stories are fairly self explanatory: "Sorority Sluts", "Hollywood Harlots" and "Orphans! The Musical." Most are dominated by sexual tension though this is never given full release -- what we see is innocent virgins massaging each other, Lesbian silver screen sluts falling in love, and Santa guiding the path of the young queer-at-heart.

Far from your average holiday pageant, this raunchy show delivers a light-hearted, sassy queer take on Christmas time. You may not leave the theater humming "Silver Bells", but you will never think of Santa, or Ebeneezer Scrooge in quite the same way.

Lesbian Pulp-O-Rama's A Very Pulpy Christmas
Created by Heather de Michele, Anna Fitzwater, Gretchen M. Michelfeld and Beatrice Terry
Directed by Heather de Michele
Cast: Emily Burton, Heather de Michele, Anna Fitzwater, Melineh Kurdian, Gretchen M. Michelfeld, Beatrice Terry
Music by: Melineh Kurdian
Set Design: David Evans Morris
Lighting Design: Juliet Chia
Costume Design: Company
Sound Design: Beatrice Terry
Running Time , One hour and fifteen minutes

HERE Arts Center, 145 Sixth Avenue, below Spring Street. www.here.org or 212 868 4444
December 4 - 20, 2003
Thursday - Saturday, 7:30pm and Friday and Saturday at 10:30pm
Tickets are $15
Reviewed by Amanda Cooper based on December 6th performance

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metaphors dictionary cover
6, 500 Comparative Phrases including 800 Shakespearean Metaphors by CurtainUp's editor.
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Go here for details and larger image.



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