FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA
How this drag performer is trying to save regional theater, one cocktail at a time [Los Angeles Times]
She’s a fiery redhead with a heart of gold. A sassy Southern gal whose euphemisms would make a sailor blush. She believes that the four food groups are gin, rum, vodka and tequila, and she’d like to invite you to happy hour at her place.
Dixie Longate is the drag persona of actor, writer and comedian Kris Andersson, who has been touring with his solo show, “Dixie’s Tupperware Party,” for longer than a decade. Like most everything else, that run came to a screeching halt last March, and Andersson was left to ask: What now?
Chicken curry is bubbling on the stove. The rich scent of garlic, ginger, coriander and Indian chili powder fills the air. Check the basmati rice. It’s almost done. Take a sip of your Mumbai Mule feel that vodka kick? Now, turn your attention back to your laptop screen. Sri Rao has something important to say.
He stands by his stove in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, wearing a smart suit jacket and a collared shirt with no tie. He’s cooking what you’re cooking, and he’s explaining what the dish means to his family. He’s the child of Indian immigrants, and he learned about his heritage largely through food and film particularly the spectacularly colorful musical movies of Bollywood.
‘In & Of Itself’ brings Derek DelGaudio’s unique magic act into your living room
Magic and monologues turn out to be a potent streaming combination, conjuring a taste of the theatrical experience that many sorely miss. The latest example, “In & Of Itself,” transforms Derek DelGaudio’s long-running stage show into an absorbing Hulu special, one that actually builds on the in-person experience by mashing together numerous shows as opposed to filming just one.
The special was taped in New York, where DelGaudio’s presentation ran off-Broadway for more than 500 performances. But the show actually made its debut at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse, which was notably the scene of another magic act, Helder Guimarães’ “The Present” and now “The Future,” offering a remarkable interactive virtual experience to the stay-at-home theater crowd.
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A glimpse of Jagged Live in NYC: A Broadway Reunion Concert, starring Elizabeth Stanley (center, in gold) and other cast members in the Alanis Morissette musical Jagged Little Pill, live-streamed on Dec. 13. Ryan Sandoval Text size
When theater companies started live-streaming play readings, concerts, and other events last spring, after Covid-19 shut down stages, most figured it was a temporary fix but not Stellar CEO Jim McCarthy, who points to BTS.
On the face of it, K-pop’s global superstar boyband doesn’t seem to have much in common with Broadway, Off-Broadway, or regional theater companies.