Celebrity Autobiography

A few years ago a couple of guys (Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel) had an epiphany while contemplating Vanna White’s book –wouldn’t it be rather entertaining to listen to celebrities read from other celebrities’ inane autobiographies? Apparently it is entertaining, and this idea became Celebrity Autobiography. Here’s Kristen Wiig reading Suzanne Somers:

Tonight at Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré there are two performances (7 and 9) of Celebrity Autobiography featuring John Goodman, Jennifer Coolidge (love her), Ryan Reynolds, Mario Cantone and others. Tickets are $69 for general admission and $99 for premium seating. And (in sort of an ironic move for a show that pokes fun at the celebrity self-importance) for $60 more, you can attend the star-studded after party following the 9pm show. A portion of ticket sales benefits the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s Gulf Coast Oil Spill Fund.

But, hey, if you can’t afford Celebrity Autobiography, you can poke fun at the rich, famous and powerful with the proles over at the AllWays Lounge for Verbatim Verboten. Here’s how they describe it,” VERBATIM VERBOTEN, created 10 years ago in Chicago by Michael Martin, is an ever-changing revue of staged transcripts. These are word-for-word transcripts of noted people (and some ordinary folk) saying things they never meant for the public to hear: surveillance tapes, secretly recorded conversations, forgotten open mics, on-camera diatribes, released emails, private correspondence, et cetera. VERBATIM VERBOTEN has collected over three hundred such pieces, with more being added all the time…meaning no performance is like the one before.” Sundays through July 25th. Tickets $7 (includes one drink). 7 p.m.

A Grey Gardens Mother’s Day

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Mother’s Day than going to see the musical version of Grey Gardens at Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carre. I mean, no matter how screwed up your relationship with your mother might possibly be, there is no way it could be more jacked than that of Big Edie and Little Edie–not if you were able to leave the house, anyway.

The Grey Gardens story has now had many incarnations. It started as a 1975 documentary by the Maysles brothers, about Edith (Big Edie) Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith (Little Edie) Bouvier Beale, aunt and cousin to Jackie O, respectively. By 1973 the Edies had become shut-ins, living in their horrifically, decrepit mansion in the Hamptons. Imagine Jane Austen meets John Waters.

There was also the HBO movie version last year. When I first heard about it, I was super excited. Then I heard Drew Barrymore was playing Little Edie, and wasn’t so sure. But I was wrong; Drew did a very good job. And Jessica Lange was, of course, phenomenal. The drama recreates memorable moments from the documentary, and goes back in time and imagines how these two women got from blue-blooded socialites to eccentrics living in squalor. I loved it.

There is also the Broadway musical version. Again, I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. The modern Broadway musical world feels very cynical to me, just rehashing movies that made money and turning them into ever cheesier spectacles. But this one could work, especially because in Little Edie’s mind she was an entertainer, and actually did go on to have a campy, entertaining career in New York after the Grey Gardens documentary came out. And this is a musical based on a relatively obscure documentary, not Shrek. I’m curious, and excited.

Grey Gardens is having its regional premiere at Le Petit Theatre in a co-production with Southern Rep. Thursdays-Saturdays at 8, and Sundays at 2, through May 23rd. Tickets $29-$45.

Literary Fest Continued…

There are a lot of events in concert with the Tennessee Williams Literary festival, but today I am going to focus on theatrical events.

At 3 pm, there is a premiere of a production of a Tennessee Williams one-act play, The Reading, directed by a faculty member at the University Of Illinois. And, it’s only $5. (A lot of the events associated with the festival are really expensive). It’s at the Williams Research Center in the FQ.

At 6, local theater company Cripple Creek is presenting two one-act plays by TennWill: This Property is Condemned and Talk to me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen. Le Petit, Muriel’s Cabaret. $25

And, at 7:30, the UNO Department of Film, Theatre and What-Not is presenting The Night of the Iguana, at the Le Petit mainstage. Tickets for this have been going fast. (The run has been extended). But, if you don’t get it in, or you’ve shelled out as many increments of 25 bucks as you can, you can always rent or buy the movie version–which is one of the best ever! Drunk, existential Richard Burton, a totally bad girl Ava Gardner, Nazis, what else do you want?

Lit Fest!

The 24th annual Tennessee Williams Literary Festival is under way. The Festival is comprised of a series of events; from “master classes,” with an impressive roster of literary professionals, to whimsical events like cocktail competitions and the “Stella!” shouting competition.

This evening’s highlight will be the festival Opening Night Gala at Le Petit Theatre: “Williams in His Own Words.” The legendary actress Lois Smith (who has had a long and distinguished career, but you might recognize her most recently from HBO’s True Blood, in which she payed Sookie Stackhouse’s grandmother) will be there ruminating.  Also, in attendance will be John Patrick Shanley, the Pulitzer Prize Winning playwright of Doubt. He also directed the film version, and won an Academy Award for the screenplay for Moonstruck. 6:30.