Kris Andersson, as Dixie Longate the quick-witted Tupperware lady, in “Dixie’s Tupperware Party.” The hit comedy will be at the Bushnell’s Autorino Great Hall on November 13, 14, and 15.

by Tony Schillaci & Don Church

Have you never been to a Tupperware Party?  Didn’t even know they still make Tupperware?

Well, all that’s going to change on November 13, 14, and 15 when Kris Andersson, aka Dixie Longate, the quick-witted Tupperware lady, takes his/hers successful Off-Broadway laugh riot to the Bushnell’s Autorino Great Hall.

Don’t miss Dixie’s new and naughty uses for her plastic products!  To quote NBC’s Today show, “This isn’t your grandmother’s Tupperware party!”

The Resident’s Critics On The Aisle were fortunate to interview Dixie herself before a performance in Cleveland.  She said “a friend convinced me in 2004 – while I was out in Los Angeles – to try and make some money by selling Tupperware at parties while in drag!

“I quickly became a sales success hosting parties for straight Republican white women from Orange County,” she said in her Alabama drawl.  “Those gals were having so much fun letting loose while I showed them fun and creative uses for Tupperware!  Now my audiences consist of anyone who just wants to have a really good time!”

Dixie has been on a national tour with her “party” which is going on its second year.  She originally took her party to the New York Fringe Festival to find a wider audience for her wares.  The show then played Off-Broadway for a limited four-month run. It got rave reviews and Dixie received a nomination as Best Actress from the Drama Desk.

Her Alabama roots helped in her character development she explained, “My mama always told me ‘you can take the girl out of the trailer, but you can’t have sex at the same time with two different people and a monkey’ – no, that’s not it, but you get the idea, mama said something like that.”

She allows Dixie to be “just me – free and crazy and outspoken. People are loving it. The audience wants to have a good time or they wouldn’t come up onto the stage and be raucous and wild. They are always ready to go.  I have raffles and giveaways, and we sing the Tupperware song, and just have a sweet and smiling time!”

Fans of the show have varied reactions to Dixie’s antics. “One little old lady – she was 80 if she was a day – came up to me afterward and grabbed my hand and said ‘I’ve never had so much fun at a Tupperware party – I was sitting in the front row and I was hysterical through the entire show!’ ”

Dixie continued, “You know, I’m a pretty gal, and I’ve had lots and lots of sex!  And I use that at my parties. I’ll always remember a couple, Lana and Murray, who came up on stage.  Later on, they told me that I had made them get downright frisky – something that hadn’t happened to them in a long time.  They had to go right home and get down to business! Isn’t that sweet?”

Dixie does her own hair, makeup and costumes.  “Mama taught me how to sew back in the Mobile trailer. I made the top of my costume out of a Fourth of July picnic table cloth – grease spots and all.  Well, it was a perfectly good table cloth and I couldn’t see not re-using it!”

The current national tour version of “Dixie’s Tupperware Party” opened in Tucson in 2008.  Every show, although cut from the same pattern, is different, depending on the audience and those who volunteer to go up on stage. It’s from this energy that Dixie keeps the show fresh and outrageously funny. “We have more fun than you can shake a cat at – it’s an uplifting little show.

“And after the show I’m out in the theater lobby with my catalogues and order forms and I’m selling Tupperware like crazy!  The Tupperware company executives have been to my show and are amazed at the audience reaction and the sales. They’re happy that I am getting the word out, and letting people know that there are new and exciting uses for this versatile product.”  Jell-O shot in a Tupperware cup anyone?

And when you buy a set of (suggestive) Tupperware “ribbed” tumblers or whatever after the show, be sure to tell Dixie that The Resident sent you!

To have a riotous time at Dixie’s outrageous party, save the date, and order your ticket now online at www.bushnell.org or call (860) 987-5900.

Bookmark to:

by Don Church and Tony Schillaci

If you missed the limited run of “Young Frankenstein,” the musical, at the Bushnell, it’s high time to check out www.bushnell.org for upcoming shows, including the popular “Broadway Series.”

“Young Frankenstein” was a Halloween treat if there ever was one!

Having seen the original 1930’s Frankenstein movies, and later “Young Frankenstein,” Mel Brooks’ hit spoof of these classics, was a great introduction for us to enjoy this zany stage version.  And what a belly-laugh-filled musical comedy it is!

Brooks has blended classic humor from old-time burlesque, vaudeville, early Broadway and Hollywood musicals, and his own rib-tickling Jewish shtick to come up with a madcap spoof on Mary Shelley’s monster and his creator.

The show closely follows Mel’s 1974 black and white film, and the anticipation of certain scenes, including the hilarious song and dance “Puttin’ On The Ritz.”  Whether or not you’ve seen the film, it’s guaranteed to have you rolling in the aisle.

The Bushnell always books A-list national tour companies. Each performer is a member of Actors Equity Association, which is the gold standard for theater professionals.

Roger Bart, of TV (“Desperate Housewives”) and Broadway fame, as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, grandson of the original monster-maker, inherits the castle in Transylvania Heights, and needs to leave New York and his fiancée, Elizabeth, behind.  Bart shows he’s got the talent and skill to easily headline a major production.

In saying goodbye to the young Dr. Frankenstein, the gorgeous and immensely talented Beth Curry as Elizabeth sings “Please Don’t Touch Me,” an homage to all those princesses who want the security of marriage without the dreaded intimacy that goes with it!  Beth is absolutely destined for top stardom.

The young Frankenstein next meets Igor, a maniacal hunchback superbly played by Cory English – a master comedic actor/singer/dancer.  The doctor and his deformed servant do a bouncy song-and-dance number “Together Again,” followed by an hysterically funny song by the newly introduced Inga, played by the stunningly beautiful and gifted Anne Horak. She’s at her show-stopping best with the clever double-entendre song, “Roll In The Hay,” complete with dancing horses and, of course, a roll in the hay.

Throughout, the sexual innuendo is lunatic, zesty, and tends to grow and get bigger! References of a naughty nature just add to the general merriment and madness.

Next we meet Frau Blucher, played with a scene-stealing deadpan by Joanna Glushak. One of her many wonderful moments is a confession of her affair with Dr. Frankenstein, Sr. in the song “He Vas My Boyfriend.”  Vunderbar!

Ensemble numbers, such as the first act closing, “Transylvania Mania.” are pure Brooks. (He wrote the music and lyrics).  Enthusiastic and energetic, the ensemble consists of gorgeous, leggy showgirls and attractive and athletic male dancers who perform with fluidity and wild abandon.

In the second act, Brad Oscar, as a blind hermit, sings “Please Send Me Someone” not knowing the someone he is longing for will be the Monster (Shuler Hensley from the original Broadway cast).  Oscar also doubles as a Prussianesque Inspector Kemp throughout the show.  Two tour-de- force performances from a fine comedic actor.

When the show-stopping Irving Berlin number, the aforementioned “Puttin’ On The Ritz” finally arrives, it’s the hands-down standout all-tapping, all-singing, all-fun theatrical example of what justifies all the fuss about Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley.

These two luminous stars are joined again for a big finish to “Puttin’ On The Ritz” by the brilliant ensemble in one of those moments that makes great musical theater a joy forever.

The book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan is more baggy-pants comedy, more bawdy  humor than the movie, yet remains true to the ditzy spirit of the film.

Susan Stroman, the brilliant choreographer, also directed this production. The magnificent costumes of William Ivey Long are as gorgeous as those of the Golden Age of Broadway and the movies. The fabrics, colors and styles that perfectly adorn Ms. Curry and Ms. Horak compliment the show’s time and place.

The scenery by Robin Wagner, lighting by Peter Kacsorowski, and sound byJonathan Deans are all electrifying…literally!  Lightning storms, soaring castle interiors, frightening laboratory pyrotechnics, thunder, smoke, fog, and thoroughly delightful shadow dancing contribute to the scale and cleverness of the production.

Conductor and musical director Bob Billig works the orchestrations of Doug Besterman with the musicians in the pit to produce beautiful music throughout.

Bookmark to:

story & photo
by Christopher Annino

(l-r) Members of Pams Pink Posse: Donna Ruggleri, Kim Hoffa, Dennaye Garbati, Patty Fraser, Cindy Shea, Pam Watt, Nancy Shepard, Judy Teel, Abby Shepard.

On Saturday, October 3, 430 people participated in the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation (TBBCF) Walk or Run fundraiser for breast cancer research. The TBBCF is a New London based non-profit organization committed to fighting breast cancer by fundraising for cancer research. Since its existence in 2006 the organization has raised a total of 1.1 million dollars in research grant money.

The marathon long course began at Saybrook Point, Old Saybrook and ended at Camp Harkness, Waterford. People could either choose to do a quarter, half or the full course of 26.2 miles. Steve Sigel, executive director, Garde Arts, and Mary Ann Nash, nutritionist, Community Cancer Center at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, led the opening ceremonies at Saybrook Point.

Closing ceremonies were performed by Susette Tibus, Mystic Chamber of Commerce and Simply Majestic, as well as, 2008 Research Grant Recipient Dr. Shannon T. Bailey from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Pam’s Pink Posse was among the many teams who walked the full marathon distance. The group was formed last year when Pam Watt was stricken with breast cancer. Seven of Pam’s closest friends got together and created a team for her. This year, Pam, despite surgeries and chemo therapy treatment, managed to walk a full 26.2 miles with her friends. Pam and her team raised a combined amount of $10,000.00 for the walk.

For more information visit: www.tbbcf.org.

Bookmark to:

photo by Alexis Ann

(l-r) Patricia Beetham, computer center supervisor, Richard Kozek, District Deputy Grand Exalted Ruler and Groton Lodge Computer Committee, Michael McHugh, Exalted Ruler, Groton Lodge, Mary Jo Riley, Director, Groton Senior Center, Patrick Christadore, PER, Willimantic Lodge, and Ronald Coleman,Computer Committee, Willimantic Lodge.

On October 1st, the Groton and Willimantic Elks, gifted eight computers, and two laser printers to the Adult Computer Learning Center at the Groton Senior Center, temporarily housed at the Noank School. Computer classes are offered to seniors, so updated machines are greatly appreciated to further knowledge. To date, the joint venture between Willimantic and Groton Lodges has also donated over 60 computers to local police and fire departments.

Bookmark to: