Daily Loaf

Don't worry, the fellas clean up pretty good…

I didn’t tell my husband where we were going.  I really should have after suggesting he wear his pink polo shirt. It’s a stereotype, I know, but I couldn’t resist. I’m not saying he voted for McCain, but I’m pretty sure he voted for Reagan. Twice.  I called earlier in the day and asked “Hey, babe, wanna go see a play tonight?”  Rhetorical question; the answer is and must always be “Sure.”

3 Guys in Drag Selling Their Stuff: The name alone is enough to get me in the door. The bar in the Crown Theater with half-price drinks ensures that we will stay through intermission.  Never been to Club Nautico, never knew there was a theater in the back room, never knew there was a back room. Gypsy Productions can be counted on to bring fun, campy, sometimes poignant shows to Tampa Bay audiences and they rarely make me feel like I wasted an evening.  3 Guys… was no exception.  It may not change your life but it may make you change your red muumuu.

Diva and Lillian, along with their comatose friend Tink, are having a yard sale to raise funds for a final resting place for Diva’s late husband’s ashes.  Seems the pickle jar wasn’t good enough so her sights are set on a Fabergé egg.  Go fabulous or go home, Diva! The show is filled with witty one-liners and the expected crass sex jokes and vibrators.  As the afternoon wears on and the hallucinogenic punch takes effect on the Queens, the show somehow tumbles to a close with no resolution, but it’s a fun ride nonetheless.

Gregory Paul channels Delta Burke in the later Designing Women years, hitting Diva’s biting jabs with venom, and Brent Ballad is able to keep up as lovably ditsy Lillian.  Daniel Harris, Trevor Keller and the design team have worked well within the small space, and given their limitations have provided a satisfactory backdrop for the production.  The actors were able to move well on the decadently cluttered set and, for the most part, did not allow themselves to be upstaged by their bawdy props.

If you are looking for a greater understanding of the human condition, this ain’t the show for you. If you are looking for an evening of campy barbs and drag-queen bitchiness, you’ll get your money’s worth. I even saw the straitlaced husband snickering more than a few times.  He’s much more hip than I give him credit for.

3 Guys In Drag Selling Their Stuff will run thru July 19, 2009 with performances Thursday, Friday, Saturday at 7:30 P.M. and Sundays Matinees at 3:00 P.M.

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