Bitches of the Kingdom
Bitches of the Kingdom
By Fiely A. Matias and Dennis T. Giacino
Musical Direction by Lulu Picart
Starring Michelle Knight, Jennifer Lynn Warren, and Lisa Sleeper
Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Orlando FL
</strong> At first glance, you’d think the Disney legal team would be on this like lawyers on a bus crash, but nearly all our favorite animation babes are based on public domain fairy tales that date back to the Hundred Years War. Disney female characters are typically bloodless, sexless and rather submissive, but give them a chance like tonight’s show and they can castrate men with the best. Snow White (Knight) leads this Amazon pack into battle, her anthematic “One More Happ’ly Ever After” sets tonight’s tone – feisty, funny and laid down over a 4/4 pop beat that’s somewhere between show tune and labor rallying song. Her co-stars Cinderella (Warren) and Sleeping beauty (Sleeper – get the pun?) barely keep up, and when legless Belle (Allyson Fischer) nearly falls off stage in here roller chair that’s the last time the audience isn’t laughing.
There’s more here than busting stereotypes, Matias and Giacino deconstruct the family friendly storytelling mythos and hold it up to the ridicule it deserves. Krista Miller plays the “Secondary Princess” in a tee short with airbrushed boobs and airbrushed G -string, Lulu Picart keeps her hair in place with Chopsticks of Death as Hua Mulan, lesbian conqueror, and Andrea Canny channels Bette Midler as the Little Mermaid. There’s an overwrought “Squaw Girl” by Pocahontas (Jenn Abreu), and Lisa Sleeper really takes the lead on “Big Tits”. But the biggest hit of the evening was the Kurt Weill rip “Not V’one Red Cent” from Rapunzel (Lois Sage). It’s all about licensing and marketing and the fact that she’s not getting a cut when they put her face on a baby diaper. Disney may specialize in making magic, but they’re even better at making money.
The Oops Guys have really hit a vein with this show, it premiered at last year’s Fringe and now have four touring companies up and down the easy coast and they’ll tackle Las Vegas next. This you chance to catch this show in its natural habitat, and here’s a word of advice – don’t bring the kiddies. You’d hate to corrupt them this young.
For more exciting information about Bitches of The Kingdom visit http:\www.bitchesofthekingdom.com
