Karen Ripley, Annie Larson, Jack "Applejack" Walroth
look like a fun bunch (ha ha). Photo by Laurie Gallant.
Karen Ripley, Annie Larson, Jack "Applejack" Walroth look like a fun bunch (ha ha). Photo by Laurie Gallant.
BACK TO REVIEWS DIRECTORY
Waiting for FEMA and DIVA Cabaret
By Laurie Bushman
Published: April 27, 2006
DIVAfest, now in its fifth year at the EXIT Theatre, is dedicated to new work by woman playwrights. Offering a wide range of performance options, DIVAfest provides audiences with many choices for an evening of entertainment. The shows are performed in several different venues, including the EXIT Theatre, of course, but also at the Cabaret Room at Original Joe's Restaurant. And two very different shows are currently sharing this vintage space: Waiting for FEMA and DIVA Cabaret.
Original Joe's, serving up Italian and American food and drinks since 1936, remains one of the best SF places for an old school restaurant experience. The Cabaret Room is ideally suited for small venue performances, where you can enjoy dinner or a cocktail while taking in some theatre.Who could ask for anything more?
Waiting for FEMA, a new work by Karen Ripley and Annie Larson, commissioned especially for DIVAfest is performed primarily by Ripley and Larson with guitar accompaniment by Jack "Applejack" Walroth. This play with songs gives us an up-close view of two women's experience with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
Since I attended a preview, the few technical glitches in the show can be forgiven, and I'm sure they'll be corrected. Slightly more problematic is the script - or rather the seeming lack of script.Beginning in a blackout with Larson entering from the back of the house singing "Blue Roof Blues" ("rich folks got their Blue Tooths, but I just got my blue roof"), the show is off to a promising start. But once the lights come up, and we meet our heroines on their roof, the action stalls. The performers are engaging, and you can see the gem of their ideas - but too much of this show is given over to things that we already know about Hurricane Katrina: people were left on their roofs, the water was smelly, there were dead bodies, etc. It seems that this show is missing the very root of what should be driving it - a clear relationship between the main characters.
A cameo by the charismatic Christina Augello as Nola, a sort of crawfish goddess, who at first seems to enlighten us with the raison d'tre of the show - but her character, while amusing, doesn't really go anywhere, and we are back to where we started, two women on a roof.
Waiting for FEMA is a charming idea with appealing songs, telling a story that we already know too well. Given Larson and Ripley's track record with previous shows, such as their Best Musical Comedy offering, "Show Me Where It Hurts" in the 2005 Fringe Festival, they will certainly continue working with Waiting for FEMA until it meets their normally high standards. See Waiting for FEMA now, and you can say you saw this intriguing idea at its beginning.
Also playing at Original Joe's for DIVAfest is DIVA Cabaret. Hosted by Sean Owens with Don Seaver on piano, this eclectic mix of songs (written by Owens and Seaver) serves up San Francisco Divas at their finest. With one song from each decade, beginning in 1906, this show hones in on what made each decade memorable, and what makes the ladies of San Francisco special. Performed by a rotating cast of Divas, the show is held together by Owens' educational yet comic patter.
While some of the performances are uneven, the song styling is very personal, and each Diva brings herself and the audience deftly into the decade she is portraying. Great songs, great food and drink, and an interesting history lesson, DIVA Cabaret at Original Joe's brings all of these together for a completely enjoyable experience.
Waiting for FEMA (Fri. & Sat., 9pm) and DIVA Cabaret (Fri. & Sat., 10:30pm) continue until May 6 at Original Joe's Restaurant, 144 Taylor St., SF. Tickets ($12-$20 sliding scale) call (415) 673-3847 or go to www.theexit.org