Thursday September 9 Cabaret hosted by Eric Davis

Introducing himself as Dewey, our ridiculous host for the evening, Eric Davis, dressed all in white, kicked off the second Cabaret of this year’s festival. First up was Cirkus Luna! presented by members of Theatre Group Dzcieci. Their unsightly overbites and male strip tease (the women would have no part of it) were not for the faint of heart.  They were followed by Diz and Izzy Aster –Vaudeville’s Late Bloomers (Sabrina Mandell and Mark Jaster) a charming, sweet, and amusing pair of vaudevillians. The whole audience enjoyed the sing-a-long of Button Up Your Overcoat. (I’m sorry they only had two shows in the festival, both of which I was unable to attend.)  Next up was Rake and Roll Featuring Cliff (Barbara Ann Michaels). Cliff played air guitar on a rake to the music of Joan Jett and Jimi Hendrix, making it look cooler than cool in her own nutty way.  She led a well chosen pair of audience members to rock out on stage with her.  This is Bob (Richard Harrington and Laura Walton) was presented by a curious team. He was quite attached to his mooing toy and she couldn’t make up her mind which costume she wanted. After they performed a thorough costume switch, leaving him in her skirt, she was still not satisfied. Don’t Ever Tell Anyone What Happens In This House by Two-Hander (Audrey Crabtree and Jonathan Kaplan) was an outright stupidly funny piece. This act’s props included the most low-tech cardboard car, toy (squirt?) guns, a plate full of real noodles, and other objects only visible in mime form. We witnessed the home life of a barmy couple performed by two utter goofballs; their son, a member of the audience. Leah Abel and Olivia Lehrman played a couple of old folks picnicking. Leah as the old man portrayed him excellently in drag. Olivia as the old lady showed us an entirely different aspect of her work from the character of Ms. Pretty Smart. Their Ensure drinking contests and geriatric sex were hilarious. Summer Shapiro and Peter Musante gave us a preview of Legs and All. This is an engaging work of original and really funny physical comedy, deftly played. Hula Hell is Miss Saturn (Jenny McGowan) was the closing act of this cabaret. Pink-haired, spandex-clad Miss Saturn sang about her hula hoops and got an audience member to spin a enormous hoop with her. Her off-the-cuff sense of humor and play with the audience was a lot of fun. It was another entertaining evening with a wide array of styles, promising more gems to be seen in the festival.