Erin's PLAF Diary for Monday, September 10

Performances: Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical (To The Wall Productions) (Future Showtimes)

I got a late start on the PLAF, and I do feel sad and sorry about it. I was out of town, and arrived in the middle of last week to a job tornado, the start of new classes, and some large plumbing problems at home. But all that is marginally under control, and I'm ready to see some shows involving sex, nudity, huge puppets, and musical numbers.

Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical
Yep. That's right. And is it funny or ironic or funny/ironic/obvious that the show's venue is Sister's Nightclub, Philly's only lesbian bar? A bar that the friend I took along described as"having more potential if it wasn't entirely populated by softball players from Drexel." I asked her if maybe this wasn't one of those Chicken and Egg scenarios, which came first, the clientèle or underwhelming bar atmosphere and old carpet. She agreed. We had the house special for the night, Sex on the Beach, a drink special involving enough different liquors and cocktail shaker use that I felt a little bit bad for the only bartender, working alone on the second floor.

But the show. Well. I'm sure you've heard of Debbie Does Dallas. So had I. Though I have to admit I've never seen the classic porn, so I can't tell you how closely the show follows the movie. But I can tell you how rare it is that I laugh, often, through anything. And that farce and parody is hard to pull off well, but this script does it with aplomb. The musical numbers are fairly sparse for a musical, and usually performed with enough vocal talent to make them bearable; the over-ridiculous lyrics help. The female cast is strong - the men are only really side players anyway - and I found myself rooting for Debbie, played by enigmatic Kara Senich with such a charming combination of innocence and wink-wink playfulness that I found myself yelling, "Make him pay $30!" at one point in the show. This is a simple story of a girl trying to make it out of her small town to join the Dallas cheerleading team, the pom-pom teammates (Slutty, Stupid, Geeky, and Gay) who support her, and these young womens' eventual realization that yes, men will actually pay you big money if you let them touch your boobs. Who wouldn't enjoy that?