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Bv MARGARET C. PORTER

roud Parent of a Drug-Addicted,

Tattooed & Pierced Sexual Deviarit

was something more than a talent
show, and something less than off-off-
Broadway, a homegrown (mostly) evening
of music, dance, and comedy that was a
good kick-off for'Pride month.

The cabaret-club atmosphere of
the Flynn Space, filled with a sold-out
crowd of friends and family, was just the
right environment for the performances.

The first piece was an oddity of dance and

music (choreographed by Sara McMahon)
performed by Rachel (“Frida”) Siegel
called “Essential Tension.” The accompa-
niment was a disconcerting setting of
music and Hebrew chant at low volume. It
was nice to see Siegel’s chunky body dis-
played onstage, even through the tension
of her positions and the extra frills of a
multi-layered dress reminiscent of a short

wedding cake.

Anne Moore, the MC and occa-
sional perfonner of numerous R.U.1.2?
colfeehouses, followed, warming up the
audience with her well-used repertoire of a
capella torch songs. “Bewitched,
Bothered, & Bewildered” (which she did-
n’t know was written by Rodgers and Hart,
when asked by one young audience mem-
ber whether she had written it herself,
while another audience member guessed
Cole Porter) was the opener, sung in the
ironic, campy, over-the-top style of
lounge-lizards everywhere (but especially
on Saturday Night Live).

Then came “Don’t Cry for Me
Argentina,” in a Madonna-parody style
pulled off easily by the blonde crooner.
Her delivery came with the punch of Gal
(Janice Pen'y, in her earlier, more musical,

' over-the-top intense mode), followed by

the breathiness of Marilyn Monroe. Petula,
Clark also made an appearance — or at
least her 60s anthem “Downtown” did.

But the show-stopper was her per-
formance of “You Don’t Bring Me
Flowers,” playing both Barbra Streisand
(facing left) and Neil'Diamond (facing
right). ' '

Even comedian Jason P. Lorber
(perhaps recognizing a hard act to follow)

‘commented on her amazing feat and the

inclusive politics of a woman announcing
that she would play a woman: “Well, men
do it all the time, why shouldn’t women
get to?”

Lorber played the na'1'f, announc-
ing, “There sure are a lot of gay people
here  in Burlington. Are there gay peo-
ple here in this room?” One guy was gen-
tly heckling him, and Lorber asked if he
was gay: he refused to answer (although he
was known to many in the audience as
gay). Lorber went down the list of bi,
trans, and queer, then came back with,
“Are there any closeted gay people here?”

' The heckler put up his hand: big laugh.

Lorber’s riff on LGBTQIA was

 

on target for the audience, and he general-
ly came up with the unexpected punchline
or comment to stir a queer audience into
laughter. And he ‘did a bit on the “passive-
aggressive politeness” of Vermont drivers
at a four-way stop (it happens only outside
of Burlington). V I

His comedy touched on his
Jewish background and his own idiosyn-
crasies, with a bit of (fictional) self—depre-
cation. He bantered with talkative audience
members without being vicious. He was
funny, and you had to be there.

7 After intermission, the main
event: “Proud Parent of a Drug-Addicted,
Tattooed & Pierced Sexual Deviant."
billed as a musical dance—theater extrava-
ganza. Well, on a budget — there was a call
for volunteers to help strike the set, includ-
ing the lighting, after the show, “Proud
Mommy” was taking tickets at the door,
“Proud Step-Sister” brought refreshments
for the post-perforrnance reception, and
“Proud Father” sat in the audience and
laughed in that embarrassed, self—con-
scious way parents do when they’re being
displayed as “source material” for their
child’s creative enterprises, all identified
by large buttons. ‘

P The script was, for the most part,
a series of snapshots of Rachel Siegel’s
experiences growing up from being a sun-
flower in the kindergarten play (“Here
Comes the Sun”) to owning a house and a
car and becoming pregnant, truly
“Mainstream.” In the middle came the
drug addiction (to some unnamed sub-
stance), the tattoo (a friend’s less-than-pro-
fessional attempt), and the piercing (of her
ears at a mall).

It was very tongue—in—cheek --
even the "sexual deviancy“ was maybe
she’s a lesbian, maybe she’s bi — very
“let’s see how far a right wing radical
could take this labeling when I’m just :1
more-or-less normal child in this society."

, Siegel was ably supported and
accompanied by Anne Moore, vocals and
electric guitar, and by David Tilley at the
piano, both ofwhom got to insert bits from
their own life histories. Tilley provided
some of the comic relief: with each chorus
of the title, “proud parent of a drug—addict-
ed, tattooed & pierced sexual ...” there
would be a very pregnant pause while
Tilley gathered his forces for the “deviant”
pronouncement given as provocatively as
possible, ranging from gravelly bass to tit-
tering falsetto.

. ‘ Siegel’s poses in the dance sec-
tions were expressive with a refreshing
unpretentiousness, a romp, not high art.
Her balances (while being bombarded with
balls of various sizes, from pingpong to
beachball) were the respectable result of
yoga as well as dance. The accompanying
song allowed as how keeping one’s bal-
ance could be “tricky” in complicated
times (organic national brand vs. local

conventional, and other political-is-person-u

al dilemmas).

It was a loving and semi-punk
tribute from a perfonnance artist to her
parents, without whom she wouldnot have
gotten this far. And it was received warmly
by an audience of friends and family and
“family” with a standing ovation. V

Margaret Porter hangs out and writes in
rural Chittenden County.