Jay Hemphill

Doesn’t seem so “Dirty” these days, does it?

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NOTE: As the Word/Eagle is in flux with the renaming and corresponding change in official website, John is putting his reviews here — for now.

By John Lyle Belden

It seems few people give a thought towards Mae West these days. After all, she was a star of the black-and-white film era, a Vaudeville player. She was curvy when ample curves were cool, but sexy when the mere hint of sex – let alone making “Sex” the name of your play – could get you in trouble.

But she deserves a closer look, not only for how she confronted those troubles and withstood them, but for how she was an advocate not only for sexual freedom but for LGBT rights.

This life is explored in the play “Dirty Blonde,” which has one more weekend (today through Sunday) at Buck Creek Players just southeast of Indy.

We meet not only West (played by Sonja Distefano) and the men in her life (portrayed by Jay Hemphill and Michael Patrick Smiley), but also Jo and Charlie (Distefano and Hemphill), two West fans who meet in the years following West’s 1980 death at her tomb. Charlie had actually met the siren in her later years, an encounter that deeply affected him.

We see the progression of West’s career: from Vaudeville struggles; to controversy with Broadway plays “Sex,” its follow-up “The Drag” – centered on homosexuality – and her hit “Diamond Lil;” to success in film; and finally her stubbornness in insisting on staying in the spotlight and doing things her way to the very end. The scenes are interspersed with the growing relationship of Jo and Charlie, as the line between wanting to know Mae and wanting to be her blurs.

Distefano has the voice and gestures down, but struggles with the charisma of her larger-than-life role; she is far more appealing as Jo. Hemphill and Smiley do great work, but the pacing and overall feel of the show gave a sense that something was lacking. Still, it is a good effort and an enlightening look at an American icon.

Find the Buck Creek Playhouse at 11150 Southeastern Ave. (Acton Road exit off I-74). Get info and tickets at 317-862-2270 or www.buckcreekplayers.com.

John L. Belden is Associate Editor at The Eagle (formerly The Word), the central-Indiana based Midwest LGBTQ news source.

It’s Shakespeare, but it’s fun – really!

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By John Lyle Belden

Fans of William Shakespeare need only be told that Indy’s Eclectic Pond Theatre Company has staged “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with one weekend remaining at the IndyFringe Basile Theatre, 719 E. St. Clair in downtown Indianapolis.

Those less familiar with the Bard, casual fans, or those who think of him in the context of dramas like “Hamlet,” might also find this production a surprising treat.

In the modern tradition of putting the old plays in new settings, the “Athens” of ETC’s “Dream” is located in the world of a 1960s teen beach movie. The fairy folk have Polynesian-inspired garb, while our human characters are in hip threads for a California summer.

Though Shakespeare comedies typically overwhelm the viewer with their multitudes of characters, this play keeps the groupings simple, and, under the direction of Zach Neiditch, easy to follow.

Athenian nobles Theseus (Jay Hemphill) and Hippolyta (Carrie Fedor) are soon to marry. It will also be the wedding of young Hermia (Betsy Norton), but she wishes to wed Lysander (Ethan Mathias) rather than Demetrius (Matt Walls), to whom she has been promised. Hermia’s bestie Helena (Andrea Heiden) wants Demetrius, who isn’t interested. Lysander and Hermia head into the forest during the night, seeking to elope. Helena tells Demetrius, and they follow.

Meanwhile, a group of local artisans – the “mechanicals” – are in the same forest, secretly rehearsing a play they hope to present at the wedding. They are led by Quince (Marcy Thornsberry) who has a hard time containing the boisterous ego of her star, Bottom (Tristan Ross).

And also meanwhile, fairy royalty Oberon and Titania (Hemphill and Fedor) have a disagreement. She storms off, and he decides to have some mischief at her expense – which impish Puck (Sarah Hoffman) is all to eager to provide. Oh, and while she’s at it, she could also make a couple of the mortals wandering the woods fall in love as well.

What follows, of course, are transformations and confusion for the characters, but – despite the Elizabethan language – an easily understandable and hilarious twisting path towards the inevitable happy endings. The production even concludes with the Mechanicals’ play within the play, wherein Ross over-acts to wonderful effect.

As usual, we end with Puck’s apology, but it is hardly needed. This “Dream” is a joy for everyone from the energetic cast to the audience surrounding the IndyFringe stage. Get info at www.eclecticpond.org and tickets at www.indyfringe.org.

(This was also posted at The Word [later The Eagle], Indy’s LGBTQ newspaper)

Review: Adults from adult films, adulting

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By John Lyle Belden

Let’s clear up one thing right away: There is no sex, simulated or otherwise, in the play “Porno Stars at Home,” on the second stage at Theatre on the Square through April 23. Nor is there nudity (which seems odd, considering TOTS’s brave history). Believe it or not, there is more sex in the shows which both precede and follow it on the theatre’s schedule.

What you get, in Leonard Melfi’s famous 1970s drama, are five people portraying five real, fragile women and men who happen to have jobs engaging in sex acts for adult films.

“My birthday party will not be a disaster,” declares Georgia Lloyd Bernhardt (played by Lisa Marie Smith) as guests start to arrive at her tidy New York apartment. She desperately wants and needs to believe that statement is true, as she faces the stress of turning 35 in an industry that demands youth, as well as a secret she will eventually reveal to her friends. Her quest for a clean space away from her “work” is reflected in her spartan furnishings and desire that all keep even their language clean (a hopeless quest).

First to arrive is her peer, Barry Olivier (Todd Kenworthy). Later we meet hyper Norma Jean Brando (Frankie Bolda), hunky Montgomery McQueen (Jay Hemphill) and beautiful Uta Bergman-Hayes (Miranda Nehrig).

Norma Jean, a confessed nymphomaniac, has a surprise of her own: The last man she casually had sex with is allegedly a playwright and would not only write a part for her, but a play for all five of this group, telling about their lives. (Who knew “going meta” was a thing in the ’70s?) The anticipation of a visit by this man, and the hope it gives to these actors longing for “legitimate” roles, is a touchstone for the drama that follows.

As one might guess, this quintet aren’t happy with a life of boinking on film. Montgomery confesses he hates working in all-male films, despite his ample “talent” tenting his slacks. Meanwhile, Uta says she is tired of sex in all forms and wishes to find a more real and less physical form of intimacy – her attitude is reflected in her wardrobe, sharply dressed in a pantsuit that covers her to her neck and wrists, topped off on her entry with a concealing hat. Barry apparently has compartmentalized his feelings for women from the sex of his job, but seems conflicted on which applies in his relationship with Georgia, one of his more popular co-stars.

I won’t spoil much by saying that Georgia’s little party is indeed a “disaster” – a beautiful, entertaining wreck that tests and humanizes these characters who found themselves in lives of equal parts fame and shame. Considering that thousands of men and women are involved in the adult film industry to this day (a much bigger, wilder world thanks to the internet), this look at the “scene” 40 years ago has striking relevance – only the rotary phone (and no individual mobiles) betrays the era, since retro décor and disco fashion could become in vogue at any time. Kudos to this quintet, and director Bill Wilkison, for bringing these hurting souls to life – and I can’t help but hope those alter egos made it away from their “day job” to answer an audition notice by an enigmatic off-Broadway playwright by the name of Melfi…

Needless to say, “Porno Stars at Home” is for mature audiences. Find TOTS at 627 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis. Call 317-685-8687 or visit0 tots.org.

(Review also published at The Word.)