My Pal Bette at Fringe

Tammy Kopko returns as Bette Davis, the chain-smoking, tough-talking, Hollywood DIVA and unlikely guardian angel and mentor to awkward 5 year-old Tommy Klein, (Rhyse Silvestro) in the this special anniversary production of the Fringe and NYC hit comedy by John Ryan.

Tommy, smothered by his needy mom, (Janine Klein) finds he needs more guidance as her grows up and he finds it in Bette Davis. Tammy’s performance as Bette is spot on, her every nuance is inspired by the ballsy disdain of this Hollywood DIVA. She is truly a force to be reckoned with. Her mission is to earn her wings guiding the young Tommy towards adulthood. Demonic puppets act as the young boy’s inner demons but they fall flat as guiding voices.

A date goes horribly wrong when an attention starved girl (Melanie Leon) throws herself at the young boy. Her performance is wide eyed, manic and over the top funny. As she freezes in mid kiss, Tommy gets up from the couch and turns to his diva for advice. She advises him to follow his inner voice and that doesn’t lead him to want to pursue women.

The young Tommy grows into a teen, (Clark Levi) ready for college. He ends up rooming with a misogynistic dude as a roommate and Bette earns her wings when the sensitive Tommy stands up for himself. As she says, she gets her wings any time a frat boy screams.

Tammy Kopko as Bette Davis was fabulous. Every moment she was on stage was pure gold. This was a fun romp and the few moments that fall short are easily forgiven for just one more moment of the DIVA’s attitude. Look no further for your next Fringe Crush.

Tickets are $12 plus a $10 Fringe button needed to get into any Fringe show. The show is in the Gold venue inside the Orlando Museum of Art, 2416 N Mills Ave, Orlando, FL 32803.

Remaining show dates are:

8:45 PM 

10:15 PM 

5:00 PM

Daddy Issues at the Parliament House.Footlight Theater in

Coming direct from its Off Broadway premiere, Daddy Issues written and directed by David Goldyn is coming to the Footlight Theater in the Parliament House (410 North Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando FL). Pam Schwartz and I went to a dress rehearsal. Walking in, we passed a drag queen bingo session going on at the bar. The cast sat in the audience for the first hour or so since Blue Estrella was working power nailing baseboards to the walls, framed show posters were hung on the wall with care. We all waited with anticipation for a white door to arrive which went stage left. I had to resist drawing any furniture since it had been pushed around the stage to make room for set construction. An air compressor that looked like a cross between a Roomba and R2D2 was eventually removed.

Donald Moscowitz (Wes Miles) has overbearing parents. Don’t we all? He is trying to live his life as a gay man in 1980s New York as a
struggling actor no less. Of course his parents are in denial about his
lifestyle, disapprove of his career choice, and question his flair for
decoration. To get his family to stop kvetching, Donald needs a son. With the help of his ballsy best friend Henrietta (Darby Ballard) and rising drag
queen Levi (Tim Garnham), Donald hires the ten-year-old kid (Rhysee Silvestro) from downstairs to play
his son. What could go wrong?

This fast-paced new comedy, takes
audiences on a fun ride to remind us just how far we’ll go
for family.  Both Henrietta and Levi want to play the part of Donald’s long lost girlfriend that he dated in college, before he realized he was gay. When his grandmother (Jack LeDoux) brings home the real college girlfriend, Mary Ellen (Melanie Leon) who happens to be the mom of the 10-year-old son Donald has hired. Melanie was always thick into the drink, having named her son Johnnie Walker. Her off kilter performance certainly added humor to the third act.

Donald’s father Sid (Joe Zimmer) and grandmother approach the boy to find out if he has been circumcised, only to be pulled away by Donald. The show was a fun romp. It was just as fun to watch the actors who performed with selfless abandon since there was no audience. For instance, rehearsing the bows for the first time brought out some over the top styles.

Daddy Issues opens Friday August 4th at Footlight Theater.

Tickets are $20  7:30PM to 10:30PM

Show Dates are

Friday August 4

Saturday August 5

Friday August 11

Saturday August 12

Friday August 18

Saturday August 19

Monday August 21 (Industry Night)

Saturday August 26