GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Nelson Pires, left, is King Carlisle and Robert Harrison is Oatsie Carew in the second act of the ARTS at Marks Garage Production of the Charles Busch play "Vampire Lesbians of Sodom."
Dressing for excess
'Vampire Lesbians' is campy fun
After directing and performing in the most recent local production of "The Vagina Monologues," Elizabeth Wolfe is looking forward to doing something completely different.
'Vampire Lesbians of Sodom'
Where: The ARTS at Marks Garage, 1159 Nuuanu Ave. (The final performance on June 30 will be at Hula's Bar & Lei Stand, 134 Kapahulu Ave.)
When: 8 p.m. today and tomorrow, also June 27, 28 and 30; and 5 p.m. June 29
Tickets: $10; $5 for students with valid photo ID
Call: 536-8047
And you can't get any more different than "Vampire Lesbians of Sodom," which debuts this weekend at downtown's Marks Garage.
"It's definitely different from a lot of theater," Wolfe said during a phone interview.
"Doing 'Vagina Monologues' was very certainly very intense, and this is very different. ... It is definitely fun. It's high energy, and it's not subtle in the least. It's high camp (with) girls in short skirts and boys in short skirts. A little something for everyone."
The '80s off-Broadway hit has been described by reviewers and feature writers alike with adjectives like "camp" and "flamboyant." The story consists of three moments in the lives of the two titular bloodsuckers who meet for the first time in Sodom when one of them is still a virgin and about to be sacrificed. In their next encounter they're rival film stars in the Roaring '20s. Next time around, it's the present and they're both well past their primes and living in Las Vegas.
"It's a story of two women, two vampires, through the ages, and their relationship to each other (and) how they come to depend on each other," describes Wolfe.
Writers and critics have rhapsodized over the show's slashing satirical take on Hollywood, the arch references to arcane bits of Tinseltown history and the fact that the show is intended to give male transvestites an opportunity to camp it up on stage.
It helps to have an encyclopedic knowledge of Hollywood film trivia to catch all the in-group references, but much of the action is based on broad, clichéd character types.
If "Vampire Lesbians" sounds like equal parts of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," Anne Rice and "Fractured Flickers," well, yes, that's the whole concept. Playwright Charles Busch was a floundering actor, writer and drag queen who could never find a suitable role for himself, so he created this bit of theatrical camp. He expected his brutal satire of classic Hollywood films to be both his personal farewell to theater and a chance to perform in drag.
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Arts at Marks Garage presents Charles Busch's play "Vampire Lesbians of Sodom," which stars Beth Berry as the Succubus.
It remains perhaps Busch's best-known comedy, although some fans may prefer either "Psycho Beach Party" or "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife."
Wolfe says that one of the things that attracted her to "Vampire Lesbians" is that Busch gives directors -- and performers of any gender orientation -- plenty of room to play with the material.
"There's a musical number in the show, although (the song) is not specified in the script. We chose a song by Björk 'cause it's modern, so it will be a little bit of a different twist ... and it is also very dark and very sexy, just like our vampires.
"It's traditionally performed with no budget, no stage and no scenery. There's three different scenes, but I've read about different productions adding in completely new scenes or adding musical numbers, and cast every possible way -- two men in the lead, two women in the lead, one man and one women in either role. We haven't changed much, but we do have men cast in women's roles and women cast in men's roles with a lot of cross-casting. It's definitely a very moldable script."
Wolfe and her cast have changed the gender of one of the characters -- a butler is now a "cute little French maid" -- and stage fight choreographer Tony Pisculli is putting together a sword fight that Wolfe and her cast have added to one of the vampires' encounters.
"This isn't a play that's really going to make you think about your life and how to change it, but it's big ... and it will definitely be something you'll remember as a lot of fun," she said.
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