Published: 02.13.2009
Funny men in drag
This is definitely not your father's yard sale
By Kathleen Allen
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
What Cynthia Jeffery has in mind is fun. Lots of fun. Jeffery is directing Beowulf Alley Theatre's production of "3 Guys in Drag Selling Their Stuff." She discovered the script when she was nosing around on the Internet one day. She thought it was funny. But would anyone else?
Mike Sultzbach, left, Kenton Jones and Richard Chaney are selling their stuff in the Beowulf Alley Theatre production of "Three Guys in Drag." Photo by Scott Griessel/Creatista Courtesy Beowulf Alley Theatre
"I passed it around at work and started hearing laughter down the hall," said Jeffery, who is more often seen on stage than behind the scenes.
"I just thought it was a fun show. I've been to drag shows here and in other countries. I always ended up feeling I had a great, trouble-free fun time. I thought it was time we had fun."
"3 Guys," by Edward Crosby Wells , is about a trio of friends, Diva, Lillian and Tink. They are elderly drag queens in full dress-up mode who are having a yard sale in hopes of raising enough money for one of them to purchase a Fabergé egg to contain the ashes of a partner.
It's Diva's sale. Her friend Lillian is helping, and Tink, wheelchair bound and out of it most of the time, seems to just sit there save for lucid moments when she tells the audience what's going on in her head.
Among the items being sold at the yard sale are handcuffs, chains and whips. Diva keeps her cell phone parked under her skirt; when it vibrates, she goes digging for it.
Are you getting the picture here?
"3 Guys" is a bit raunchy and outrageous. But, more important, said Jeffery, "it's really a story about how you approach life."
"The playwright has added a lot of humor, but it still tells the story of three friends, their lives and relationships," she said. "They are three-dimensional characters, not cut-out drag queens."
And, Jeffery added, it has something for everyone.
"It makes us laugh at ourselves, whether we are men or women. . . . It shows our similarities, and it does it with a smile."
Preview
"3 Guys in Drag Selling Their Stuff"
• Playwright: Edward Crosby Wells.
• Director: Cynthia Jeffery.
• When: Preview: 7:30 p.m. today. Regular performances: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays; 1:30 p.m. Sundays, Feb.14-March 1.
• Where: Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
• Tickets: Preview is $10, regular performances $20, with discounts available if purchased online.
• Reservations/information: 882-0555 and www.beowulf alley.org
• Cast: Richard Chaney, Kenton Jones and Mike Sultzbach.
• Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes with one intermission.
Contact reporter Kathleen Allen at kallen@azstarnet.com or 573-4128.
