Written By: Paulanne Simmons
In Bitches of the Kingdom!, Dennis Giacino’s cabaret show at Don’t Tell Mama, the myth of the princess living happily ever after is deliciously explored and debunked. The show is based on and includes songs from his new musical Disenchanted!, which was first presented in Orlando, Florida, and has since traveled up the coast.
Sitting at the piano, and with the help of his female cast, Giacino explains that he is a “princess whisperer” who has become the confident of “princesses in castles wearing ball gowns and tassels” who wonder if they are going to “live happily ever after, after all.”
The princesses in question are represented by four sexy ladies in black: Michelle Knight (Snow White), Jenny Lee Stern (Belle/Little Mermaid), Rheaume Crenshaw (The One Who Kissed the Frog) and Jaygee Macapugay (Hua Mulan/Pocahontas). Giacino’s longtime collaborator Fiely Matias directs and makes an occasional appearance, but it is these four divas who are the show.
In “Two Legs” Stern wonders whether a mermaid would be “contented and complete, or curse the day she got those feet.” In “Honestly” Macapugay asks why no one tells the real story of that famous Indian Princess. And in “Without the Guy” Macapugay declares she’s tired of being a “beautiful and dutiful” Asian girl and just might be lesbian.
“Big Tits,” in which the ladies discuss the benefits (“I’ve got a trust fund and a Bentley and a condo at the Ritz, and it’s because I have big tits”) and inconveniences (“big tits, I can never find a blouse that fits”) of having oversized bosoms, and “All I Want to Do Is Eat” (“A single french fry would more than satisfy this hunger deep inside me”) are two very successful ensemble numbers.
It should quickly become obvious to anyone who has ever seen a movie, gone to a theme park or watched television that the princesses are not so much concerned with their stories as with how they are treated in pop culture.
The princesses are tired of being weak sex objects who can only be saved by a man’s love. And they certainly don’t want to keep themselves pure or thin, submissive or sexy just to please Prince Charming. Thus the princesses conclude, “We’re so far beyond every cheesy sequel we have spawned” and declare that they are finally free.
Giacino, who is both composer and lyricist, is capable of writing catchy lyrics with equally catchy melodies in a rock/pop/blues tradition. This should keep most people tapping their feet as they laugh their heads off.
* Photo – Michelle Knight, Jenny Lee Stern, Rheaume Crenshaw, and Jaygee Macapugay in “Bitches of the Kingdom”
Posted by Sandi Durell
on July 2, 2012. Filed under Cabaret and Interviews - Sandi Durell,COLUMNS,ENTERTAIMENT,Theatre.
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