Just Try to 'Hush Up' at Dramashop's Latest
Friday, Mar. 1
After hitting some major high notes with dramas like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and January's The Humans, The Dramashop stage is happy to present a full-tilt comedy with Hush Up, Sweet Charlotte, a Director's Circle Production. The show is a deliciously wicked send-up of the Bette Davis/Olivia de Havilland flick Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte, an already borderline-ridiculous Southern Gothic from the 1960s.
"Hush Up stays true to the original screenplay, without changing any of the dialogue … add some innuendo, sight gags, and outrageous costumes and bits, it easily adapts from psycho-biddy drama to comedy," said Michael Weiss, Hush Up's director and the founder of the former Director's Circle Theatre, the original occupant of the Renaissance Centre's second-floor space, which Dramashop now calls home.
With the addition of the two leads, Charlotte and her cousin Miriam, portrayed by men in drag (for this production, that would be Buddy Pacy and Rod Williams) and the aforementioned
"Innuendo…sight gags…outrageous costumes"…wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity — you are clearly wondering — to crank up the metaphorical dial about as far as it can go?
Yes. The answer is yes.
One wonders how the cast and crew keeps a straight face throughout. "The first time we did the 'dining room' scene in costume and makeup, it took us nearly an hour to get through it," Weiss related.
He went on, "It is great to be back in a place I built from scratch…I have a lot of good memories from there, and I'm so glad that Zach Flock and Dramashop have kept the space alive.
"When I saw the set they had built for The Humans," Weiss continued, "I knew it would be ideal for the resurrection of Charlotte."
Who says you can't go home again? We are all set to be so glad Weiss did with this very special event. — Cara Suppa
March 1-10, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. // 1001 State Street, Suite 210 // $12 online, $15 at the door // dramashop.org
