PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For Immediate Release

---

From Left to Right: Elena Devers, Arthur Crocker, Director Mimi McDonald, Jeremy Zoma, Nina Pilar

We hear a lot about “wokeness” in the heady world of national politics these days. It’s usually pretty serious stuff, with each side slamming the other for either having too much of it, or not having enough. But what happens when you bring that thorny issue down to the common earth of everyday people?

Well, we’re about to find out in a very funny way when Key West’s Red Barn Theatre stages “The Thanksgiving Play” as the third mainstage production of their remarkable 44th season. The show opens March 5 and will run Tuesdays to Saturdays through the 30th.

The play was written by Larissa Fasthorse, a member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, and the first female Native American playwright to have a show on Broadway when it premiered at the Helen Hayes Theatre in New York. It won a Drama League Award in 2023.

It’s a simple premise: a group of white theater nerds meet in an elementary school classroom to put together a dramatic rendition of the Thanksgiving story for their young students – the one we’ve always been told about the Pilgrims and the “Indians” and the turkey and the corn. But when the supposed Indigenous professional actress they hire turns out to be anything but, everything plunges headlong into hilarious absurdity as the hopelessly woke whites try to fashion a play that ultimately has nothing to do with the actual unsavory history of that occasion, and is completely devoid of any insight into a Native American perspective on it.

“It’s very funny,” said director Mimi McDonald. “It brings home how we really don’t know what to do with what actual history – as opposed to the glossed-up stories – tells us really happened. The takeaway is that we’re all just trying to figure things out, and it can get really funny and absurd as we do.”

Fasthorse herself has said she hopes the audience – while entertained by the laughter – will walk away with more questions than answers. But the main point she wants to cut through the laughter is this: “Doing nothing is not adequate anymore,” she says. “Stepping away because it’s too complicated can no longer be considered a part of any kind of solution.” This sentiment is brought to side-splitting life in her show’s audacious climax, which, for the sake of not spoiling the hilarity of it, will not be revealed here.

Entertainment Weekly said the play is “…a good dark comedy that makes you laugh, makes you think, makes you mad, makes your brain explode.” The Hollywood Reporter called it “Very, very funny…”.

Tickets are available at redbarntheatre.com or by calling 305-296-9911 and are already selling quickly. Ticketholders for the March 5 Opening Night will be invited to a catered Opening Night reception with the cast and crew.

“The Thanksgiving Play” is sponsored in part by Key West Compass Realty – Keller Williams, Culture Builds Florida, and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

REVIEW OF POTUS AT THE RED BARN THEATER

by EB aka Ennid Berger | January 31, 2024

https://konklife.com/review-of-potus-at-the-red-barn.../

Photo by Roberta DePiero

POTUS or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive takes the stage at Key West’s historic Red Barn Theater from January 30 – February 24, 2024. First debuting with great reviews on Broadway in 2022, POTUS is an entertaining farce with an excellent ensemble cast including some of Key West’s best actors.

POTUS unfolds in a simple set of an unknown room in the White House (period wallpaper and wainscotting establish the scene). The show revolves around the inept, unnamed and philandering President of the US,. He remains an unseen presence whose unadmirable character and personality are implied by the ongoing chaotic farce.

The comedy sketches that structure the show are hilariously funny interactions among and between the seven women in the excellent cast. Outstanding performances all around, with extra kudos to Susannah Wells, playing Dusty the Dalliance with charm and pizzaz, to Annie Miners, cast as Bernadette, POTUS’ outrageous drug dealing sister, and to Lynn Casamayor as Margaret, POTUS’ first lady., who exudes a powerful presence. POTUS is LOL funny with one liners and comedic interactions from the outstanding cast that also includes George DiBroud as Harriet the chief of staff, Lauren Thompson as Jean the press secretary, Jessicca Kruel as Stephanie the secretary, and Fritzie Estimond as Chris the breast pumping journalist.

The Red Barn’s theatrical presentation of POTUS was directed with great timing and sensitivity by the Red Barn’s Joy Hawkins. It is fast and funny with a sprinkling of obscenity. The show was written by Serena Fillinger, a writer for TV’s The Morning Show. According to Fillinger,. “It’s a story that you could put in any institution, any office, many homes. It’s about systems of oppression and systems of injustice.” POTUS is political, to be sure, but also an absurdist look at a very insular, patriarchal, workplace run, in reality, by the women in the office who try to offset the fumbling and bumbling of the incompetent man who never appears.

PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For Immediate Release

---

Cast of POTUS: Fritzie Estimond, George diBraud, Annie Miners, Lynne Casamayor, Jessica Miano Kruel, Lauren Thompson, & Susannah Wells

NOTICE ABOUT POTUS: This very funny play has language that is irreverent, bawdy, racy, sexual, smutty and gleefully filthy.

The extraordinary songstress Christine Mild will make her long-awaited return to the Red Barn Theatre in Key West with her brand new show, “This One’s For The Girls: Women of Country Music”. The show will run for four nights only, January 17 through 20, at the Red Barn, 319 Duval Street.

Well-known for her wildly-popular production, “Always, Patsy Cline”, Mild will be expanding her repertoire to include the top hits of close to two dozen of country music’s most fabled female artists, running from the classics of the 50’s and 60’s through to the rock-tinged hitmakers of the modern era.

“It really grew out of the ‘Patsy’ shows,” Mild said. “I realized that all the women singers I was listening to are kind of her legacy…she was the blueprint that laid the groundwork for them to become the marquees and bring the glamour. And there’s no denying that each of the women I’m featuring in this new show has done just that.”

Mild will be offering a swath of music from some of the most successful female country artists in history, including, among many others, The Judds, Shania Twain, Tanya Tucker, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Tammy Wynette, Taylor Swift (yes, she was originally a country artist before crossing over), Martina McBride, Little Big Town, The High Women, Casey Musgraves, and of course, the incomparable Loretta Lynn.

“She was an inspiration,” Mild said. “She made me think about these singers and what they went through to get where they are. When you really listen to their songs, they’re filled with what those women think is important. The messages are as profound as the music.”

Mild will be weaving many of those stories into her show, an element that will make the evening much richer. “These women have always lifted each other up, and I think this show will do the same for the audience,” Mild said. “It will be toe-tapping, heartwarming, and inspiring, with songs you’ll all know.”

Mild will have a terrific band backing her up, with musical director Jim Rice on piano, Mike Emerson on guitar, Gary Rivenson on bass, and Gary McDonald on drums. “It’s a great band,” she said. “We’re going to have a blast.”

Tickets for “This One’s For The Girls: Women of Country Music” are available at redbarntheatre.com or 305-296-9911. It is highly recommended that tickets be purchased early, as Mild’s shows always sell out. Sponsored in part by Culture Builds Florida, and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For Immediate Release

---

The extraordinary songstress Christine Mild will make her long-awaited return to the Red Barn Theatre in Key West with her brand new show, “This One’s For The Girls: Women of Country Music”. The show will run for four nights only, January 17 through 20, at the Red Barn, 319 Duval Street.

Well-known for her wildly-popular production, “Always, Patsy Cline”, Mild will be expanding her repertoire to include the top hits of close to two dozen of country music’s most fabled female artists, running from the classics of the 50’s and 60’s through to the rock-tinged hitmakers of the modern era.

“It really grew out of the ‘Patsy’ shows,” Mild said. “I realized that all the women singers I was listening to are kind of her legacy…she was the blueprint that laid the groundwork for them to become the marquees and bring the glamour. And there’s no denying that each of the women I’m featuring in this new show has done just that.”

Mild will be offering a swath of music from some of the most successful female country artists in history, including, among many others, The Judds, Shania Twain, Tanya Tucker, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood, Tammy Wynette, Taylor Swift (yes, she was originally a country artist before crossing over), Martina McBride, Little Big Town, The High Women, Casey Musgraves, and of course, the incomparable Loretta Lynn.

“She was an inspiration,” Mild said. “She made me think about these singers and what they went through to get where they are. When you really listen to their songs, they’re filled with what those women think is important. The messages are as profound as the music.”

Mild will be weaving many of those stories into her show, an element that will make the evening much richer. “These women have always lifted each other up, and I think this show will do the same for the audience,” Mild said. “It will be toe-tapping, heartwarming, and inspiring, with songs you’ll all know.”

Mild will have a terrific band backing her up, with musical director Jim Rice on piano, Mike Emerson on guitar, Gary Rivenson on bass, and Gary McDonald on drums. “It’s a great band,” she said. “We’re going to have a blast.”

Tickets for “This One’s For The Girls: Women of Country Music” are available at redbarntheatre.com or 305-296-9911. It is highly recommended that tickets be purchased early, as Mild’s shows always sell out. Sponsored in part by Culture Builds Florida, and the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

PRESS RELEASE
For further information, call: Bob Bowersox at 302-540-6102

For Immediate Release

---

Anywhere else but Key West, saying “Life’s a Drag” would be considered a bummer. But in Key West, it’s life as usual.

Some of Key West’s most popular entertainment are the drag shows that line Duval Street. The Drag Queens and Kings that perform there nightly are the heart and soul of our tiny island, whether entertaining, working community events and projects, or appearing at charitable events.

The Red Barn Theatre will be fully embracing and honoring this unique entertainment as they’ve chosen “Life’s A Drag!” as the theme for their annual fundraiser this year. The Barn’s party of the season will take place at The Oldest House, 322 Duval, on Sunday, January 14, from 6-9 pm. Tickets are $150 and include a cornucopia of food, drink, and over-the-top entertainment.

The always-popular QMitch will emcee a star-studded Drag show, produced by drag icon Elle Taylor, and featuring performances by Epiphany, Jessica Deveraux, Queen Mother, and Elle, and there are hints at a special star performer also dropping in.

There will be an open bar, a huge buffet catered by Destination Catering, a wine tasting provided by Breakthru Beverage, and a silent auction put together by Susie’s Estates.

An added bit of fun: the world-famous Bourbon Street Pub Red Shoe from the New Year’s celebration will also be there, and guests of the Gala will have the opportunity to have their picture taken sitting in the shoe.

Tickets are available at redbarntheatre.com, at the Barn’s box office at 319 Duval Street.