Lashed but Not Leashed

Martha Graham Cracker

The SEI Innovation Studio in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is presenting its 5^th World Premiere through March 18, 2017. Dito Van Reigersberg created LASHED BUT NOT LEASHED for his alter-ego, Martha Graham Cracker with collaboration from songwriters and performers Vince Fererici, Eliza Hardy Jones and David Sweeny. Once everyone  is comfortably seated in the intimate setting of the Innovation Studio, Martha Graham Cracker glides up to the stage in a modest skirt and vest, claiming that she has had it with show business and is on her way to study in the library. Shortly after her announcement to this effect, she receives a “special delivery” from the library - flat shoes  to demark her new life.  Members of the audience groan as she takes off her spiked heels, pleading with her not to change her shoes, but after the shoes change, so do her movements, both on stage and off. Once in flat shoes, this “tallest drag queen in the world” can really move. She even bounces off the stage to make moves on some of the men in the audience. She is joined on the stage by back-up singers Eliza Hardy Jones and David Sweeny, very talented in their own right, and a talented three piece band. Martha Graham Cracker is a consummate entertainer and the audience loves her. In a coquettish manner she admits that she has written all the songs herself. Many are filled with innuendo and the audience roars. The songs are entertaining and varied, from slow ballads to catchy, jovial tunes. Many audience members groove right along to the upbeat rhythms. The performance is more than a plethora of original music. It is filled with quotes (attributed to their source) and quips (attributed to herself…”I wrote that!”) and a myriad of laughter from the audience.The performances are BYOB (limited to a bottle of wine or six-pack per two people) so grab yours and contact www.kimmelcenter.org to see if there are any tickets available for the remaining performances.