Last February, David Drake burned up the stage at the Laurie Beechman here in New York with his newest creation, Tawny Heatherton, a free spirit cabaret singer with a threadbare connection to that other famous Heatherton (Joey). Treading on some of the same ground that others have done before, Drake poises Tawny as not just a 'has been" but more of a "never was". But there's more of a joyful awareness of her lot in life and that makes all the difference, and probably one of the main reasons that Tawny has exploded onto the scene in the past year.
Kiki and Herb of course made huge names for themselves with this concept and Dina Martina followed up turning the joke on it's side, inverting it and running for the hills with it.
While the joke with Kiki was that she was a miserable old drunk and the joke with Dina is that she's completely clueless, Tawny just sort of gently massages the joke and take her audience into a more positive, upbeat space.
At the end of the show you're not really laughing at someone who's just a dismal failure, but laughing with someone who's found a way to find the best side of truly dismal life situations.
And in our cynical world, that makes all the difference and probably one of the main reasons that Cape Cod Magazine named Tawny as one of their People of the Year. (congrats David!)
Whether appearing for a nano second in BEAR CITY 2 or making the rounds at the bars (she'll be dropping by at the January 10th Bingo to wish Mark Schulte a happy birthday and give away some tix to her show), it looks like we're squarely in the Age of Tawny.. and I'm OK with that! :)
Plus, Drake has a rockin bod and even in a dress, looks infinitely fuckable (which definitely helps admirers stay cheery). (Yeah, I know, I stayed classy til the last minute but I just couldn't keep it up.. er so to speak).
Tawny's newest run starts in just a week for three consecutive Saturdays at 7:30 - Jan 12th, Jan 19th and Jan 26th. Last year Tawny's show sold out so fast that producer Chip Duckett added extra nights.
The night I went, the place was so jam packed that it was literally standing room only. That's quite a feat. You can check which nights are still available by clicking here to the Spin Cycle website and there you can get tickets and see if nights have been added.
Tix are $20 plus a $15 food/drink minimum which shouldn't be a problem since the Beechman has a great menu to choose from. Enjoy!
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