Ryan Landry and The Gold Dust Orphans’ reputation for busting taboos, conjuring up brilliantly funny stories about current events and fighting the crime of political correctness remains fully intact with “The Ebonic Woman”. Crash landing in NYC on her invisible jet, the show had a very special weekend run at the historical Theatre 80 on St Marks Place. The theatre itself was established during Prohibition staging everything from Shakespeare to edgy works alike and The Gold Dust Orphans call it home whenever they have a production in Gotham City.
The Gold Dust Orphans are an award winning Vaudeville style theatre troupe founded by ringleader Ryan Landry in 1995. Bouncing between audiences in Boston, P-Town and NYC, their bawdy parodies and hysterical repurposing of pop culture phenomena and political satire makes for some must see theater. See schedule of upcoming shows at www.theatre80.wordpress.com/
Last Friday, I was able to score tickets to “The Ebonic Woman” and left the show with a sore jaw from smiling so much. No-one was spared in this classic super hero style showdown between good and evil. Set in troubled Lynn, Massachusetts, the musical featured a quirky cast of colorful characters including young scientist “Hennessy Brown”, members of “The White Ladies Paranoid Society”, some c-list superheroes and super villain “Bald Eagle” (aka Donald Trump) to name a few. The show is a ferocious exploration of racism in America and the cages we build up and around one another to maintain false “harmony”.
Aside from the genius pun drenched character names like “Cliff Hanger” and presidential hopeful “Ivy League”, the ensemble spends a glorious amount of time trashing our current president and all of the flubs, gaffes and monstrosities associated with his much maligned administration. Relentless and revolutionary, this Ryan Landry production continues his legacy of irreverent theater that is surely needed in these wacky times. Learn more about The Gold Dust Orphans and their upcoming productions at www://golddustorphans.org/
