Author: Emily Jensen
Brandon Baruch (senior) and his cast of six are about to change the way you think about the classic Cinderella story. The tired old tale of rags to riches has been retold and revamped countless times since its creation and it’s hard to get excited about one more rendition of the poor little orphan girl’s rise to success. But what if that poor little orphan girl was instead a down-on-his luck gay man who runs a back hair removal business out of his New York apartment, whose fairy godmother was a vibrant old Jewish man with plenty of back hair and Prince Charming a neurotic Jewish publicist? And what if that timeless tale of a man rescuing a helpless, oppressed woman from her tragic life as a scullery maid morphed into an epic love story between two men? The dream comes true in You Should Be So Lucky.
In this dynamic, zany comedy, playwright and legendary drag queen Charles Busch strays from his usual affinity for the campy excess of past plays such as Vampire Lesbians of Sodom and leans more towards kitsch.
“I abhor camp in its purest form. I adore kitsch,” said Baruch. “One of the things I really love about this play is that the story behind it is very touching-all of the characters are very big, but they’re very believable.”
Because none of the students involved in the production, from director to cast to crew, are receiving college credit for their work on the play, each person involved is especially self-motivated and passionate about the show.
“When I go to rehearsal, it is like going to a two-hour play date with my best friends,” said cast member Megan Becker (junior.)
But it’s not all just fun and games – You Should Be So Lucky also bears some rare political significance. While many of the plays put on by the Theater Department in the last four years have touched on homosexuality, You Should Be So Lucky will be the first full play to feature gay main characters.
“This play presents homosexual relationships without the heterocentric bias that I feel pervades a lot of our culture,” Baruch said.
Come witness the making of history at Keck Theater on either Tuesday, April 24 or Wednesday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.
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