Pinky Swear Productions wants you to know three things about their new musical Cabaret XXX: Love the One You’re With.
One: They’re loud and you’re going to get your money’s worth. And they’ve set the bar high. Last year their show Cabaret XXX: Femme Fatales won the Fringe Choice: Best Musical at theatermania.com.
They work to prove themselves from the moment people walk into the theater. Their band (who used to be their exes, but were replaced once they decided that was weird) play Beatles music as the girls give the willing and the convinced temporary tattoos and chat with each other and the audience. At one point I saw them tattoo a pregnant woman’s belly.
Two: They can see you. So don’t look at your phones. Ever. At one point Allyson Harkey, the self-proclaimed bitch of the show, takes her cast mate Karen’s phone and gives it to an audience member for safe keeping. By the time the show started the threat seemed idle, who would want to look at their phones when they could look at the Pinky Swear girls?
The only thing that overshadows their good natured banter and snide comments towards the audience is their actual performances. They’re really good; a mix of bluesy and punk rock that everyone can enjoy. One notable performance was Christina Frank singing Gnarls Barkley, accompanying herself on the acoustic guitar before being joined by the exes.
Be warned: this isn’t a family show, there is a rousing performance of “Like a Virgin” dedicated to masturbation complete with props, and the ladies are gloriously, unapologetically, raunchy. Imagine Glee on steroids. And HBO. They power through thirteen musical numbers, ranging from Paul McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” to Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer”, sometimes inviting audience members onstage to play doctor.
The girls do understand if you’re shy though, although they will call you out on it, no hard feelings!
The last thing they want you to know? They’re not so angry anymore. Except for maybe Allyson. The other girls have other things to think about. They explore the different types of love they’re in, whether it be unrequited or love with one’s self.
Karen Lange addresses unrequited love, continually talking about her “friend’s” ex-boyfriend and convincingly showing the mix of hurt and hope so many of us have felt after a relationship’s demise. Allyson Harkey shows how to love oneself and take responsibility for your actions, something “even bitches have to do.”
Pinky Swear Productions is almost a punk rock version of “Sex and the City”. Four wonderfully different personalities, all genuinely relatable and likable. They all have their faults, but are so confident they, and no one else,don’t seem to care.
Cabaret XXX: Love the One You’re With was a joy to watch. Men in the audience seemed to enjoy it as well, but who wouldn’t enjoy these girls?
Cabaret XXX: Love the One You’re With has 6 performances at the Baldaccino Gypsy Tent, Fort Fringe, 607 New York Ave NW, Washington, DC.
Annie rates this 4 out of 5
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