ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION: THE KINSEY SICKS FOR PRESIDENT PRESS
Washington Post
Kinsey Sicks launch ditzy White House bid in Theater J show
Can dragapella save a presidential campaign that suddenly seems to be hitting the skids, entertainment-wise?
The Kinsey Sicks hope so. The Sicks are four men in
red-white-and-blue drag, a “beautyshop” quartet singing a cappella
parodies. Their new show at Theater J, “Electile Dysfunction: The Kinsey Sicks for President!”,
is a mock political rally pushing the red-meat buttons of the right as
this frisky foursome tries to become the first corporation to win the
White House.
“I’ll defend ya/ From Kenya /Through the millennia,” the
Kinseys sing, with the backup harmonies goofily emphasizing that they
are “Not from Kenya /Not from Kenya.” Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Modern
Major General’s Song” from “The Pirates of Penzance” gets rendered as “I
am the very model of a moderate Republican,” even though the Sicks
gradually agree that “The ‘moderate’ in ‘moderate Republican’ is silent,
like the ‘p’ in ‘psoriasis.’ ”
It’s a show in which Mitt Romney is gleefully referred to as Mitzi. So what’s not to like?
The
non-singing bits, as it turns out. The songs are marvels: They’re
pun-filled and sung in four-part harmony — a capella, let’s remember —
with a good deal of wit in the arrangements. Picture lanky Irwin Keller
as Winnie, dolled up in a conservative skirt and cat’s-eye glasses and
singing the deep “oompah oompah” bass lines in the harmonies. When
Keller’s Winnie lets loose in soulful solos, it’s a hoot. CONTINUE READING
Washingtonian
Theater Review: “Electile Dysfunction: The Kinsey Sicks for President!” at Theater J
The “dragapella” quartet skewers politics in their newest musical comedy show.
By
Sophie Gilbert
Ordinarily, the sight of a troupe of overly made up buffoons decked
in glaring red, white, and blue strutting across a stage declaring that
they’re endorsed by Yahweh would be A) the circus, B) a less-imaginative
Saturday Night Live skit, or C) a South Carolina teen beauty
pageant. Unfortunately, these days it’s just as likely to be a
Republican primary debate. In the past few months alone, we’ve seen
serious presidential contenders endorse the concept of child labor,
excoriate “government injections” (or vaccinations, as some people like
to call them), and declare that government shouldn’t intervene to save
the life of a gravely ill man who is uninsured. In other words, not only
has life come to imitate art, but it’s also kicked art in the shins, slushied it, and stolen its lunch money.
Which makes things hard for the Kinsey Sicks in their new show, currently enjoying its world premiere run at Theater J. In Electile Dysfunction: The Kinsey Sicks for President!,
the girls (Rachel, Winnie, Trampolina, and Trixie) have donned their
patriotic finest (imagine a fusion of the Star-Spangled Banner and
stripper chic) and are announcing their run for president (as a
corporation, naturally). “The economy has collapsed,” declares a video
at the start of the show. “America is in decline.” So the Kinsey
Sicks—America’s “favorite dragapella beautyshop quartet,” in case you
weren’t familiar—have abandoned show business, taken newfound pledges of
celibacy, and thrown their wigs in the ring—as Republicans. CONTINUE READING
Metro Weekly
Riffing on Republicans
The Kinsey Sicks try to be funnier than Michele Bachmann
How could anyone be funnier than Michele Bachmann or Herman Cain?
''I kid you not,'' says Ben Schatz of the Kinsey Sicks, ''there were jokes that we wrote for this show when we first drafted it over the summer that candidates [later] actually said.
''It has been a comedic challenge to be even more extreme than those
we are parodying,'' he continues. ''But I think we have managed.''
In fact, Schatz thinks the latest show from the Sicks, the
self-described ''dragapella beautyshop quartet,'' ''is our best show
yet.''
Electile Dysfunction: The Kinsey Sicks for President!
premieres this weekend at the DC JCC's Goldman Theater. It's essentially
one long GOP presidential campaign rally, in which the Sicks – Schatz
as Rachel, Irwin Keller as Winnie, Jeff Manabat as Trixie and Spencer
Brown as Trampolina – present what Schatz says is ''our rather unique
Republican platform.'' But, according to the group's chief lyricist, to
reveal much more -- even listing titles of parodied songs -- would
''spoil it for the audience.'' Instead, he simply says: ''There are
several unforgettable parodies which will make it impossible for you to
hear the original songs in the same way ever again.'' He also adds that
they managed to work Grover Norquist into a rhyme scheme. CONTINUE READING
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