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Go-Go Kitty, Go!

nytheatre.com review by Gregg Bellon
August 15, 2005

Go-go boots abound at FringeNYC this year—I've seen them on bodacious gams in at least three shows so far—but the numerous pairs used in Theatre B’s Go-Go Kitty, Go! pack the biggest punch… or kick, as it were. Ostensibly an homage to the Russ Meyer B-movie genre (B standing for boobs and babes, in this case), Kitty pumps hilarity, sexuality, and hipness, spiced with a little social commentary to boot out of even the background minutiae of these relics of counterculture brashness.The death of headliner Popo sends the Go-Go Kitties Sugar 36 (Erin Quinn Purcell) and Wanda (Kim Ders) in search of the answers to the mystery surrounding the dead transvestite diva and the involvement of a senator-cum-presidential candidate and his devious campaign manager. Mounting their 2-D choppers, Wanda and Sugar make the most of their full and ample feminine appeal to suss out the intricacies of a back-door political cover-up while a pair of hapless young newshounds “follow the Popo” to the same conclusion. Along the way, a bevy of characters provide opportunities for these kick-ass kitties to exhibit more of that appeal, adding one more B for “brains.”There’s so much more to the story than what I can say in a measly few hundred words, but suffice to say that the scenes and characterizations, captured with such rapturous commitment by the superb cast, sublimate the narrative. Purcell and Greg Jackson, as co-writers, give the ensemble a toy-chest’s worth of sumptuous characters to inhabit and a scenario that winds and weaves from ridiculous to sublime and back, giving us road chases, car crash-and-burns, mind trips, and blow-outs. To single out performances would diminish the impact of the whole, but on opening night, coping with a few technical kinks that that were still working themselves out, a few especially amusing moments allowed for some classic theatre brilliance. Vin Knight, doubling as Popo and Senator Thomas Patrick McDonald, had some shaky moments in a pair of high heels during his opening torch song that he nonetheless performed with spot-on sensual bravado. The finale musical number as sung by Billy, one of Jeremy Brisiel’s many juicy personas, lacked the use of his guitar due to some unforeseen prop mishap but Brisiel picked up the beat and eventually was joined by the entire cast to redeem the number and, in my eyes, solidify the beauty of Go-Go Kitty, Go!The behind-the-scenes team shares in the fun as well. Samuel Buggeln directs with Meyer-esque pacing and tongue-in-cheek. Lee Savage’s scenic design employs a comic book flatness that accentuates the theme. Mark Huang’s sound design becomes another character, providing foley sounds and hilarious backing tracks. And Meganne George’s costume design, along with showcasing some of the show’s greatest “assets,” includes a gorilla in a bikini.Congratulations to Theatre B and all of the Kitties for contributing to the B-movie legacy of full-throttle, tough-as-ya-wanna-be coolness that makes us all still want to jump onto the back of the chopper and hold on for dear life.