"Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad" comes to New Haven
October 12, 2005 by Howard Blas
Mix one part Jewish outreach with equal parts comedy and irreverence and the result is “Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad.”
According to Susannah Perlman, known by such titles as “hostess, ringleader, comedian/chanteuse and Goddess Perlman,” the show is a “refreshing mix of comedy, music,
spoken-word and
show-stopping burlesque, told by the gals who learned to smoke at Hebrew School and got drunk at their bat mitzvahs.”
“Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad” features comedians, musicians, artists and burlesque performers who have been featured on Comedy Central, HBO, MTV and late night TV. Coming to New Haven for a
one-night performance on Oct. 22 will be hostess and producer Susannah Perlman, Ophira Eisenberg (stand up comedian, writer and actor), Vanessa Hidary (spoken word artist and poet who was one of the initial poets taped for HBO’s Def Poetry Jam series), singer/songwriter Michelle Citrin (who has opened for Michelle Branch) and NY burlesque queens Dottie Lux and Darlinda Just Darlinda.
In 2003,
Pittsburgh-born Perlman was performing music, comedy and burlesque shows in the New York area when she began to meet “a lot of women with acts.” Perlman had the idea to put together a show with only women. She approached Heeb Magazine, who agreed to host the first event at Joe’s Pub in New York City.
After a second successful event, Perlman and her female cast began touring and performing before
sold-out crowds on college campuses and in theatres in major cities.
But “Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad” is not likely to be performed at your synagogue dinner or at the next Federation event. The show, reports Perlman, is “very funny, very funky and very eclectic — people expect one thing and they get something else.” These women boldly dare to deconstruct years of tradition, expectations and guilt in a
fast-paced vaudeville extravaganza.
Perlman is excited to be bringing the show to New Haven.
“My family roots run deep in New Haven. My (late) father went to Yale for undergraduate and medical school and my brother went to Yale as an undergraduate. I feel an affinity for the place,” she says, adding, “The gals are thrilled to come to New Haven. This is a special and unique show; even if you are not Jewish, you’ll have a great time watching those crazy yids work it. It’s almost like being a M.O.T (Member of the Tribe) for the night without the guilt, nagging mother and 10 hour seders.”
“Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad” will be performed in New Haven on Saturday, October 22, at 8pm, at the Little Theater, 1 Lincoln Street. Call (203)
404-4816 for tickets or purchase online at
http://www.intickets.com