June 7 – 23 at Mid-City Theatre
3540 Toulouse Street
Tickets: $20 – $25 at MidCityTheatre.com or 504-488-1460

Note: Our opening performance on Friday, June 7 is hosted by the Mystic Krewe of Satyricon! For tickets to that show only, please call 504-252-5476.

Join Running With Scissors as they travel back in time to the Civil War, to the crumbling, dilapidated mansion that houses the French Finishing School for Little Confederate Women. Once a font of gentility and etiquette, it’s now little more than a reform school, chock-full of the bawdiest, cattiest, downright orneriest gals (Kyle Daigrepont, Lisa Picone, Dorian Rush) the South has ever seen, lorded over by spinster sisters Flossie and Fannie French (Brian Peterson, Yvette Hargis)!

Into their midst stumbles a seemingly innocent Union soldier (Jack Long), wounded at a nearby battle. He’s taken in and nursed, but what will all those women do with him when he’s well enough to walk again? Will he make it out alive? Will they? HELL’S BELLES is Southern Gothic at its sassiest.

(Fun fact: HELL’S BELLES was inspired by the 1971 Clint Eastwood film, THE BEGUILED, which was filmed just upriver from New Orleans at Ashland Belle-Helene plantation!)

HELL’S BELLES runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 6pm from June 7 – 23. Tickets are $25 on Fridays and Saturdays, and $20 on Sundays. Reserve yours today by visiting MidCityTheatre.com or calling 504-488-1460.

THREE SHOWS ONLY: MARCH 15 – 17, 2013!
Friday & Saturday at 8pm * Sunday at 6pm
Mid-City Theatre * 3540 Toulouse Street
Tickets: $20 at 504-488-1460 or MidCityTheatre.com

(Note: The opening performance on Friday, March 15 is hosted by the Mystic Krewe of Satyricon. For tickets to that show only, please call 504-252-5476)

Join Running With Scissors’ cast of theatre misfits as they visit the racy, lacy boudoir/cabaret of taste-maker extraordinare, Kiki Le Bonbon. You’ll guffaw, gasp, and blush as Bob Edes Jr., May Hemmer, Jack Long, Harry Mayronne Jr., Brian Peterson, Dorian Rush, and Miss Viola show off their huge…talents. We’ll dance, we’ll sing, we’ll tell some dirty jokes, and if you’re very, very good, we’ll even read some bedtime stories. For three special nights, we’re going to let it all hang out!

Last week, we told you about some of our cast and crew and what they’re up to this holiday season. But Running With Scissors has worked with so many outstanding actors over 11 years of doing Grenadine McGunkle’s Double-Wide Christmas, we couldn’t fit them all into one email! Here are a few more updates from our fabulously functional family:

Debbie Davis says, “I’m neck-deep in holiday gigs — 27 in 15 days! They’re all listed on my website at DebbieDavisMusic.com. I’m also still doggedly promoting and shilling my solo record, It’s Not the Years, It’s the Miles, which just got a four-star review in Downbeat Magazine. I’m starting a tuba/ukulele duo project with my husband, Matt Perrine; loving on my kids (who are now 5 and 9, by the way!); and enjoying the newest additions to our family, Daisy Mae and Cosimo. I think of the Running With Scissors family every winter and long for our salad days in the Everlasting Arms Motor Park.”

Bob Edes Jr. is appearing in two of our favorite one-act plays: Titanic and The Actor’s Nightmare, both by Christopher “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You” Durang. Catch the final performances this weekend, in Tulane’s Lupin Theatre. Shows are Friday and Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets are just $15, or $10 for students and seniors, at TitanicNOLA.Eventbrite.com. And stay tuned: in February, Bob will star in Promethean’s production of Equus!

Donald Lewis remains one of the busiest and most in-demand actors in New Orleans. This month, you can catch him in Southern Rep’s production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Performances run through next weekend at the CAC, so get crackin’, one and all!

Ashley Ricord Santos is havin’ his baybay — and by “his”, we mean Ashley’s hubby, the equally talented but significantly taller actor, Michael Aaron Santos. That’s super awesome, but it would’ve been even awesomer (note: probably not a word) if we’d had Ashley onstage this December, playing China Louise Maybelle Lurleen Pitts, with a faded Branson, Missouri t-shirt stretched over her real baby bump. Oh, well: shoulda, woulda, coulda. Ashley and Michael’s undoubtedly exceptional little one is due around December 27th. Hopefully, the tyke will be just as prompt and accommodating as mom and dad.

Dwayne Sepcich Jr. is in rehearsal for everyone’s favorite puppet-based sex romp/musical comedy, Avenue Q (opening in January at JPAS)! He’s also working at the front desk of a hotel in the French Quarter, which isn’t quite the same as playing the exotic-dancing son of Gladys Finkelstein, but hey, it pays the bills.

And that about does it for us. Have a very happy holiday season, and we hope to see each and every one of you in the new year!

Howdy, y’all!

As you’ve probably figured out, we’re not able to do our annual holiday show, GRENADINE MCGUNKLE’S DOUBLE-WIDE CHRISTMAS, this year. (New Orleans could use a few more venues, hint, hint!) But that doesn’t mean that Running With Scissors’ cast and crew are sitting at home, twiddling their thumbs, watching re-runs of Hee-Haw, and dreaming of what might’ve been!

Want to know what we’re up to? Here are a few Chriskwaanzukkah updates, right from our horses’ mouths:

Brad Caldwell: “I’ll be finding time to concentrate on my artwork and carpentry, which folks can follow at Facebook.com/BJCaldwellArt. I’m also producing Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET with The NOLA Project at the New Orleans Museum of Art. The show closes next weekend, December 16!”

Kyle Daigrepont & Lisa Picone are trodding the boards and hauling in the laughs in THE PECAN CRACKER at Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts. Performances run December 7 – 23, with shows at 7:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00pm on Sundays. Please join ‘em!

Jack Long: “While Jack is a little sad that he won’t have another show-stopping, star-making, heart-stealing turn as Helen Highwater in GRENADINE MCGUNKLE’S DOUBLE-WIDE CHRISTMAS this holiday season, he’s going to be very busy in rehearsals for SHUT UP, SWEET CHARLOTTE with Varla Jean Merman and Ricky Graham, along with some young up-and-comer named Brian Peterson. (Ed. note: They open December 29th at the Mid-City Theatre. Keep the date clear.) In the meantime, he’s receiving invitations to a dizzying round of holiday parties. Most are being accepted but he’s had to decline Miss Angie Dickinson and Miss Joanne Worley. Those two get a little eggnog in their systems and oy — guard your knickers, fellas! Follow Jack on Twitter at @nojackla and ‘friend’ him on Facebook (because he’s really needy like that).”

Elizabeth Pearce just finished co-writing (with Richard Read and Allison Alsup) a field guide to drinking in French Quarter. As you might expect, she’s now busy leading entertaining, educating, intoxicating Cocktail Tours every Friday at 6:00pm. For more info and to book tickets, visit TheCocktailTour.com. Join her for a round!

Todd Perley “has been a fan, sycophant, and stalker of various RWS cast members since their almost-maiden voyage, THE SCOOBY WITCH PROJECT, in 2000. You haven’t seen him on stage, as he loathes being overshadowed by people with real talent. But perhaps you’ve seen some of his video work in MILDRED DEAREST and last year’s GRENADINE. He’s currently planning short film projects with several of the Scissor thespians, coming soon to a YouTube near you!”

Brian Peterson is as busy as ever, with not one, but two shows in the works! You’ll find him first in THE PECAN CRACKER at Rivertown. Performances run December 7 – 23, with shows at 7:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00pm on Sundays. A week after that closes, Brian shifts his attention to Mid-City Theatre, where he’ll appear alongside Jack Long, Varla Jean Merman, Ricky Graham, Michael Sullivan, and more fabulous folks for the hilarious SHUT UP, SWEET CHARLOTTE. Shows run December 29 through January 19!

Richard Read is going to spend the holidays seeing his friends’ fabulous shows and generally taking it easy after a busy fall. If you want to catch him live and in person (and of course you do), come to HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS, a concert benefiting the Daniel Price Fund for Aspiring Artists at House of Blues on Friday, December 21. And be on the lookout for a new book that Richard co-authored with Allison Alsup and fellow Scissor Elizabeth Pearce. It’s all about getting hammered in the French Quarter. Like they say: write about what you know.

Dorian Rush: “I’ll be taking this time to relax, but mostly to write. I’ll be working on a series of short scripts, then filming them with the delightful Todd Perley. I’ll also be working in tandem with Mr. Peterson on a cabaret featuring the amazing cheese-filled music of the 70′s. (ABBA will be involved.)”

Liz Zibilich: “I’m busy gearing up for an early Mardi Gras with custom costume accessory design with Crafty L’il Devil Designs and marching with the Noisician Coalition (expect to see us at a parade or two), all while holding down a full time job as a jeweler during the holidays and working on a budding music career playing the banjo ukulele. (Yes, it’s a thing.) I’m currently learning to play the GRENADINE MCGUNKLE holiday classic, ‘The Year Mama Burned the Bird’!”

Have a very happy holiday season and a great new year. We’ll see y’all in lucky 2013!

Travel back in time — before the internet, before television, before Americans knew words like OMG and LOL and Kardashian. Join us in this heady era, when queens were queens and radio was king, as the Running With Scissors Radio Players present a hilarious, action-packed double-bill: AN ALIEN HOME COMPANION & THE TITANIC COMEDY HOUR!

In its characteristically camped-up style, Running With Scissors has reimagined these two cinematic blockbusters — ALIEN and TITANIC — as radio plays, performed by a dedicated troupe of young(ish) starlets, Broadway washouts, and at least one diabolical diva. Watch as this motley mob of half-baked hacks drags listeners to the furthest reaches of the universe to fight a surprisingly civilized alien menace. Tag along onboard the Titanic, as they tell a tawdtry tale of class warfare, forbidden love, and Celine Dion. Will these beloved cinematic stories change in Running With Scissors’ hands? Darned tootin’ they will — and how!

AN ALIEN HOME COMPANION & THE TITANIC COMEDY HOUR stars Kyle Daigrepont, Jack Long, Brian Peterson, Lisa Picone, Richard Read, and Dorian Rush. Performances will be held at the AllWays Theatre, 2240 St. Claude Avenue, at the corner of Marigny Street. Shows run Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 6pm for two weekends only: June 21 – July 1. Tickets are $20 on Fridays and Saturdays, $15 on Sundays.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER TICKETS NOW
OR CALL 504-218-5778!
Tickets $20 (Fri & Sat) and $15 (Sun)

Note: The Mystic Krewe of Satyricon hosts an opening performance on Thursday, June 21. For tickets to that show only, please call 504 943-6910.

Running With Scissors returns to Hogwalla county for a musical celebration of turkey, tinsel, and trailer parks in…

GRENADINE MCGUNKLE’S DOUBLE-WIDE CHRISTMAS!
A high camp holiday musical extravaganza
Fridays and Saturdays, December 2 – 24 at 7pm
One Eyed Jacks, 615 Toulouse Street

CLICK HERE TO ORDER TICKETS NOW, Y’ALL!
All seats: $20

Note: The Mystic Krewe of Satyricon will host the opening performance on Friday, December 2.
For tickets to that show only, please call 504 525 4498.

* * * * *

Haul out the holly, the ham hocks, and the hairspray, y’all: after a two-year hiatus, Running With Scissors is moseying back to the Everlasting Arms Motor Park for another heaping helping of holiday hijinks in Grenadine McGunkle’s Double-Wide Christmas!

It’s seven o’clock on Christmas Eve, and the unofficial queen of the trailer park, Grenadine McGunkle (Dorian Rush), is running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Company’s due to arrive in less than an hour for Grenadine’s interfaith potluck barbecue, and our poor little ol’ gal hasn’t even started the green bean casserole yet!

Will Grenadine’s neighbors, Madge and Helen (Elizabeth Pearce and Jack Long), lend our heroine a hand? Did Grenadine’s cousins/step-sisters Crystal and China (Lisa Picone and Ashley Ricord) really get run out of Branson, Missouri? Why has Mrs. Finkelstein (Brian Peterson) been spending so much time down at Hooters? Has Punkin (Brad Caldwell) finally found true love? And land sakes, where is Mailman Johnny’s (Bob Edes Jr.) ex-wife shacking up? Find out this December as Running With Scissors makes a mad dash for musical merriment at One Eyed Jacks!

Grenadine McGunkle’s Double-Wide Christmas features:

Dorian Rush as Grenadine McGunkle, maven of the motor park
Elizabeth Pearce as Madge McGillicuddy, nicotine aficionado and accompanist
Lisa Picone & Ashley Ricord as Crystal & China, alleged entertainers
Bob Edes Jr. as Mailman Johnny Shoemake, who delivers the mail
Jack Long as Helen Highwater, a girl who should really know better
Brad Caldwell as Punkin, a confirmed bachelor
Brian Peterson as Gladys Finkelstein, everyone’s favorite neighbor

Grenadine McGunkle’s Double-Wide Christmas plays at 7pm on December 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, and 24 at One Eyed Jacks, 615 Toulouse Street, in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter. All tickets are $20 (general admission) and can be purchased by clicking here or by calling 504 606 9903.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER TICKETS NOW, Y’ALL!
All seats: $20

THE GOLDEN GIRLS
Six shows only!
Thursday, October 20 at 8pm
Friday, October 21 at 8pm & 10pm
Saturday, October 22 at 8pm & 10pm
Sunday, October 23 at 6pm
All tickets $25

Southern Rep, 365 Canal Street, 3rd Floor, Shops at Canal Place
Call 504 522 6545 or VISIT SOUTHERNREP.COM TO ORDER TICKETS NOW!

New Orleans legend Ricky Graham joins Running With Scissors’ own Brian Peterson, Butch Caire, Jack Long, and Dorian Rush, plus San Francisco’s acclaimed Heklina and Cookie Dough to present The Golden Girls! We’ve cracked open the vault and pulled out two classic episodes of the long-running TV show, and we’re performing them onstage as part of The City Series at Southern Rep, located on the 3rd floor of the Shops at Canal Place.

Spend an evening with us and relive the comic highs and fashion lows of the 1980s: the floral prints, the pastels, the sequins (oh, God, the sequins!). And we promise with twice the Cosby sweaters and twice the laughs.

If you saw our Golden Girls production from 2010, you know the high-camp hijinks we’ve got in store. But remember: these shows are likely to sell out early, so please order your tickets in advance!

Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by calling 504 522 6545 or visiting  www.SouthernRep.com. (Let us validate your parking ticket, and you’ll pay just $2 for four hours of parking in the Canal Place garage.)

Purchase tickets now: CLICK HERE!

Opening at K-Joe’s restaurant in the French Quarter July 15, New Orleans Down the Hatch: A Cabaret in Two Cocktails celebrates the history of New Orleans through an evening of song and tasty cocktails. The show, nominated for the Big Easy Award for Best Cabaret in 2010, stars some Running With Scissors regulars, including Big Easy Theatre Person of the Year Bob Edes and New Orleans culinary historian Elizabeth Pearce. Tinkling the ivories, you’ll find the lovely and talented pianist Jim Walpole.

First opening last year at Le Chat Noir, Bob and Elizabeth take the audience through the history of New Orleans as told through two of its signature drinks: the Sazerac and the Hurricane. Audience members will enjoy each drink while hearing about the people that gave the city its distinctive character, the abundant speakeasies during Prohibition, and how a lack of whiskey during WWII led to the creation of one of New Orleans most popular drinks. Audiences are sure to be delighted by this show, which Will Coviello of the Gambit dubbed “a gleeful celebration of all things alcoholic…effortlessly entertaining.”

The show will run Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm from July 15 through July 23 at K-Joe’s, 720 St. Louis in New Orleans’ historic French Quarter. Tickets are $25 and includes a free Sazerac and Hurricane for each audience member.

Purchase tickets now: CLICK HERE!

(Note: tickets can also be purchased at the door, pending availability.)

Want more info? Check this video clip taken from a performance at Le Chat!

About the cast

A regular on New Orleans’ stages, Bob Edes is one of the Crescent City’s most sought after actors. He has been awarded multiple Big Easy Best Actor Awards and was named 2010 New Orleans Theater Person of the Year. He frequently performs with the Running With Scissors theatre company.

Elizabeth Pearce is a culinary historian, regularly giving presentations and tours showcasing New Orleans history. She directs the hearth cooking program at the Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses in the French Quarter and is a Senior Curator at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. She is also a member of Running with Scissors theatre company.

Jim Walpole is a classically trained pianist. He has performed in and directed musical events in theatres and other venues throughout New Orleans. Since 2003, he has served as President of Guild of Le Petit Theatre de Vieux Carre, one of the oldest theatres in the United States.

Purchase tickets for “New Orleans Down the Hatch” now by clicking here!

Running With Scissors presents…
MILDRED DEAREST
A side-splitting send-up of mommies, daughters, dirt, and dry cleaners

June 10 – 26 at Cabaret Le Chat Noir
Visit www.CabaretLeChatNoir.com or call 504 581 5812!

Clean your rooms and scrub those floors: Running With Scissors declares war on dirt and dull evenings with a knock-down, drag-out tribute to one of Hollywood’s greatest legends in MILDRED DEAREST!

Thirty years after the hammy, glammy movie debut of Christina Crawford’s tell-all memoir, MOMMIE DEAREST, Running With Scissors brings Joan Crawford back to life in a comedy about Tinseltown’s hardest-working actress. At the ripe old age of 38, Joan is faced with a shrinking number of roles and an ego that just keeps growing. Finally, she catches a break and scores the lead in MILDRED FIERCE — a role that’s sure to win her an Academy Award. But the shimmer of Joan’s Oscar statuette soon tarnishes, and no amount of scrubbing can restore its sparkle.

Gasp in horror as Joan tries to fill the void in her life with babies and beefcake (not necessarily in that order)! Sob as she showers daughter and son with love and party dresses, only to be shunned! Will Joan manage to stay astride the bucking bronco of superstardom? Or will she end up bitter and abandoned on a beach somewhere in Southern California? Tune in this June and find out!

THE IMPORTANT STUFF

MILDRED DEAREST stars Brad Caldwell, Jack Long, and Lisa Picone, with Dorian Rush as Christina and Brian Peterson as Joan Crawford. Costumes are by Kent Roby, props by Liz Zibilich, video by Todd Perley, and sets by Brad Caldwell. The show was adapted by the cast from the movie MILDRED PIERCE (the 1945 original, obviously), the book and movie MOMMIE DEAREST, and a handful of well-known Hollywood flicks — with and without Miss Crawford.

MILDRED DEAREST runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 6pm, from June 10 – June 26. All performances are at Cabaret Le Chat Noir, located at 715 St. Charles Avenue, in the heart of New Orleans’ arts district. (Off-street parking is available.) Tickets are $26 Fridays and Saturdays or $21 Sundays, and can be purchased at www.CabaretLeChatNoir.com or by calling 504 581 5812.

(NOTE: The opening performance on Friday, June 10 is hosted by the Mystic Krewe of Satyricon. For tickets to that performance only, please call 504 525 4498.)

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