Fasten your seatbelts, Bette Davis Ain’t For Sissies is an entertaining mindbender. A one-woman stage show, written and performed by Jessica Sherr who transforms into her character, the legendary Hollywood icon, Bette Davis on the night of the 1939 Oscars. Davis arrives home after leaving the banquet hall in the Coconut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel knowing that she would not win the Oscar– but Vivien Leigh will for Gone With The Wind.
After a phone call from her mother, Ruthie Favor Davis, who remained at the banquet hall, Davis rewinds into her past from her start on Broadway, being discovered and sent to Hollywood where, she recalls to her surprise, “that nobody from the studio was there to meet me; a studio employee had waited for me, but left because he saw nobody who “looked like an actress.” She misses her days experiencing a New England autumn– “with overcoats, great big overcoats and not the minks and fur coats that women in California are sweating in,” and her declaration “I have two Oscars– not one, but two,” are but a sampling of chosen recollections during the hour-long show.
Her forthright manner, sharp tongue, no nonsense, outspoken, common sense repartee and brazen observations were regarded as combatitive. On the one hand, it often got Davis in hot water with more than one studio head (Carl Laemmle tried to control her in the early Universal Studios days and her early films were not successful) winding up in court with another, while on the other hand, she often would get the roles she fought for with a big break coming from George Arliss for the female lead in The Man Who Played God.
From Laemmle and William Wyler, to Howard Hughes and Warner (Brothers), Davis had to fight, cajole, compromise, deliver and do it again to remain on top. After all, she had been nominated for ten Best Actress Oscars receiving the Oscar for Dangerous in 1935 and Jezebel in 1938. In her mind, she deserved another Academy Award for Dark Victory and wanted to win– but after leaving the banquet and in her dressing gown, she remarks, “Why stay if I know I’m not going to win?”
Sherr’s fire-hot portrayal of the Bette Davis passion keeps the monologue moving brilliantly as a pre-war, cinema travelogue using the 1940s high fashion as well as luxury lounge wear and undergarments. Sensuous in-and-out of satin slips and black garter costume changes are signals for the next scene of Davis’ internal rollercoaster ride divulging her opinions of people, Hollywood studio and back lot politics tossed out in the snippy-casual remarks Davis was known for.
The Laurie Beechman Theatre, a cabaret venue with full bar and supper club dining set in speak-easy style at the West Bank Cafe, is a perfect place for turning up in 1930s-40s dress as several patrons did. Classy and elegant, one woman came impeccably dressed to the nines sat in front of the stage, an old fashioned cocktail at her fingertips. She saw the show four times already and keeps coming back to be transported into a time and place where Hollywood legends like Bette Davis live on.
Performed by the very talented, Jessica Sherr, Bette Davis Ain’t For Sissies has been selected for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2013. Another show is scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, at 7 p.m. Don’t miss it. You just might get to hear Bette Davis’ famous quote, “Old age is no place for sissies.” Maybe.
This post suggested by guest social columnist, Kitty Hawke, an overview from her perch at the 1939 Oscar Night as a reprint from the Society Page of The Morningstar. Maybe.
05/23/2013
Performance