Review: ACES! at Oscar's Cabaret

I was in a pageant when I was 18. I didn't want to be, my friends talked me into it, I was adamantly opposed. However, we had just moved from the south Chicago suburbs to the north side of Chicago proper, and I missed my friends, so I said yes.

I was a terrible contestant. I didn't show up for rehearsals, and I was always sneaking out back to smoke cigarettes with my new fast friend, whatsername. I did, however, win the talent competition for a comic rendering of the song Hard Hearted Hannah. But quite honestly, there was nothing about me that had even a whiff of future Miss Thornton Township let alone the big crown.

Not so for the ladies in Aces! the new one act comedy written by Davis Gordon Gilbert running Thursdays and Fridays at Oscar's Cabaret during March. These six characters are not only former Miss Texases, but they all won the coveted crown of Miss USA in succession.

Based in fact with dialogue that is entirely historical fiction, the plot is simple: five ladies are doing a live TV reunion special with another former winner (Denise Strand/Kim) as our emcee. As the champagne flows during lengthy commercial breaks, heartfelt "poor me" stories flood the stage with quite a bit of eye rolling from the other winners. They manage to maintain an air of pageantry while taking well-placed jabs at each other.

Here's the "fundown" of our beauties: Dana Adkins as Laura, the Hispanic former winner whose accent becomes more prominent the more champagne she drinks. It's a big and fun portrayal by Adkins who I believe actually was also in a pageant, but likely did a lot better than I did.

Kitty Murray, also the producer of the show, plays Christie who has "deep trauma" that she continuously references not wanting to talk about as she puts on a beautiful, sad face talking about how she doesn't want to talk about it. Murray never wavers from her character's dramatic dignity, and gives us another fun performance.

Denise Carey as Courtney is kind of the "ditz" in the group. Of all the beauty queens she manages to maintain the most decorum while also giving us a vapid doe-eyed Bambi just short of not knowing what's going on around her. You can see her giving one of those roundabout answers contestants give when they have zero clue what they've just been asked.

Christine Tringali Nunes is bad girl Gretchen. She doesn't seem to take anything seriously, and it seems like she might be right at home riding a bucking bull machine in a Texas honky tonk a la Urban Cowboy.

Yo Younger gives us a very put out Michelle who is the brunt of one of Gretchen's stories, which becomes a recurring joke throughout the show. If there is a voice of reason, it would be Michelle. Of all the ladies, Michelle would be the one that functions the best in the real world.

There is also the voice from the booth (the night I attended it was Bonnie Gilgallon) that becomes the final joke of the show, and it's a good joke. All of the actors give us fun performances, and the packed house was giddy and ready to play along.

The set consists of massive crowns on pillars behind the ladies, but the true star of the set is the ladies' dresses which I am told came directly from Murray's closet (save one). They're all stunners with mirrors, sequins, and feathers adorning various dress-styles on the actors.

At its simplest, director Judith Chapman has created a a ribald evening of glitz, glitter and ten gallon egos with the crowd taking their "job" as the studio audience seriously when they (as the flashing light suggests) "Hoot and Holler." It's all very good fun, and I can see it becoming a favorite for bachelorette parties, or boys night out with the audience also dressing in gowns and tiaras. It could even work for a boozy brunch.

At its most complex - well, it's not complex at all, but it does have some moments of wisdom that stay with you like Michelle's bon mot from the very popular writer "Unknown": "A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey, but a woman of strength knows it is in the journey where she will become strong."

Anne Richards would be proud.

Production credits

Producer: Kitty Murray & Kitlyn Productions

Director: Judith Chapman

Cast

Denise Strand: Kim

Dana Adkins: Laura

Kitty Murray: Christie

Yo Younger: Michelle

Courtney: Denise Carey

Gretchen: Christine Tringali Nunes

Design & Crew:

Set design: Bruce Weber

Light design: Mariah Pryor

Sound Design: Kelly McGuire

Stage Manager: Stella Evans

Photographer: Corlyce Oliveri