The Fabulous Kane Sisters in Box Office Poison

Word is most definitely out about this deliciously fun campfest, currently selling out its dates at the Fringe Festival (and assumedly destined to return in September as part of the Fringe Encores series) so you’ve probably already heard what a hoot it is. It’s the kind of crowd-pleasing drag comedy that used to be dependably found on stages in the Village thirty years ago: silly, snappy, a little dirty in the pre-code Barbara Stanwyck way and thoroughly entertaining. Co-authors Marc Geller and Bill Roulet are decked out in dresses and wigs as the identical twin Kane sisters: the show’s best running joke is that they look nothing alike and yet the other characters have a tough time telling them apart. The Kanes (Lana and Nova, ba dum ching) have been booked into a vaudeville house where someone has been offing the performers; when they learn that they might be killer-bait Lana protests ‘I want to die in my sleep like my father, not screaming like the passengers in his car!” This kind of zinger-filled camp is not easy to do well, but Geller has directed with precision and has virtually everyone in the cleverly-costumed ensemble (of 14, including himself) playing it exactly as it should be.