WOMEN IN GERMAN

ANNUAL CABARET 1996

St. Augustine, Florida

 Photos taken by Beret Norman & assembled by Susan Cocalis*

*I need help with the details. Please contact me at cocalis@german.umass.edu to contribute to this project.

WiG Newsletter Reviews of the Impromptu Cabaret 1996 (author?) :

"Wig Cabaret Review: "It Takes a Dorf"

The Saturday evening cabaret, traditionally an irreverent send-up of the WIG conference and current events, broke new artistic and fiscal ground this year by merging satire and fund-raising. This reviewer has been unable to confirm a rumor that the ever-present Nina Tittenberg had mis-heard a request to 'raise some fun.' However that may be, Nina was joined by veteran fundraiser Helga Witch Kraft in auctioning off several attractive witches' hats autographed in gold magic marker by conference guests Herta Mueller and Libuse Monikova. The money raised for the Memorial Fund from the sale of the hats appears to be authentic --in contrast to Tittenberg's foam-rubber bosoms, worn artfully taped to her blouse. The large and raucous cast of "it Takes a 'Dorf'" adapted from the presidential campaign script, featured many talented, first-time performers as well as cabaret regulars. Sieglinde Lug was a remarkable Statue of Liberty, alternately brandishing Dole and Clinton hand-puppets in lieu of a torch, as the candidates paraded across the stage to present their stump speeches. Denis Sweet as Bob ("It Takes a Dork") Dole was appropriately incredible, though no less so than Katrin Sieg as Libby, who, stunning in black velvet, gave a heartfelt speech about the Offensive Marriage Act ("Why should there be only two genders?"). Rick McCormick as Bill Clinton surpassed his performance two years ago, waffling between "I feel your pain"-sincerity (with the emphasis on the 'sin') and true-confession disclosure of his campaign finances; this was punctuated by shouts of "foreign money" from his opponents. Erika Berroth as a demure Hillary stood by her man, sweetly reiterating the campaign theme ("It takes a village. Really, it does."), ignoring Bill's philandering and knitting socks. In a debut performance, Sara Lennox as Gennifer Flowers was ravishing in a gown from Victoria's Secret, and she almost stole the show. Equally impressive were Jeannine Blackwell as Ross Perot and Kathrin Bower  as his wife Shirely (pronounced "surely"). The scrappy Perot ("It takes a dwarf"), charts at hand, brought down the house with his logic-defying statistics alleging, among other things, that as WIG membership goes up, Tupperware sales go down; each new job in feminist theory means a decrease in sales of Maybelline mascara; the size of the WIG Yearbook increases in direct proportion to the number of jobs lost to Mexico;as the number of women who complete Ph.D.'s goes up, production of homemade jelly goes down; the appearance of feminist articles in PMLA is directly proportionate to unwed mothers on welfare; and increasing same-sex marriages correlate with plummeting sales of Cadillacs. Polls conducted after each candidate's speech indicated a majority of abstentions for both Dole and Clinton, and a landslide for Perot. Hereupon, the First Ladies demanded a recount. Dinah Dodds was gripping in her role as Jack Kemp, who literally was grabbing the protuberances on Nina Tittenberg's chest despite remonstrances from his wife Joanne (Beret Norman), who moved quickly to catch the pass upon realizing the Jack had mistaken the rubber hemispheres for a football. With the inexplicable entrance of Barbara Bush, played with subtly inarticulate aplombby Ruth-Ellen Joeres, the focus shifted to the projects of the First Ladies' Club. Undaunted by Perot's prediction of falling Tupperware sales, Lisa Roetzel, in a reprise of her Tipper Gore role, announced her new line of Tipperware to compete with Hillary's sock-knitting plan and Libby's Offensive Marriage Act. Shirley Perot's proposal to establish a reindeer theme-park seemed to draw the most applause--at least from those familiar with the Siberia chapters of Monikova's Die Fassade. However, the discussion was hopelessly derailed when Barbara Bush's dog, played by the irrepressible Helga Thorson, lifted its leg on Bill Clinton, apparently having mistaken him for a Bush. In a surprise appearance, Helmut Kohl, played with gusto by Marjanne Gooze, advised Clinton to internationalize his campaign theme by annexing Mexico ("It Takes a Pueblo"). A brisk song-and-dance number, D-O-R-F (to the tune of YMCA), followed by a chaotic macarena in which even Al Gore (Stefanie Ohnesorg) participated, brought the performance to a close. [...] As should be apparent from this review, the 1996 WIG Cabaret was remarkable for its thematic unity, inspired casting, and intrepid blurring of boundaries between authenticity and facade. The single disappointment was the absence of such favorites as Susan Stamburp (Susan Cocalis) and Sarasara (Paulson), whose return next year is eagerly anticipated." [anonymous]

Sara Lennox (in her WIG Cabaret Debut) as Gennifer Flowers	Nina Tittenberg (Jeanette Clausen) interviews Gennifer Flowers (S. Lennox) for NPR
Bob Dole (Dennis Sweet), Gennifer Flowers (S. Lennox) & Nina Tittenberg (J. Clausen)	The Props for Cabaret 1996
Bob Dole (D. Sweet), Ross Perot (Jeannine Blackwell), & Bill Clinton (Rick McCormick)	The Statue of Liberty (Sieglinde Lug), Nina Tittenberg (J. Clausen), Gennifer Flowers (S. Lennox), Tipper Gore (Lisa Roetzel), Libby Dole (Katrin Sieg), & [I can't tell with the microphone.]