By John Jarboe, The Bearded Ladies Cabaret

After exploring the iconic legend Marlene Dietrich in our season opener, Marlene and the Machine, The Bearded Ladies Cabaret has traveled even further back in time, all the way to 1861.  The Beards newest venture, Wide Awake: A Civil War Cabaret, presented as part of the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, is actually one of their oldest.

Photo by plate3photography

Originally mounted in 2011, in the fully revamped Wide Awake, The Bearded Ladies take on the entire Civil War . . . in one hour. Part Gone With the Wind, part folk-punk extravaganza, with music ranging from 1827 to 2013.  The production features notable guest artists including Philadelphia stage favorite James Ijames as an accountant/ghost hunter who becomes possesed by the spirit of Abraham Lincoln.  We are also collaborating with internationally acclaimed puppeteer Martina Plag to create a world of ghostly shadows to bring the past to life on stage.  Wide Awake has received a great deal of notoriety and our very own Dixie, a 9-foot tall Southern Belle embodying the American South, recently appeared on CBS Philadelphia to promote the show.  “John Jarboe, who plays Dixie, a slutty Scarlett O’Hara-like vamp who spends her days in the garden just a “tiling and hoeing and hoeing and hoeing … ” …wins the prize for best show moment, when he hops up on the piano to croon a medley of old and new songs of the South — like “Swawnee” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” And then his enormous hoopskirt starts eating people. The whole show is an upbeat, hilarious good time. You really need to see it. ” Josh Middleton, Philadelphia Magazine

Abe and Dixie are joined by a cast of Civil War icons including P.T. Barnum, John Brown, Walt Whitman and Harriet Beacher Stowe to tell the story of the cultural war still being fought today.  Singing contemporary takes on American classics and mash-ups of familiar favorites with songs of the old south, Wide Awake is reaching audiences spanning generations, promoting The Bearded Ladies ideals of accessible performance that challenges and entertains.

Audiences and critics agree: “The Bearded Ladies’ low-tech aesthetic soars here, with inventive use of shadow puppets and handmade cardboard props (both by Martina Plag), and the spooky flashlight self-illumination that every kid knows and loves…Wide Awake is a must-see.”-Mark Cofta, City Paper

And The Bearded Ladies could not be more pleased with the response and grateful for all the support we have received.  Wide Awake closes this weekend and after a short respite, The Bearded Ladies will return to the studio to collaborate with Dito Van Reigersberg and Mary Martello on our newest project, a cabaret version ofMy Dinner With Andre