Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
11/22/06
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
Miss Richfield phones it in; Telethons, pageants mingle for merry fare.(VITA.MN)
Article from: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
Article date: November 22, 2006
Author: Royce, Graydon
Byline: Graydon Royce; Staff Writer
As the grand Christmas productions are rolled into place for their fortnight of lavish pageantry, Illusion Theater is offering a favorite cheese ball for those seeking lighter fare.
Russ King started tinkering with his drag character Miss Richfield 1981 about 10 years ago, developing the campy Midwestern homebody into a gay icon with followings from Provincetown, Mass., to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
No matter where she travels, though, Miss Richfield loves to be home for the holidays with her annual sitdown at Illusion. "Holiday Telethon! Miss Richfield 1981 Saves Pageant TV (in Time for Christmas)" ends Dec. 10.
It's not easy for the old gal to come up with new material every year. Yes, the masses are adoring, but it seems they want more, more, more! Honestly, people, a girl can only do so much. So the first half of "Telethon" uses a piece that King developed last summer in Provincetown. The second half will roast the familiar Christmas chestnuts that Illusion audiences will recognize.
Ever riding the cutting edge, Miss Richfield employs two dying TV phenomena in the first half of the show: It's staged as a telethon held to promote the idea of televising beauty pageants 24 hours a day. "I believe TV is the medium of tomorrow," she barks with her trademark ironic clairvoyance.
"Telethon" marks a sort of watershed for King and his femme doppelganger. He conceived it as a theater piece rather than the cabaret that Miss Richfield usually revels in. He has brought on a writer and director to shape the work, and has even gone so far as engaging a New York agent who is keen on taking the suburban harridan national. But that will require time, money and discipline - three things Miss Richfield has never been fond of.
"That would be the understatement," said King.
It is important to King, though, that the character keep moving along. He's built the empire to a point where he has a regular, lucrative income and has bought a car and a house in northeast Minneapolis - all the middle-class dreams that Miss Richfield has skewered for years.
"It's made me much happier and successful with where I am in life," King said. "I'm glad I am where I am."
HOLIDAY TELETHON! MISS RICHFIELD 1981 SAVES PAGEANT TV
What: Miss Richfield 1981 Christmas show.
When: 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30. Ends Dec. 10.
Where: Illusion Theater, 528 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.
Tickets: $22-$30. 612-339-4944.
Web: HYPERLINK "http://www.illusiontheater.org" www.illusiontheater.org.
Miss Richfield phones it in; Telethons, pageants mingle for merry fare.(VITA.MN)
Article from: Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
Article date: November 22, 2006
Author: Royce, Graydon
Byline: Graydon Royce; Staff Writer
As the grand Christmas productions are rolled into place for their fortnight of lavish pageantry, Illusion Theater is offering a favorite cheese ball for those seeking lighter fare.
Russ King started tinkering with his drag character Miss Richfield 1981 about 10 years ago, developing the campy Midwestern homebody into a gay icon with followings from Provincetown, Mass., to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
No matter where she travels, though, Miss Richfield loves to be home for the holidays with her annual sitdown at Illusion. "Holiday Telethon! Miss Richfield 1981 Saves Pageant TV (in Time for Christmas)" ends Dec. 10.
It's not easy for the old gal to come up with new material every year. Yes, the masses are adoring, but it seems they want more, more, more! Honestly, people, a girl can only do so much. So the first half of "Telethon" uses a piece that King developed last summer in Provincetown. The second half will roast the familiar Christmas chestnuts that Illusion audiences will recognize.
Ever riding the cutting edge, Miss Richfield employs two dying TV phenomena in the first half of the show: It's staged as a telethon held to promote the idea of televising beauty pageants 24 hours a day. "I believe TV is the medium of tomorrow," she barks with her trademark ironic clairvoyance.
"Telethon" marks a sort of watershed for King and his femme doppelganger. He conceived it as a theater piece rather than the cabaret that Miss Richfield usually revels in. He has brought on a writer and director to shape the work, and has even gone so far as engaging a New York agent who is keen on taking the suburban harridan national. But that will require time, money and discipline - three things Miss Richfield has never been fond of.
"That would be the understatement," said King.
It is important to King, though, that the character keep moving along. He's built the empire to a point where he has a regular, lucrative income and has bought a car and a house in northeast Minneapolis - all the middle-class dreams that Miss Richfield has skewered for years.
"It's made me much happier and successful with where I am in life," King said. "I'm glad I am where I am."
HOLIDAY TELETHON! MISS RICHFIELD 1981 SAVES PAGEANT TV
What: Miss Richfield 1981 Christmas show.
When: 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30. Ends Dec. 10.
Where: Illusion Theater, 528 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.
Tickets: $22-$30. 612-339-4944.
Web: HYPERLINK "http://www.illusiontheater.org" www.illusiontheater.org.