Bawdy: Starring Jesse Lutrell at Stage 72

I’m still in awe from a recent mesmerizing event at Stage 72, at the Triad Theatre. With its unique atmosphere, draped in red and adorned by dramatic moldings and times gone by, I was dazzled by the sexy vaudevillian Jesse Lutrell, starring in the vivacious and animated show Bawdy.

Whether in a sparkling old-fashioned suit or in mesh stockings and high heels, Lutrell truly owned the stage as well as the entire “era.” Lively and full of spirit, Lutrell roamed the grandstand, masterfully tantalizing the entire congregation with song and laughter.  The Bawdy queens, boys and comics brightened the show and added to the gayety of the evening.

Bawdy will next present itself on March 26 (the last Thursday of every month), so if you really desire a night of fascination and wonderment, go see Bawdy at Stage 72 (located at 158 W 72nd Street, between Broadway and Columbus Ave., on the second floor). 

Are you sleeping?
No, just hung over.

Your show was amazing.
Thank you. Thank you for coming.

Who was the nun?
Suddenly Seymour.

She was really funny.
She’s a drag queen.

Really?
She’s all over the place. She won the Glam Award for Breakthrough Artist.

Tell me something about the show this year.
This year I’m doing a lot more. Usually I have more guests, but this year I decided to put together more numbers. I decided to do more stuff from my album. I try to use gay comics as much as I can; they work around town but are not as prominent in the straight clubs, so I wanted to give them more of a platform. We’ve been doing this for a long time. Every year the show evolves. I said last year I was going to scale it down, so I didn’t have to deal with as many props and costumes, so now we have three new costumes. We keep growing and growing and growing. We barely fit on the stage anymore.

It was really, really, really well done, and the venue is adorable.
They renovated. It used to be like a kind of black box, like the Duplex. Forbidden Broadway started there.

Really?
A lot of Off-Broadway shows started there.

I understand you’re bringing Bawdy to the Ice Palace this summer.
July 5, yeah. I’m so glad he gave us Invasion weekend. Last year when we did the Ice Palace – you were there – there wasn’t that much of a crowd. It was the day after they were going to have the Long Island Railroad strike.

It wasn’t a bad crowd for a Sunday night on Fire Island when the boats stop at 11:30.
There were a lot of people that were planning on coming out for the show, but they canceled their reservations ‘cause they thought there would be a strike. Hopefully this year it will be packed.

It will be. It’s a great weekend.
I’ve never been out there for the Invasion.

It’s wild. You’ll fit right in.
We’ll tear it up.

So who owns the Triad?
His name is Peter Martin.

And who was that cute manager?
Gene Castle. He’s in all these Broadway shows.  He was in the original cast of Gypsy. He was in the movie “New York, New York” with Liza Minnelli and “The Goodbye Girl,” the movie.

I should be interviewing him and hang up on you.
He’s a teacher now. He teaches tap dancing.

He was fun. When’s Bawdy going to play next?
March 26. It’s always the last Thursday of the month, so we have March, April, May and June, than we’re off to Fire Island.

Anything else you wanna say?
No. Make me sound smart.

I’ll try.
My mom has your interview from the last issue that you did on me posted on the wall in my old bedroom at home.

How cute. I loved the review Michael Musto did for Out.com. His reviews mean a lot.
Yeah, I’m so glad Tym Moss got him to come.

Well, his review was spot on.
For those who have not seen “Bawdy”, I implore you, it’s so worth your time and effort to get down there and check it out!