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Dykapalooza

nytheatre.com review by Akia Squitieri
August 15, 2005

Dykapalooza is a work-in-progress which first opened in October 2004, in Philadelphia. In this autobiographical one-women show, Jeanie Antolini questions the roots of her sexuality and poses such questions as ”Destiny or Predisposition?”; “How do you explain a little girl’s love for Hai Karate cologne?”; and “At the moment of conception, did we have a choice?”Antolini leads the audience through a show that is part comedy routine, part reminiscence, part lounge act and part fantasy sequence. You travel along with her through her childhood, focusing mainly on her various teacher crushes, the “light bulb” moments of realizing that she may be gay, her curiosity about the secret life of nuns (which includes a random audience lap dance), and a few folk music breaks (written and performed adequately by Ruth Wyand). As the piece progresses, however, she begins to sound more and more disappointed with what life has handed her.There are moments where Antolini seems ashamed of her sexuality, including one point where she offhandedly mentions an apology to her sister because Dykapalooza got press in the local paper. She unfortunately never fully explores or explains this, and instead chooses to expound on some tired cliches of gay culture—the lack of fashion sense of lesbians (i.e., the mullet and flannel), and the way that your male gay best friend can make the perfect Cosmo.Dykapalooza spends about 90% of its time on exposition and then ends rather abruptly, failing to answer or even acknowledge most of the questions our heroine posed at the start. After traveling through Antolini’s childhood in rather rich detail it was disappointing to have the story end at age 17 with Antolini never talking about her coming out, her family’s reactions, or even her first same-sex experience.There were consistent technical sound issues throughout the performance and Antolini needlessly wears a head mic which is not necessary in such a small space. In addition, some of the recorded musical choices ("Born to be Wild," for example) feel predictable and it would be nice to hear some less obvious accompaniment.While most of her reflections are not particularly original; Antolini has a wonderful presence and draws you in through her obvious pleasure in performing for an audience. Once Antolini stops trying to be “funny” and edgy and starts exposing the layers underneath, she creates some very witty and engaging moments.