If I Embarrass You, Tell Your Friends
Encyclopedia
If I Embarrass You, Tell Your Friends is a musical
about the life of comedian Belle Barth
, written by Joanne Koch. The title derives from a catchphrase of Barth's.
Koch had previously written about Barth in her 1996 Off Broadway play Sophie, Totie, & Belle.
. The Carnegie Hall show was a real event, at which Barth, under advisement, had toned down the ribald material in her act and received a disappointing reception. The musical shows Barth contemplating the changes she should make to return to success with a forthcoming Miami show. The musical features a series of comic songs and uses several of Barth's own trademark jokes.
The Windy City Times
found the score unoriginal and the ribaldry of the jokes tame by 21st century standards, but recommended the show for its humor.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
about the life of comedian Belle Barth
Belle Barth
Belle Barth , née Annabelle Salzman, was a Jewish-American comedian who worked primarily during the 1950s and 1960s. She was known for her bawdy, irreverent humor.-Comedy career:...
, written by Joanne Koch. The title derives from a catchphrase of Barth's.
Koch had previously written about Barth in her 1996 Off Broadway play Sophie, Totie, & Belle.
Plot
The musical presents a fictionalised 1961 rehearsal between Barth and her pianist, set shortly after an unsuccessful performance at Carnegie HallCarnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. The Carnegie Hall show was a real event, at which Barth, under advisement, had toned down the ribald material in her act and received a disappointing reception. The musical shows Barth contemplating the changes she should make to return to success with a forthcoming Miami show. The musical features a series of comic songs and uses several of Barth's own trademark jokes.
Cast
The show featured Bethany Thomas as Barth, Courtney Crouse as a number of male characters representing men from Barth's life, and Gerald H. Bailey as Barth's pianist.Performances
The musical was workshopped at the STAGES 2008 Festival of New Musicals before premiering at Chicago's No Exit Café. In November 2008 it moved to the Theo Ubique Theatre, where it ran through December.Critical reception
The Chicago Reader called Koch's script "derivative and forgettable" but praised the performance of Bethany Thomas as Barth. Time Out Chicago was also impressed with Thomas's acting, but criticized the script as slight.The Windy City Times
Windy City Times
Windy City Times is Chicago's oldest LGBT newspaper, and the only Chicago gay publication with an independent circulation audit current as of 2008....
found the score unoriginal and the ribaldry of the jokes tame by 21st century standards, but recommended the show for its humor.