Chicago Stage Review

 By J. Scott Hill

Of all of the theatre companies, Burlesque troupes, and cabarets I review, I am most frequently asked about Beast Women. “When and where can I see them?” or, more often, When and where can I see them again?” Beast Women have spent part of the last eight months on tour, but mostly they have been on hiatus. Rested and ready, the Beasties are back at the Greenhouse Theater Center for their 2013 Spring Series. Six years of fresh auditions for every Beast Women series have caused veteran performers to further refine their craft and have continually raised the bar for fresh talent.

Beast Women 2013 Spring Series was opened by the wonderful Kelsie Huff. Kelsie Huff is a standup comic on the brink of stardom. She has hours of tight material. Her narrative voice is clear. She is expert at playing off the audience. If comedians still got discovered in Chicago for anything outside of Saturday Night Live or monologue writers for talk shows, Kelsie Huff would have already been a star. See her in Chicago while you can: to further her career, she will soon enough have to relocate to either New York or Los Angeles.

Each of the dance-oriented performances on the opening night of Beast Women 2013 Spring Series combined various forms into unique art. Belly Fusion Dancer Brywn Arlwyn added elements of pop-and-lock to belly dance to create a whole new set of creative contortions. Sarah Heston brought ballet and modern dance together to construct powerful flashes of narrative, seeming to tell of a giving spirit upon whom the demand was both voracious and unceasing.

One number that really got the crowd stirred up was Miss Tamale Sepp’s performance art piece, a clever study in movement and sparks that brought striptease into the metal fabrication shop. I am not sure if she was trying to cut the lock off of her chastity belt or just adding a turbo-boost of grind to the old bump-and-grind, but her bodywork was expert.

Original Beast Woman Jillian Erickson took the audience on a rickety carnival ride through her brain in a preview of her solo show, 3:00 a.m.: Slipping Beyond the Boundaries of a Bruised Mind, which opens June 7 at Prop Thtr. Brand-new Beastie Amy Geist rocked the country with a voice that Nashville or at least American Idol should have already discovered.

Monologist and frequent Beast Women contributor Roberta Miles owned the evening among the solo acts. Roberta Miles most often performs monologues with sexual themes where nothing is off limits; this piece was about her bush starting to lose some of its, um, foliage. Earnest and hilarious, Roberta Miles was in her zone opening night.

The final act of the opening night of Beast Women 2013 Spring Series was the all-female Beastie Boys tribute band She’s Crafty. She’s Crafty is a supergroup of Chicago standups — Amy Sumpter, Maggie Jenkins, and Kendra Stevens — backed by DJ (and most excellent podcaster) Sara Tea. Somebody call a general contractor because She’s Crafty blew the roof off of the Greenhouse. A Beastie Boys tribute band comprised of Beast Women is a no-fail proposition from the start. She’s Crafty is the new MUST SEE band in Chicago. Find them. See them. Love them.

Every Beast Women show is different, so every night will have a substantially different lineup, but the Beast Women have demonstrated a consistent commitment of quality over time and genre. If the opening night of Beast Women 2013 Spring Series is an indication of most nights, you should show up every night.

3 1/2 STARS

(“Beast Women 2013 Spring Series” runs Saturdays at 10:30 p.m. through June 1 — with the new talent showcase Beast Women Rising on Sunday, May 19 at 7:00 p.m. – at the Greenhouse Theatre Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave, Chicago. .)

TICKETS:

Beast Women 2013 Spring Series performance images by Hunter Matthews.

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