KATHY NAJIMY presents LIFT UP YOUR SKIRT
FESTIVAL THEATRE. ADELAIDE FESTIVAL CENTRE. JUNE 19 2014
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Kathy Najimy in LIFT UP YOUR SKIRT
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Kathy Najimy is larger than life.
I don’t mean in terms of her weight, although she is the first to joke about
her battle with the bulge. No need now. She looks great. As she walks onto
Adelaide’s Festival Theatre stage, the audience erupts in cheers of adulation.
Moments before glimpses of her many roles flash across a large screen at the
back of the stage. We are reminded of her acclaimed roles in films such as
Hocus Pocus, The Wedding Planner and Sister Act and TV appearances in shows
such asking of the Hill, Desperate Housewives and her popular feminist show for
HBO, the Kathy and Mo Show. Here is a star who opens with an apology for not
being able to sing and then belts out a Streisand number with the force of
fireman’s hose. She fills the vast Festival Theatre stage with a cascade of
running gags, witty, quicksilver smart, delightfully funny and always with a
touch of self-effacing mockery. In an instant, she has her audience hanging on
every word, delighting in her effervescent energy and eager to come closer to
the real Kathy Najimy.
The year is 2009. Najimy is in
hospital undergoing a colonoscopy and the telephone rings. “It’s Bette Kathy.
Is this a good time to talk?” Najimy can
hardly wait to ask her teenage idol and close friend what she thought of a show
she had recently directed. There is a pause. “Do your own thing, Kathy!” comes
the reply and that is where Najimy’s new semi-autobiographical show, Lift Up Your Skirt takes a side-turn. Her wit remains sharp, her comedy
hilarious, her repartee with her musical director, Ryan, easy and affectionate
but the comedy now comes with a moral price tag that makes this show more than
an acclaimed comedienne’s stand-up. Her
jokes, her anecdotes and her accounts of her encounters with her idol now pave
the road to epiphany. There is no need now to joke about her weight or get the
laughs at the expense of self deprecation. Najimy is a star on a mission and
Bette Midler’s advice guides her through the years. The show is underpinned by
her relaxed air, unabashed humour and instant rapport with an audience who have
come to revel in their star of stage and screen’s true self. And that is what
they get. And much much more. No-one could have seen her account of black
comedian Richard Pryor’s homophobic assault at a Gay Rights gathering coming.
Or her account of a singing telegram delivered to her idol, Midler, in a big
white Bunny suit. Or the irony of Bette’s appearance in a bunny suit in
Beaches. Irony is the meat of comedy and there is an abundant store of this in
Najimy’s one night stand at the Adelaide cabaret Festival.
Whether divulging accounts of her
somewhat dysfunctional Lebanese family, demonstrating her belly dancing
technique or showing images of Bette Midler dancing Boogie Woogie “like a
penguin on Meth” Santiago born and bred Najimy never veers from her goal to
boldly and brazenly lift up her skirt as a metaphorical gesture of courage,
defiance and independent spirit. It is the final gesture of her show, a
triumphant display of the age-old adage of “to thine own self be true”, a
doctrine enshrined in a host of world faiths and ancient philosophies.
Viewers of the Kathy and Mo Show
will be familiar with the originality and comedic insight of Najimy’s
characters and none more so than her Aunt Maddie, affectionately modelled on
her compassionate and tolerant Aunt Alice. Seated on a chair, behind a music
stand on which is placed a script from which Najimy occasionally reads, Aunt
Maddie espouses her testament to tolerance. Attitudes can change, love is the life
force of any relationship whether it be straight or gay, and through Aunt
Maddie Najimy champions gay marriage and condemns intolerance. My only
reservation is that throughout the lengthy excerpt, Najimy is largely hidden by
the music stand, causing a staging alienation. Her Adelaide performance is a
trial for her debut on the New York stage, and I expect that she will be more
prominent in her presentation of the character.
At an airport. Marge introduces
her daughter, June. “She wants to be just like you”. Bette Midler’s voice still
echoes down the phoneline. “Do your own thing” and in a crowning gesture to a
show that entertains, provokes, inspires and delights Najimy lifts her skirt in
feminist pride and the audience rises to its feet in enthusiastic acclaim.
