Review by Steve Desroches
When it comes to drag performance in Provincetown Edie has always had a leg up on the others, quite literally. When she made her Provincetown debut back in 2001 she wowed audiences upon arrival with her sweeping fan kicks and her penchant for 1960s-style choreography. Edie is of course the total package when it comes to drag performance, but it’s her dance abilities that add that kick, ball, change edge and made Edie a Provincetown legend. And in her new show Dance, Edie, Dance! at the Post Office Cabaret, the drag phenomenon tells the story of how she went from rural Oregon to the big stages of Broadway, Las Vegas, Wigstock, and beyond!
As Edie bounds onto the stage, she dazzles with some go-go a la Nancy Sinatra moves kicking off the show with an energy that never quits from beginning to end. It’s a razzle dazzle she honed to a finely tuned craft as the Mistress of Sensuality, the emcee for Cirque du Soleil’s hit show Zumanity at the New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for 13 years performing the role in over 5,600 shows and for six million people over the course of the run. It’s that highly coveted gig that took Edie away from Provincetown after five years of being a Commercial Street headliner. But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Zumanity was one of many Las Vegas shows that closed for good. Life in show business is full of twists and turns and big breaks and hard knocks. Edie knows that well as at age 17 she began dancing ballet with professional companies like Ballet Oregon, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and Pennsylvania Ballet. She also appeared in The Threepenny Opera on Broadway at Studio 54 with Cyndi Lauper and Alan Cumming. The closing of Zumanity was a tough one, but Edie bounced back quickly and was forever grateful when the silver lining to that dark cloud brought her back to Provincetown, a town where she could express herself fully once again rather than stick to the strict script of a Cirque du Soleil show.
Dance, Edie, Dance! is a sweet and entertaining romp through Edie’s life as a dancer, and at its core, it’s a delightful drag show full of live singing, great storytelling, and of course, dance, as well as a few surprises. Most of all, Dance, Edie, Dance! makes you feel good and has you smiling from beginning to end. Edie has always had a grace, sophistication, and gentleness to her. And in this day and age of civil unrest and division, and in particular the continued attacks on the LGBTQ community and drag performance, Dance, Edie, Dance! is the perfect response. When the world gets you down, respond with kindness and love, and for goodness sake, dance!
Dance, Edie, Dance! runs at the Post Office Cabaret, 303 Commercial St., Sunday, at 7 p.m. and Monday and Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. now through September 3. Tickets ($35/$40) are at the box office and online at postofficecafe.net. For more information call 508.487.0087.
