WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2007 | NEWS | WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 15
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THEATER
Stage play takes on pageant portrayal
Ben Cook, Plano, Texas, senior performs during a dress rehearsal for "Pageant" on Monday night at Murphy Hall. Cook plays the part of Miss Texas in the show. The show opens Friday night at Stage Too! at Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for the general public.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Six actors don stiletto heels and evening gowns as part of summer theatre farce
By Sam Carlson
scarlson@kansan.com
In a traditional beauty pageant, contestants try to demonstrate their style, dignity, and grace by donning evening gowns, bathing suits and scads of make-up. And so, the Miss Glamouresse beauty pageant is quite normal. There's just one difference.
The contestants are all men.
The Kansas Summer Theatre musical production "Pageant" will hit the stage at Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall this Friday at the University of Kansas.
Bill Russell, director and cowriter, said "Pageant" is not a drag show, but rather a parody of beauty pageants.
"This show is really about the way beauty is sold to women in our culture," Russell said. "They go through things and do things that we would never expect men to do."
The six contestants — Miss Industrial Northeast, Miss West Coast, Miss Deep South, Miss Bible Belt, Miss Great Plains, and Miss Texas — sing and dance, hoping to earn the top honor at the end of the show. But the contestants
don't know who will take home the prize each night. That's because the five judges are picked from the audience at the beginning of each performance, meaning there potentially could be a different winner each night.
"We want the audience to be a part of it," said Ben Cook, Plano, Texas, senior. "We don't want them to just sit there in the dark."
Cook, who plays the part of Miss Texas, said he was already familiar with the mentality of Texas women.
like I could bring something to the show while a lot of the other people would just be playing stereotypes" he said.
"I got to see it firsthand so I felt
Each contestant has her own special skills and talents. B. Michael Ford, Olathe graduate, plays Miss Industrial Northeast, a contestant who roller skates while playing the accordion. And Miss Bible Belt,
"This show is really about the way beauty is sold to women in our culture. They go through things and do things that we would never expect men to do."
BILL RUSSELL Director and co-writer
"The most difficult part was walking and dancing in stiletto heels," he said.
played by Robbie Gordy, performs a song and dance number called "I'm Banking on Jesus."
"I suppose she just really loves the Lord," Gordy, Omaha, Neb., junior said.
Leavenworth senior Jon Matteson,
who plays Miss Deep South, said rehearsals have been both challenging and hilarious.
Nearly everything about the show is genuine. The actors are in
Pageant
When: June 29-30 and July 6-7 at 7:30 p.m. and July 1 and 8 at 2:30 p.m.
Where: Stage Tool at Crafton-Preyer Theatre in Murphy Hall
Tickets: $10 for students and $15 for the public. Tickets are available at the University Theatre, 864-3982, Lied Center, 864-ARTS, SUA Office, 864-7469, and at www.kutheatre.com
the same age range as Miss USA contestants. The theatre contains a stage leading to a runway with tables on both sides and the actors go backstage only to change outfits. And, because the audience chooses the winners, the actors are truly pushing themselves to become Miss Glamouresse, Cook said.
"It actually has turned into a competition between all the actors;" he said.
Edited by Ben Smith