By Lori Perkins
This is a wonderful one-woman show about the life and tribulations of the actress Rita Hayworth performed in an intimate cabaret venue for no more than 75 people. The show is worth stepping into this time capsule experience of what New York theatre once was while ordering a drink and/or a light repast.
While most people who binged a few TNT/AMC movie nights/sick days know Hayworth as the star in Gilda, Blood and Sand and Pal Joey, most people don’t know that she was known in the Hollywood tabloids as “the Love Goddess,” was married five times (to Orson Welles and Prince Aly Kahn, among others). They also don’t know that she was half Mexican (Rita is a diminutive of her full first name, Margarita) and that she died of early onset Alzheimer’s Disease, which her daughter Princess Yasmin Kahn devoted most of her life to finding a cure for.
Quinn Lemley is the dynamo behind, and in front of, this 90-minute extravaganza, singing such classics as “The Heat is On” and “The Lady is a Tramp” with a four-piece band of piano, sax, drums and bass and at least five wardrobe changes. She embodies the role, making you marvel at her resemblance to Hayworth.
This theatrical experience is at Don't Tell Momma, a New York classic venue in the theater district. Tickets are only $25 with a two-drink minimum. It’s one of those experiences that will make you remember why you love theater in New York!