Written and performed by: Alyson Palmer, Amy Ziff, Elizabeth Ziff
At: Lakeshore Theater, 3175 N. Broadway
Phone: (773) 472-3492; $20-$39.90
Runs through: June 20
What do I know about performing on the road as a rock band, or know about the 'trials and tribulations of an unsigned band in a signed world' (as the press materials put it)? Not much, it turns out. Luckily for me, two of my friends happen to head up a phenomenal acoustic rock band, The Locals (more about them at www.localsrock.com) that performs on the road for the better part of the year and know all about what it's like to be an unsigned band in a signed world.
So, when I went to review Betty Rules, the off-Broadway smash directed by Michael Grief of Rent fame, I invited lead singer Yvonne Doll and bass guitarist Christy Nunes along to get their expert opinion on this hybrid concert/ play that has just touched down in Chicago after a seven-month engagement at New York City's Zipper Theater. The New York Times called the show, 'one of the very best off-Broadway plays' of the 2002 season.
The three gals who head up Betty Rules (Alyson Palmer and sisters Amy and Elizabeth Ziff) have crafted a riveting, rocking story of how three women (and two males … drummer Ted Gori and guitarist Tony Salvatore) created a band and took their act on the road. The play chronicles 20-some years of travel, disputes, disillusionment, joy, failed and successful relationships, pregnancies, abortions, and financials ups and financial downs. In short, Betty Rules takes us on the journey of a talented and dedicated rock and roll band whose music is too smart to get them pigeon-holed and perhaps too smart to make them the kind of performers that could win them big acclaim in America.
Along the way, we learn how moderate success and a love of art can bring joy to one's life, and how it can seriously fuck it up. Betty Rules gives us an insider view on what it means to be dedicated to art and how such dedication can impact lives. We get humor (I challenge you not to laugh at the sequence exploring Betty Rules performing at a 'Womyn's' festival). We get poignancy (I challenge you not to get choked up when the three women talk about their dying mothers' pride at their work). And we get three distinct women, each amazing and lovable in her own way.
I was glad when Betty Rules ended that Yvonne and Christy turned to me, amazed, and said, 'That's exactly what it's like. I felt like this was an inside joke.' But Betty Rules, with its wisdom, humor, sympathy, and a righteously rockin' edge, is an inside joke we can all enjoy.