BWW Reviews: Broadway Palm Swims to Laughs with DIXIE SWIM CLUB

"Fiddler on the Roof" is selling out on the main stage of the Broadway Palm. This review is not about that show.

This review is about another show. The one about God's OTHER chosen people.

Namely, Southerners. "Dixie Swim Club" paddles over for big laughs, honest humor and Southern-fried fun.

One of a string of outlandish, slapsticky comedies from the writing team of Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, "Dixie Swim Club" follows a group of five Southern women who reunite every year on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Bound in sisterhood since their chlorinated collegiate swim team days, the quintet sets aside one weekend each year to be free of husbands, kids and work. Drinks are poured, gossip is dished and biscuits are baked!

Now, for all the husbands reading this and thinking "Oh heck no," relax. This one is funny. The show features a nun - Sister Mary Esther (a delightful Jessica Unice) - with a very big surprise. One of the early jokes? "I've seen the woman genuflect when she buys a jar of Miracle Whip!"

Want more? There's a premenstrual syndrome joke. As the show casually (if incorrectly) informs audiences, PMS is mentioned right in the Bible: "Mary rode Joseph's ass all the way to Bethlehem."

Kelly Legarreta brings deadpan comic timing to unlucky in life, love, kids, job and automobiles Vernadette. Duct tape is holding up the bumper on Vernie's truck - and husband Burl hid her clothes - but Vernadette made it to the reunion in her Toodles the Clown costume and crutches!

Longtime Broadway Palm favorite Amy Marie McCleary stepped into the role of glamour-puss Lexie less than a week ago. Her sassy, man-hungry character racks up four husbands (and counting!). Sample remarks? "We've got to stay on top of gravity from here on out. I mean, just look at what it's already done to Dinah's chest!"

Broadway Palm newcomer M.L. Graham pours more than vodka as career-oriented Dinah. Of course, there are more zingers than vodka stingers, like Dinah's holiday memories: "Every time I got a doll for Christmas, I'd sell it to the highest bidder for cash."

Everybody will love the way show blends Southern girl charm with wit, sass and a down-home good time. How can you not root for a show that actually serves up biscuits on stage?

Chris Silk is the arts writer and theater critic for the Naples Daily News. To read the longer version of this review, go to: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2013/jan/20/review-broadway-palm-dixie-swim-club-tickets/

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