Spider Saloff's Soaring Roar of the Butterfly

The Roar of the Butterfly
written and performed by Spider Saloff

Celebration Theatre
August 17-20 only/
upcoming appearances in San Francisco and Chicago

Actress/singer Spider Saloff defies description. She has the voice of an angel and an actor look perfectly suited to character. Often compared to Tracey Ullman, it's time she was set apart. Spider Saloff is her very own special creation: a magnificent singer, delightfully versatile actress and warm human being whose inner glow shines through every moment of her one-woman tour-de-force The Roar of the Butterfly. 

...Butterfly is an Asian drag queen, who has just passed on. In fact, the show is a memorial service with 8 characters paying him tribute. Each character is played meticulously and to the hilt by Saloff, who, in her deliciously naughty way, lets it all hang out. Each transformation involves partial costume or wig and a change of accent, essayed quickly and flawlessly. Mixed in with the individual salutes are Saloff's own original songs. The characters are oddballs to be sure - loveable ones, who win our hearts, as do the songs - optimistic and warmly winning, with upbeat music and lyrics that make us want to give life one more colossal try.

Her main character, herself, sets the scene at the Five Oaks bar in New York and her opening number "I Wonder Where the Party's Going On" typifies this lust for living that was so a part of Butterfly's philosophy. Characters include Fuckin' Alice, one hilariously vulgar Scot waitress who is a favorite with the crowd, in spite of the salty language that shoots out of her mouth like a spray of bullets. There's an aging over-the-hill actress named Mrs. Muriel Winslow - terribly affected, Riffy, a streetwise drug-addicted poet, Mrs. Sordelino, a lower middle-class beautician from Philly, craving to fit in and Butterfly's boss from Citibank - his day job - Mrs. Bentley, whose story is perhaps the most touching of the set. Butterfly saved her daughter from a physically abusive relationship. The second act brings us two of her most colorful characterizations: German Helga, not unlike saucily sensual Marlene Dietrich who sings "Falling for Everyone", and outgoing Lithouanian limo driver Sam, whose dream of becoming a dancer "Dancing Shoes" is made a reality with Butterfly's benevolence. Each character chooses a sparkling pin in the shape of a butterfly to wear in honor of their deceased friend and passes on the message of celebrating life to the fullest. Sam couldn't say it any better, "The most important thing is to swing". And remember, "If you love it, no one can ever take it from you."

Spider Saloff's vibrantly diverse characters have one thing in common: a unique attraction to and zest of living that is infectious. Saloff's light comes from deep within and, like Butterfly, she shares it magnanimously.

 

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