Jackie Beat's WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BUSTY JANE? Plays Laurie Beechman 5/19

Drag star JACKIE BEAT brings the wildly popular Los Angeles production of her hit comedy WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BUSTY JANE? to New York. Directed by Drew Droege, performances of this limited engagement, inspired by the similarly titled 1962 Joan Crawford/Bette Davis film, begin May 19 at The Laurie Beechman Theatre.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BUSTY JANE? centers on washed-up buxom adult video kitten Busty Jane Hardon and her wheelchair-bound brother, Branch Hardon, the original gay adult video "power bottom". Hiding away in their black lacquer and Nagle-filled West Hollywood condo, the two ex-triple-X stars seem to have stopped their Swatch watches at the peak of their fame and success in the high-gloss, day-glo Eighties. Living in a delusional and dysfunctional world of faded memories and dusty dreams, the superstar siblings find day-to-day life as hard to figure out as a Rubik's cube. When Branch's plans to sell their condo throws a wrench into Busty Jane's big comeback, the broken down has-been loses it... and the old school New Wave sh*t hits the fan!

The productions starts Jackie Beat as Busty Jane, Mario Diaz (Tell-Tale at The Cherry Lane Theater) as Branch, Sam Pancake (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Kitchen Confidential, Lovespring International) as the flamer next door, Selene Luna (Margaret Cho's The Sensuous Woman, The Cho Sho) as Busty's manager, and YouTube sensation Nadya Ginsburg ("Al Roker Face") as the maid. It also features videos by Lawrence Elbert and Will Watkins (starring Miss Jonona, Senor Amor, Travis Walck, Keir Reid and The Busty Jane Dancers.)

Jackie Beat, the self-professed bastard child of "Weird" Al Yankovic and Bette Midler, has been wowing unsuspecting audiences since 1989. She has toured with Roseanne Barr -- as the comic legend's opening act-- including a 7-week run at The New York New York in Las Vegas. As a
writer she has written for TV (Hype! and The Sci Fi Channel's Tripping The Rift), written a screenplay (Scream Teen Scream), and collaborated on special material with the like of Roseanne, Rosie O'Donnell and Jennifer Coolidge. As an actress she has appeared in countless TV shows (Sex and the City), movies (Grief, Wigstock The Movie, Flawless, Adam & Steve) and Off-Broadway hits (Valley of the Dolls, Tell-Tale!). She has been named Best Drag Queen by New York Press and Best Live Performance by HX Magazine. Jackie is also a columnist, lead singer for the electro-rock band, Dirty Sanchez, and the subject of the documentary film My Name is Jackie Beat including commentary from Joan Rivers, Margaret Cho and Roseanne. For more information visit www.JackieBeatRules.com.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BUSTY JANE? runs Weds. May 19 at 7:30pm; Thurs. May 20 at 9:30pm; Fri. May 21 at 7:30pm; and Sat. May 22 at 7:30 & 9:30pm. The Laurie Beechman Theater is located inside West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street -- at Ninth Avenue, accessible from the
A,C,E,N,R,V,F,1,2 & 3 trains at 42nd Street). Tickets are $20 weekdays, $22.50 weekends, plus a $15 food/drink minimum. To purchase tickets call 212-352-3101 or visit www.SpinCycleNYC.com. A full bar and waiter service is available throughout the performance.

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