Review - Fare For All at The Mount Vernon Hotel & Poteet Girls

Several years before Urinetown's Mark Hollmann began writing satirical songs about the public's right to pee he teamed up with playwright Jennifer Fell Hayes to pen a delightful musical for young audiences about one of New York's lesser known cultural landmarks. Fare For All at The Mount Vernon Hotel takes us back to 1830, a time when the city stretched only as far north as 14th Street and taking a trip to the country meant heading up to the wilds of what is now 61st Street between 1st and York to breath the fresh air, swim in the East River and enjoy a bowl of the world famous turtle soup served at The Mount Vernon Hotel.

Since 1995, Fare For All has had only one public performance per year, along with several private showings for school groups, in the hotel's auditorium. At first I was surprised to hear that the performance would be nearly two hours long with no intermission, but the interactive show continually pulls all the audience members into the action and the crowd I attended with was enthusiastically involved throughout.

After director Karen Oughtred warmed up the audience by helping them practice their imagination skills we were introduced to the characters, all based on real people. Living in the hotel are its owner, James Woodhull (Greg Maklin), his daughter Sarah (Clara Barton Green) and son George (played by an actress named "Zoe!"), along with their cook Flora Miller (Joy Kelly), a former slave. Guests include Katie Stodd (Emily Marshall), a milliner trying to land a rich husband, and a demanding Scotsman, James Stuart (Maklin). There's a bit of a plot involving Flora wanting to take a day off to visit her hospitalized son just when she's needed to prepare a large meal for an important party, and the strong singing and dancing cast performs with gusto, but the real fun comes when the actors use audience volunteers to help demonstrate life in the 1830's. Naturally, we all learn how to make turtle soup, but we also get a lessons in the proper way a gentleman asks a lady to dance, the types of toys kids played with in the 19th Century, how to keep chimney fires burning all day and, my personal favorite, how ladies flirt with gentlemen using "the language of the fan."

I'm afraid it'll be another year before Fare For All is performed again, but in the meantime you can visit the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum and Garden and view the gorgeous period rooms.

Photo of Joy Kelly, Greg Maklin and Clara Barton Green by Karen Oughtred

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Okay, so it's Sunday night, you've got an hour to kill and only five bucks to spend. You can either buy a beer and stiff the bartender (not recommended) or laugh your head off watching Leslie Collins pay tribute to the kind of folks she grew up with in her native Texas with Poteet Girls. Directed by Erick Devine, Poteet Girls is a collection of monologues based on Collins' experiences growing up in a Dallas suburb. The junior high school girls she portrays have some serious issues to deal with, including religion, absent parents, abstinence and coming up with the right routine for the talent portion of the local beauty pageant, but they're all handled with a gentle, realistic humor that's very funny while remaining sincere and affectionate. Highlights include a collection of science fair projects covering topics like the church's stance on the history of dinosaurs and the ever-popular home-made volcano and a hilarious song and dance routine using a power ballad arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner." And Leslie Collins effectively transforms herself into each distinctive character, including a smug male classmate and a chain-smoking grandma, without any costume changes. She even gives the audience members free Girl Scout cookies at the end of the show. How's that for class!

Poteet Girls plays Sunday nights, April 13th, 20th & 27th at 9:30pm at The People's Improv Theater.

Photo by Scott Treadway

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I just got word from Christine Pedi that she'll be performing her Nightlife Award winning show, Great Dames, in Johannesburg, South Africa. So if you know any South Africans who are into impersonations of Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, spread the word!

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