:: Buddy Starr’s PICTURES OF AN EXHIBITIONIST ::

Director/actor Paul Pearson returns to the club scene with a new theatrical floorshow:
Buddy Starr is returning for two nights to Lincoln in PICTURES OF AN EXHIBITIONIST. Actually, he has not really been away. Buddy is the character creation of local director and actor Paul Pearson (THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW - Lincoln Community Playhouse, TOMMY - The Haymarket Theatre), whose busy schedule in local theatre venues has prevented him from bringing Buddy back to Lincoln’s stages very often in the last few years.

Pearson was the creator of Buddy Starr’s Screaming Kupcakes, a mix of pop-music, camp, broad humor, and social satire where genders and genres bent in every possible way at every turn, unreeling as a kind of floorshow/performance art extravaganza. Locally they reached their peak when they performed for First Night ’91, appearing for four performances in the Johnny Carson Theatre.

"Kupcakes was the product of working night clubs and bars from the late '70s to the mid '80s. The goal was to take ideas from those days and put them on real theatre stages outside of the bars." Then in 1994 Pearson founded The Futz Theatre, a very small venue (seating 40) in the Mission Arts Building, and Buddy had to take a long-term back seat to Pearson’s duties running a small business for four and a half years.

"After The Futz closed I had developed quite a resume, and began to work in larger spaces. I branched out into directing much larger scale productions and returned to acting more frequently. I also began to get jobs as a make-up artist. The nightclub shows (and therefore Buddy) became more of an occasional hobby.

"But when I did get a chance to play a club, I found I wanted to concentrate more on the ’drag’ side of Buddy’s persona. I had left it behind in the mid-'80s as it had grown rather stagnant. When I decided to return to that part of the character, I found I had grown into it in a whole new way: 'she' was funnier and bawdier, but also oddly more glamorous than before. I was taking more risks with 'her'."

The fact that Pearson’s background made him an ideal person to take on some high-profile roles wearing a dress as a male-actress helped the process.

"Playing one of the ugly stepsisters in Pinewood Bowl’s CINDERELLA (July 2001) in front of thousands of people was a totally liberating thing. By playing it straight as a character, I found myself putting together my serious acting training, my comic timing, and my ability to run in heels. I knew I was having a better time than anyone else in the place, and that was very satisfying."

So now Paul is returning Buddy to the bars with a theatrical show celebrating Pearson’s own turning "of a certain age" -- PICTURES OF AN EXHIBITIONIST.

"Let’s just say that I am eligible for discounts at the buffets now."

With this event Pearson creates many new routines, but also takes a look back at some of his favorites from a past spanning three decades.

Starring in the diverse cast with Buddy will be popular local actors Beth Muehling and Robie Hayak. They will be joined by featured performance artists and gender illusionists Freida Lae, Red Essence, Destiny, and Skylar. Actors Ward Lewis, Keith Potts, and "Mr. Q 2003" Dan co-star.

Pearson adds, "And, of course, there will be every diva’s number one accessory: a chorus boy or two!"

Performance dates: Friday and Saturday, March 26 and 27, 2004
At the "Q", 226 South 9th Street
Doors open at 8:00 p.m. Curtain at 9:00 p.m.
All tickets are $6.00 at the door.

Anyone under 19 must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult guardian.
Adult content and language: not recommended for most people under 16.