“Dixie’s Tupperware Party”

[rating=2] Most young people have heard of Tupperware which became a marvelous part of growing up in the 60’s and since, because with Tupperware, your leftovers stayed fresh. My generation knows this product because our mothers either went to the parties or hosted these parties as you could not buy these in a store- you had to go to someone’s home where the “Tupperware Lady” would wow you with the exciting stuff they made and sold. Such is the premise for  “Dixie’s Tupperware Party”, a 90 minute staged production that took off-Broadway by storm ( or at least that is what the press release says) now on stage in the Cabaret at The Royal George Theatre on Halsted. It is not like any other Tupperware party in the audience is not sitting in a room full of friends and neighbors, but strangers, who through the course of the show sort of get to know each other , at least just a little.

While fast talking Dixie Longate, tells us her story of the product and how she got involved and worked her way up the ladder, it is not really a sell the product “party”, although to start with, each seat has a catalog and pen placed on it, but they did not collect them at the close of the show. When we entered, we were asked to put a name tag on, so Dixie could call us by name ( as one would do at a home party) and on each name tag was a number. During the course of the show Dixie did call numbers for “door prizes’ and the winner was brought up on stage before getting their Tupperware trinket. In fact from the very onset of the show, when Dixie walked around passing out peppermints, one felt that this was going to be a real “downhome” type of show with lots of double-entendres and adult themes. It is!

While we, the audience, are somewhat educated on the history of the product and its growth ( which many found amazing), this is a show full of laughs as well- a show that will certainly take your mind off the type of day you may have had and allow you to leave the theater with a smile on your face and as Dixie says when she greets you at the door ” thanks for coming , now yawl go home and have some sex”, a warm feeling inside! While 90 minutes might just be a little to long for this fast paced comedy, the boundless energy seems to hit us all and perhaps even rejuvinate us from our workday. Written by  Kris Andersson and directed by Patrick Richwood, this show exudes energy from start to end. We had a ball and it appeared that most of the Wednesday ( middle of the week, no less) night audience were hysterical. I noticed a few prudes in there as well, but this show is for mature audiences who just want to enjoy their night out, and do not mind a little “raunchiness” from the Tupperware lady who has found many new uses for this remarkable product line.

“Dixie” will be in town until May 15th at The Royal George located at 1641 N. Halsted Street with perofrmances as follows:

Tuesday thru Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.,Fridays at 8 p.m.,Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. ( imagine a Sunday from Church to Dixie’s- wow!)

Tickets range from $44-$49  and are available at the box office, by phone at 312-988-9000. Ticketmaster; phone 1-800-982-2787 or www.ticketmaster.com 

This being in the “cabaret” theater, drinks are permitted- in fact, I would think they would pop for the first one at the ticket prices they are asking.                                                                                                                                                                               

for more info visit www.dixiestupperwareparty.com or www.theroyalgeorgetheatre.com