I was lucky enough to see this forgotten 1929 knee slapping comedy. Now, I was a KJ fan before I saw this show, in addition to her as the ground breaking tranny alien in 3rd Rock from the Sun and her turn as Lexi Featherston in Sex and the City, the aging party girl who falls out a window....genius! I have also seen her in "Aunt Dan & Lemon," and "The Baltimore Waltz." The kids got theatre chops and is a member of the Atlantic Theatre Company!
Well after the show Ned, LB & I scurried off to Cowgirl Hall of Fame for some margaritas and chit-chat. Needless to say I gushed about Ms. Johnston, she seriously can turn a laugh with the smallest gesture or phrase. One of my favorite scenes is when her egomaniac character is so in love with her self well see below....
Ned turned to me after my analysis of her performance and said, "send me an email and I will forward it to her."
You see Ned and Kristen are sort of BFF's, I mean he spent Thanksgiving with her at her CT home. I mean COME ON!!! Could you just die?
After my initial draft to Ned to make sure it wasn't too "crazy" or over the top this is the correspondence that followed....
SO HELP ME YOU'RE WONDERFUL
Ned!!
Laura Beth and I just wanted to say again how much we enjoyed the show last night. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. You and Kristen have great chemistry & should work together again. I don't know how you look into her face every night as she assaults you with her amazing wit and not crack up laughing like a little girl.
I've see Kristen in a few shows over the years; The Baltimore Waltz, Aunt Dan & Lemon and she just gets better and better. She has such an amazing presence and can carve out the smallest bits of business to send you into stitches. There is no replacement for Bea Arthur in the canon of theater & television, but Kristen is making her way into finding her own spot on the list of funniest women EVER! Do let her know we are rooting for her, you and the company of "So Help Me God," I can't believe we had to go all the way back to '29 to find a smart, hilarious social comment comedy. hahah!
love your jelly!!
--
~brandy rowell
NED TO KRISTEN JOHNSTON
from my friends last night - read if you're ever having a bad day :)
KRISTEN JOHNSTON TO NED
UMM.
That made my fucking day.
Can she be the Times critic?
(I moved this email to "shit to look at when life sucks" box.)
PS She is the 3rd person in as many weeks to compare me with the late, great, muumuu wearing Ms Arthur.
Better than what I also sometimes get...."oh my god, I just LOVE your Jenny Craig commercials!!!!"
Kid you not.
Once a month, at least.
pps...I assume Brandy's a woman...or a drag name. But I gotta say, in my whole life, I've only heard the name "Bea Arthur" pass thru the lips of a gay boy. So it's throwing me.
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The fact that she thinks I am either a Drag Queen or a Gay Boy means I can die happy! Plus technically if for some reason she has her head "in the oven" my tiny email could save her life!!
A bunch of Broadway producers saw the show the final week I hope one of them has the good sense to invest in this jewel of a production. It would be a shame for it to go back into a desk drawer and not be done for another 80 years!!
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