Dirty Blonde

By Claudia Shear

Presented at
Theatre Wit
1229 W Belmont Ave, Chicago
April 1 — May 1, 2011

Directed by
Stephen Genovese

Conceived by Claudia Shear and James Lapine and featuring songs from I'm No Angel and She Done Him Wrong, Dirty Blonde explores the phenomenon of the legendary Mae West, one of America's most enduring and controversial pop culture icons. And it does so with a terrific mix of dialogue and singing from the characters.

Dirty Blonde, which draws its title from the West film quip "I made myself platinum, but I was born a dirty blonde," tells the story of Jo, an office temp and aspiring actress, and Charlie, who works in the New York Public Library's film archives, both lonely and obsessive West fans who meet at her grave and form a unique relationship as they swap stories about the career highlights and eventual decline into parody of the woman they worship.

Three actors play twenty-four characters in this piece, dubbed "the perfect, funny, touching, upbeat show" by TalkingBroadway.com.

The play is one of the few in Broadway history to have its entire cast nominated for a Tony Award. BoHo Theatre is proud to bring Dirty Blonde to the stage as a Chicago premier.