Buffalo United Artists always pushes the edges with new and provocative performances. Friday evening, the theater company premiers 'Bette & Joan: The Final Curtain.' WBFO's Eileen Buckley says it's a story about Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, the legendary Hollywood screen stars of the 1940s and 50s, but in BUA style with male actors performing the roles.
BUA actors Jimmy Janowski and Christopher Standart will step out on stage to portray the former divas. "And I'm always, always amazed when I find like minds," stated Janowski as he referred to finding the play.
They discovered the original play that was created by the Foursight Theatre Company in the United Kingdom. "And I knew that Chris and I were looking to do something together and I thought this was clever," said Janowski.
Standart sought permission to perform the show here in Buffalo.
"I tracked the author down in England. It took several months, so that we could secure the rights for the premier production in the United States." said Standart. "There were some issues because they thought maybe a company in New York would do it, so I convinced them -- and so they finally said that's really not going to work out, so we are going to give you the rights."
Standart and Janowski are well know for performing female roles. They have a long list of shows with a similar theme, appearing in The Birds, L'Imitation of Life and The Man who Came to Dinner to name a few. But they never revealed to the England based creator that he and Janowski will appear in the female roles.
"The original production was down in England by two women, so we we really didn't know how they were going to respond," noted Janowski. So we were not really sure if they were going to go along with two men playing it."
"So then I got an email on my phone and you could only see the first line of the email and it said 'saw the poster on the website' and I panicked because I thought they're going to cease and desist us immediately," said Standart. "The inside of the email said and it looks fabulous. Have a great show. We really wish we could come and see it."
Standart will appear as Davis and Janowski as Crawford. "Bette Davis is on her death bed," explains Janowski. He describes that Crawford is summoned from hell to 'snatch her soul'. "That's the premise of the show," stated Janowski.
Standart explains the challenges of trying to portray the women for audiences.
"If an audience knows Bette Davis and Joan Crawford are and they come in expecting -- when you're going to do this -- this is what you are doing. Now Jimmy is what -- six foot tall -- Joan Crawford was 5'2 and Bette Davis was 5'1 and a heck of a lot thinner than I am, but what we create are the images," said Standart. "That you believe this is who we are at that moment."
Janowski and Standart rehearsed one of the scenes in their dressing room back stage at the Alleyway Theatre Complex on Main Street where the performances will take place. Bette & Joan: The Final Curtain runs through August 16th.
