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If there was any lingering doubt out there, let us here and now make it official: Betty does indeed Rule. And not just because they say so. We've got hard evidence as to this veteran pop/rock/performance trio's total Ruledom, a goodly portion of which is now on display 8 times a week at the Zipper in the form of their 90-minute rollercoaster through the ups and downs and ins and outs of rocking and rolling, "Betty Rules". This is one very cool show. And, the longer Betty eludes the fickle scrutiny of mainstream adulation, the cooler they get. Mainstream bands come along like seasonal fashions, like new car models, to be fawned over by those whose job it is to commodify, label and compartmentalize art into easily palatable product. Such bands are usually gone just as quickly. Betty is here to stay. Notice how that "/" shows up a lot when we try to describe Betty. Betty is not just a "pop" band. They are not just a "rock" band. They are not just a "grrrl" band. They are not just "performance art". Betty is a lot of this/that/and the other thing. And "Betty Rules" showcases members' Elizabeth Ziff, Amy Ziff and Alyson Palmer's varied and estimable talents at their best. We saw an early version of their music/comedy sketch vehicle workshopped up at Vassar's Powerhouse a couple summers ago. Then, the music was top-notch, but their acting and improv were tentative and self-conscious. No more. Betty's collective ease with the wide-range of emotion and character demanded by the myriad vignettes that drive "Rules" provides the special delight that both makes "Betty" Betty and makes them so/damn/hard/to/pigeonhole. To dramatize their near-two decade three-way marriage as a band, Betty has assembled an eclectic offering of career-retro bonbons, ranging from "past-life experiences" to snapshots of former roadies, groupies, lovers, roadies/groupies/lovers, fans, and some guy in Kentucky who pretty much speaks his own language. Amy Ziff's manic recollection of her mid-1980s day job as a coked-up travel agent is alone worth the price of admission (which is a very affordable $10 for weekend late shows). Elizabeth (guitars), Amy (cello) and Alyson (bass) have chosen wisely having director Michael Greif to guide this music/theater/memoir concoction at just the right mix of manic and reflective. And, speaking of mixes, they are equally fortunate to have sound guru Dave Arnold making it all sound great. Onstage, axman extraordinaire Tony Salvatore supplies the chunky guitar riffs and the dapper Colin Brooks spanks that tom-tom till it hurts. "Betty Rules" is spiced and seasoned with an amazing 17 continuous years in the rock and roll stew, but it is never sour, spoiled or flat. It is, above all, a celebration of making art not for the fame and the glory and the seat on the couch next to Leno, but simply because they must. That alone is enough to make Betty rule. But there is more. Betty is involved with a number of causes and organizations trying to make our too-often fucked-up world a better place to be. Following the show we saw, instead of being whisked into waiting limos by a flying wedge of no-neck goons, Betty took their "big buckets" out into the Zipper lobby to collect donations for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
And/that/is/truly/why "Betty Rules". "Betty
Rules" at the Zipper Theatre, 336 W. 37th St., NYC. Tickets via
Telecharge: 212.639.6200. $29.90-$44.90. Copyright © 2002 The Write Word, Inc. All rights reserved. |
