6

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE March 26, 2010

www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

Tasty Doughnuts

Stifler's mom comes to Cleveland for a one woman show

by Anthony Glassman

Cleveland-When the words "busty," "blonde" and "funny" are used to describe someone in an LGBT newspaper, it's usually RuPaul, who is always a treat to see live. However, much rarer is a chance to see a live performance by another funny blonde with quite a chest-Jennifer Coolidge.

Seemingly appearing out of nowhere in the mid-'90s, Coolidge rose to stardom on the strength of her performances as Reese Witherspoon's manicurist in Legally Blonde, the next-gen Mrs. Robinson as Stifler's mom in American Pie, the femme fatale in Pootie Tang, and, of course, her hysterical roles in Christopher Guest's Best

the drive up to the Forest City, since she will not be performing in Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Akron or any of the other cities.

"I think this is it for this round," she said of the possibility of other Ohio stops.

The show is halfway between stand-up and a traditional one-woman show, she says, calling it a "Kathy Griffin-style storytelling type of stand-up, talking about my feelings of disappointment having gotten to Los Angeles 20 years ago."

While Coolidge, who is humble almost to a fault, seems to think her career is less than stellar, her face is such a warm and familiar part of the comedy landscape that most people would have to disagree with her.

ship at the end of the movie with her female dog trainer, played by out actress Jane Lynch.

"Christopher Guest is amazing at putting the whole puzzle together," she said. "I think it was a smart choice for Christopher to do that. I think Jane and I are really different, so that was brilliant casting."

"She's very smart and articulate and accurate and very precise with her words, and I'm just the opposite," Coolidge continued. "We couldn't have been two more mismatched people."

As far as American Pie goes, she was working with Eugene Levy, who was about the only name in the cast at the time. Jason Biggs, Chris Klein and Seann William Scott

Jennifer Coolidge and Fred Willard are the Funkyerdoders in the comedy Date Movie.

in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration.

Along the way, there have been television performances galore, including her stint as Joey's agent in the short-lived Friends spin-off and a trio of episodes of FX's Nip/ Tuck, complete with her rap video, "Yo Stank." One wonders if that episode is on Hulu.

Anyway, Coolidge, who once told an interviewer in Toronto that her drag name would be Tasty Doughnuts, is touring a comedy act that will come to Cleveland's Pickwick and Frolic at their Hilarities 4th Street Theater from March 26 to 28, with shows at 7:30 pm, and late shows at 10:15 pm on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately for the rest of the state, they'll just have to make

Bitch

Rock to

the east, rock to the west

Her acting roles are not the only thing she discusses in the show, though.

"I talk about dating now that I'm single, and I talk about going through a break-up, actresses I see interviewed and the weird things they say," she noted. "I talk about sex, you know, all the things people want to hear about."

With all the notable roles she has filled over the last 15 years, asking her which was her favorite was a no-brainer, and her answer was firm-Best in Show, the Christopher Guest mockumentary centered around dog shows, and American Pie, where she seduces one of her son's friends.

For Best in Show, she and the other actors filmed in Vancouver and improvised much of their dialogue. She winds up in a relation-

Tegan and

Sara

Two big alternative-rock shows are hitting Cleveland in the next week, and lesbians are center stage in both. First, Tegan and Sara, those twins from Calgary, will be rocking out the Lakewood Civic Auditorium on March 28. The duo is touring in support of their latest album, Sainthood.

The show, with special guests Steel Train, starts at 8 pm, and tickets are $25-$30. Lakewood Civic Auditorium is at 14100 Franklin Blvd., and tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

Then, mere days later, Bitch (formerly of Bitch and Animal, and of Bitch and the Exciting Conclusion) will take the stage of the Beachland Tavern for an April Fool's Day show. Of course, with local darlings Early Girl opening, along with the State Of, the only fools will be the ones who miss the concert.

The show also starts at 8 pm, and tickets are $12 in advance, $14 day of show. The Beachland is at 15711 Waterloo Rd, and can be found online at www.beachlandballroom.com.

became big because of that film, but as Coolidge remembers it, the latter was living in his car at the time they were filming. Despite how wonderful she is in her roles, she really cannot watch them.

"If I turn on the TV and it's a different part of the movie that I'm not in, that's the only way I could do that," Coolidge said. “It makes me incredibly uncomfortable. [Christopher Guest's] Waiting for Guffman is one of my favorite movies of all time, I love watching it from beginning to end, and I love that I'm not in it."

In addition to her achievements in comedic roles, she has another passion: the LGBT community. She has supported various gay and AIDS organizations, including the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the Nantucket AIDS Network.

When asked, though, she couldn't pin down when she became a supporter of the LGBT community.

"I think it's just since the first day I can remember," she mused, "it's always been that way. . It's who you sort of seek out earlier in your life. Later you find out a lot of people were closeted, of course-oh yeah, the whole group, they were all gay."

"It's who you gravitate toward, it's people who just have your point of view," she said. "I don't write my stuff for gay men or women, and yet those are the people who enjoy it the most, they just seem to have the same point of view as me."

She took the thought to its logical conclusion: "Sometimes I feel like I'm living the life of a gay man. One day, I hope to have as much sex as a gay man," she laughed.

For reservation to any of Jennifer Coolidge's shows at Hilarities, go to www.pickwickandfrolic.com or call 216241-7425. The theater is located at 2035 East Fourth Street in downtown Cleveland.

-Anthony Glassman