Re-Designing Women, a new comedy by Jamie Morris and directed by Christopher Kenney, celebrates its East Coast Premiere at Empire Stage (1140 N. Flagler Dr., Fort Lauderdale). Originally produced by the Uptown Players in Dallas, Texas, this show comes out to Florida for shows every Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and every Sunday at 5 p.m. starting on June 26 and running through August 3.
Jamie Morris is a well-known writer who has brought similar drag parodies to Florida in recent years, such as Mommie Queerest and The Facts of Life: The Lost Episode, the latter of which was seen in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale last year. This time the target of his comedic parody is Designing Women, the fan favorite 1980s CBS sitcom which revolved around the ladies of an Atlanta interior design firm, Sugarbaker House, and the lone male assistant who works for them.
In this parody, Sugarbaker House is suffering from money woes and is in danger of going out of business for good. Former Miss Georgia Suzanne (played by Florida native Delta Burke in the original TV series) has an idea to save the business: what if they made their own reality show? The idea is a go, and now cameras are watching the every movie of Suzanne, Julia, Mary Jo, Charlene, Anthony and family friend Bernice. The reality show is sure to be a hit as “Terminator” Julia, rambling Charlene and neurotic Mary Jo give the producers more than enough material to work with! These women might just save Sugarbaker House yet. Who knew Suzanne had a good idea?
If you’re interested in attending a showing of this parody experience, tickets cost $30 each and can be purchased by going directly to the Empire Stage website at empirestage.com. One preview performance, on June 26, costs $20; tickets are limited.
