On March 25th, 2004, Ryan Landry’s Pussy on the House opened at Machine (The Ramrod Center for the Performing Arts), in Boston. Adapted from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, in Pussy on the House follows Brick, a fading children’s show star, who returns to the family’s polyester plantation so he can reconcile with his dying parent, Big Mama. In Pussy on the House, I repurposed taxidermy into puppets to create Skipper (Brick’s children’s show co-star and secret lover who happens to be a raccoon), and squirrels who torment, Sukie (big Mama’s lover). I also performed in a number of ancillary roles, including as Aphrodite’s understudy. Pussy on the House was the recipient of the Elliot Norton Award. There were 20 performances between March 25th and April 24th, 2004.
Pussy on the House was written by Ryan Landry and directed by James P. Byrne with sets by Windsor Newton and costumes by Lisa Simpson. The ensemble included Larry Coen, Chris Loftus, Penny Champaigne, Olive Another, Ryan Landry, Aphrodite, James P. Byrne, Marsian De Lellis, and Keith Orr. Pussy on the House was remounted in 2011.
I collaborated with The Gold Dust Orphans from 2003-2004. Founded in 1995 by writer/performer Ryan Landry with Scott Martino, Afrodite, and Billy Hough, The Orphans is a drag theater company based in Boston and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Landry’s plays are smart and funny adaptations of film, theatre and pop culture. With the Orphans, I worked on Pussy on the House, Who’s Afraid of the Virgin Mary, and The Gulls.
PRESS
April 14, 2003 InNewsweekly
Ryan Landry on the 2011 Pussy on The House remount: