Theatre Review: Phoebe Legere’s Speed Queen Is A Hug To A Great Life
I never heard of Joe Carstairs, and that is a problem. A fabulous life like hers should not be so silenced in history, but LGBT heroes are not the easiest to find as you go deeper into humanity’s past. Thanks to Phoebe’s Legere’s Speed Queen, directed by Lissa Moira, you get to witness the life of a woman who was not simply brave at owning her sexuality but fearless in owning her desire to LIVE!
Legere makes Carstairs’ life worthy of Oscars, of which the woman did bed some Oscar winners: from Greta Garbo to Marlene Dietrich. A millionaire heiress, acclaimed speed-boat racer, and out lesbian in the 1920’s dressing up in a male sailor’s outfit, this woman was an unstoppable force of nature that impacted every lover with her balances of curiosity, generosity, and excitement. Bursting unto the scene as Joe to sing a few cabaret numbers, you feel enthralled by Legere who matches her character’s fierceness. Blessed with a voice that belts DRAMA!; she could transform a hum into an opus. Legere truly delivers the essence of cabaret as an art form, and test of human being’s capacity to grab attention and transform it into amazement.
Dancing, prancing, and filled with plenty of puns, when Legere isn’t Carstairs, she becomes her many lovers, and uses a blow-up doll to represent Joe. At first, it took me aback. She waltzed with the blow-up doll on her hip kissing it as if its thoughts had inspired her universe. Yet, how she caressed “Blow-Up Joe” as one of her many lovers, from Natalie Barney to Dolly Wilde, you do get to know the Speed Queen. How people hold you shows how you held them. Often, the women in Joe’s life held her as someone to mold with their worldly wisdom, but then became surprised that it was them who were bettered by her balance of both intelligence an innocence. Often, I have thought that innocence means naivety, but Joe Carstairs shows innocence is our steadfast protectiveness over our zest for life.
Keeping a child-like approach to your everyday is not easy, but for 93 years Joe Carstairs embraced her life like a kid in a candy shop or, at least, a kid with an adorable, secret holding doll called Lord Tod Wadley. Legere’s conviction to her roles, and determination to covert Carstairs’ long life into a spectacular has you hooked by even the slightest mishaps like her capacity to turn an accidentally falling mic into a purposeful laugh. Nothing stops Legere, but I was completely won over by her determination when, as Tallulah Bankhead she said, “Darling, Turn off that F**KING Cellphone!” to a patron with cell that rung like a cruise horn. The moment both stood out and fit in with Legere’s unwillingness to let go of the atmosphere she was building. She was constructing a magnificent, Broadway extravaganza in her head with a floating tugboat, a few porn clips, and her piano. Luckily, Phoebe Legere’s Speed Queen is located in the more accessible Dixon Place. Located 161A Chrystie St, New York, NY 10002. Buy Tickets Here. Speed Queen is 2 hours with a 10 minute intermission.
