Bette Davis Ain’t for Sissies There are no big surprises in Jessica Sherr’s 60-minute solo, no novel insights. Yes, Bette Davis faced sexism in the movie industry. Yes, it was lonely at the top. Even if you didn’t see Feud, the recent FX series about her war with Joan Crawford, you likely know already that Davis drank to excess, smoked like a chimney, had a sharp tongue, and earned two Oscars, arguably getting robbed of a third by Vivien Leigh and the 1939 Gone With the Wind juggernaut. The main appeal of Sissies (the title, by the way, isn’t homophobic, just off point: it paraphrases Davis’s comment that “old age ain’t no place for sissies”) is Sherr herself, whose Davis isn’t quite like any you’ve seen, adding a bright comic energy to the usual semaphore gestures and wised-up locutions. Sherr is especially wild during a passage where Davis gets randy with Howard Hughes. —Tony Adler
The King and I Based on the most recent Broadway revival of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s 1951 musical, this Equity touring production offers visual beauty, fine dancing, gorgeous voices, and ethnically sensitive casting (Asian roles played by actors of Asian descent). What it lacks, though, is crucial: a properly explosive relationship between the leads. Laura Michelle Kelly has all the vocal power she needs as Anna Leonowens, a real-life Englishwoman who taught in the court of the King of Siam from 1862 to 1868. But her manner is staid and her tensions with the king tend to come off as teacher’s-lounge gripes. Jose Llana’s King, meanwhile, never conveys a sense of how very, very dangerous an absolute monarch—even one who wants to westernize his country—can be. Their relationship fails to catch fire pedagogically, much less romantically. —Tony Adler
Tempel Lizzipans You have to admire the graceful way the folks who put together the show at Tempel Farms are able to balance their desire to inform newbies like me about the Lipizzan breed with their need to impress seasoned devotees. Of course, the breed’s backstory is pretty compelling: among other things, they were imported to the Royal Court of Austria from Spain in the 16th century and subsequently saved from destruction in WW II by General Patton. The actual show is fast-paced and accessible, and includes chances to see cavorting foals, novice young stallions, and the polished work of experienced older horses executing both classical and Olympic-style dressage. Those who wish to may pet the horses in the stable after, or talk to their riders. —Jack Helbig
