NOBODY LOVES A FAT GIRL
(UNTIL SHE HAS A MIC)

Laural Meade has treated the concept of the solo-bio show like an origami master, folding it over and out until it becomes something other than what it is.  Meade starts with the woes of Russian-born American singer, comedian, and legendary vaudevillian Sophie Tucker (1886-1966). “The Last of the Red-Hot Mamas” was a fat, plain woman who spent her life looking for love. Meade enfolds the story of Tucker over herself, a zaftig gay woman whose description of her own love life sounded more like a game of Whac-A-Mole.

In Ms. Tucker Will See You Now—directed by Mike Schlitt and Cynthia Ettinger—Meade relates a tale of Sophie’s heartbreaks, relates one of her own, then asks those in the audience if anyone has shared in a similar misfortune of the heart. Meade, with pianist and straight-man Fred Cassidy on the keyboard, punctuates these interactions with classic Tucker tunes—“Nobody Loves a Fat Girl,” “I Know That My Baby Is Cheatin’ on Me,” “Middle-Age Mambo—that resonate with a sense of longing we have all known. Winner of the Hollywood Fringe 25 Best CabaretBurlesque Award.

photo by Craig Allyn Photo

Ms. Tucker Will See You Now
Davidson/Valentini Theater at the Los Angeles LGBT Center
played the Hollywood Fringe through June 28, 2025
plays next at Fringe of the Woods Festival in Frasier, CA on Aug. 9 at 8:45pm
returns to Davidson/Valentini on Sept. 25 at 7pm
for show info, visit Ms. Tucker
follow at @mstuckerwillseeyounow