“This is going to be some radical shit.” John Jarboe

“Medley is the name of the complicated, charming, entertaining game: old and new, historical and contemporary, male and female, funny and moving, parody and pointed, if implicit, social commentary.” The Philadelphia Inquirer

The Bearded Ladies Cabaret’s Do You Want A Cookie? serves up a delicious romp through cabaret history, with an international cast of artists performing a live revue of cabaret from the Chat Noir to Weimar nightlife to 21st-century drag.

After select performances of Do You Want A Cookie? audiences can stick around (joint or separate tickets required) as individual artists present extended cabaret routines as Late Night Snacks.

Full Artist Lineup

Sept 8th: Mary Tuomanen + Bridge Markland
Sept 9th: Adrienne Truscott + Cookie Diorio
Sept 12th: Dito van Reigersberg + Machine Dazzle
Sept 13th: Malgorzata Kaspryzcka, Dieter Rita Scholl + John Jarboe
Sept 14th: Messapotamia LeFae, Jess Conda + Daniel Park
Sept 15th: Tareke Ortiz + Cherdonna Shinatra

Do You Want A Cookie? and Late Night Snacks performance
$35 general / $24 members
$20 student + 25-and-under

Late Night Snacks performance ONLY
$10-15 sliding scale

The all-star cast comes draws from around the world:  Mary Tuomanen (Philly), Bridge Markland (Berlin), Adrienne Truscott (NYC), Cookie Diorio (Philly), Dito van Reigersberg (Philly), Machine Dazzle (NYC), Malgorzata Kasprzycka (Paris/Poland), Dieter Rita Scholl (Berlin), John Jarboe (Philly), Messapotamia LeFae (Philly), Jess Conda (Philly), Daniel Park (Philly), Tareke Ortiz (Mexico City) and Cherdonna Shinatra (Seattle).
Photos by Plate 3 Photography

Lead support for Do You Want A Cookie? was provided by William Penn Foundation.

Major support for The Poison Cookie Jar has been provided to John Jarboe by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Supported in part by a Bly Creative Capacity Grant from Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA).

Festival Star Producers
David and Linda Glickstein
Mark & Tobey Dichter
Festival Executive Producers
Lisa Roberts & David Seltzer
Festival Producers
Lawrence Spitz & Carol Klein
Festival Co-Producers
Cat, Annie & Steven Bohnenberger

About The Bearded Ladies Cabaret

The Bearded Ladies Cabaret is an interdisciplinary troupe of artists who reinvigorate and redefine the form of cabaret in the 21st century by fusing it with theater, opera, and dance. They play with nostalgia and humor to question the embedded social messages in popular culture and tackle the politics of gender, identity, and artistic invention with sparkle and wit. Their work has been seen all over Philadelphia including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Eastern State Penitentiary, Opera Philadelphia, the Wilma Theater, and FringeArts, and they have brought their cabaret revolution to Miami, New Zealand, Seattle, Paris, Maryland, Delaware and New York City (Ars Nova, La Mama, and Joe’s Pub).

About John Jarboe

John Jarboe (she/he) is a cabaret artist, director, writer, historian, and host serving you revolution, herstory, queer community making, and a whole lot of glitter. He is the founding artistic director of The Bearded Ladies Cabaret. Going back to the interdisciplinary roots of cabaret, Jarboe is transforming opera, cabaret, and live performance from her home in Philadelphia, making work that is insistent on its liveness and interactivity, work that will make you sing, dance, clap and question. He plays host to a community of cabaret misfits from around the world, trying to stitch together the history and practice of a much needed form.

About Sally Ollove

Sally Ollove (she) is a Philadelphia and Seattle based director and dramaturg, the associate artistic director of Philadelphia’s Bearded Ladies Cabaret, and as far as she knows, the world’s only self-identifying cabaret dramaturg. She believes in art that is silly and audacious, insists on its liveness, asks provocative questions, and provides space for the audience to fill. Formerly the literary manager at Arden Theatre Company, the resident dramaturg of Azuka Theater, and the programming director at the Rendezvous/Jewelbox Theater, Sally has served as faculty at Rowan University and University of the Arts and holds an MFA from the ART/MXAT Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard. She recently authored an article on cabaret featured in TheaterForum.