At Least It’s Pink

If confession really is good for the soul, then Bridget Everett must feel mighty fine after her nightly performance at the Ars Nova Theater of At Least It’s Pink, her often uproarious musical mea culpa. In this no-holds-barred 80-minute mix of song and monologue, Everett — or at least her stage persona — admits to being an adulteress, a sex addict, a heavy drinker, and, oh yes, a really rude waitress.

At Least It’s Pink advertises itself as “a trashy little show,” and it definitely lives up to its billing. Everett almost raises the bar for onstage vulgarity — well, at least by a straight woman. To say she has what was once called a “potty mouth” is to be guilty of gross understatement. She also has no shame about baring her rather copious amounts of flesh, taking the stage in a too-tight, too-small bustier that exposes just a little too much midriff. And before the show’s first half hour is through, she will have even dropped trou (well, technically, a pair of shorts that appear to have been made out of men’s suit fabric).

Everett has created At Least It’s Pink with two very talented men: Kenny Mellman, better known as Herb of Kiki and Herb, wrote the show’s music, many of the show’s lyrics, and some of the book, while Michael Patrick King, who was head writer and director of Sex and the City, also worked on the book and helmed the production. Both men’s imprimaturs are in evidence. The show’s monologue-into-song format is almost identical to the one Kiki and Herb use, except instead of cover versions of popular hits, Everett’s songs — one of the most memorable is called “Canhole” — are all originals.

Furthermore, Everett’s sexually frank, larger-than-life persona bears more than a little resemblance to Sex and the City‘s Samatha Jones. Everett has no shame about her many, many liaisons — one of which turns out to be potentially dangerous — reveling in her willingness to meet an Internet hookup in the middle of the night or waking up naked next to a total stranger.

Yet, there’s no question that the big-voiced Everett is no carbon copy of Samantha, or anyone else, real or fictional. She’s definitely her own woman, though it remains questionable if she’s what one would call a role model. Everett is certainly an empowering figure, and one who takes responsibility for her actions; yet she seems a tad too unapologetic about some of the consequences of those actions.

Then again, Everett may not really want the audience to take her all that seriously. Indeed, she is first and foremost a comedy performer. While some of the show’s biggest laughs are at Everett’s own expense, she also has tremendous rapport with the audience — a few members even become unwitting accomplices in her act.

Yes, At Least It’s Pink is not, as you might expect, a solo show. But that’s hardly out of necessity. Everett has more than enough talent and personality to fill the Ars Nova all by herself!