Internationally accclaimed solo show brings Oscar-winning Hollywood legend to life.
Thursday, December 16 at Episcopal Actors’ Guild
★★★★ "Sardonic, sultry, sexy, vicious and vivacious, dominating the stage from word one (Bette would’ve been proud).” -- Broadway Baby
"Audiences will find themselves mesmerized by this animated, energetic performer. Resembling Bette Davis during her younger years, Ms. Sherr easily becomes the feisty, uncompromising movie star." -- Chicago Theatre Review
“An enlightening portrait of a trailblazing feminist who is indelibly etched upon our collective mind.” -- Broadway World
"Highly recommended." -- Windy City Times
★★★★ "Magnificently witty.” -- The List (Edinburgh)
In BETTE DAVIS AIN’T FOR SISSIES, Jessica Sherr channels 31-year old Bette Davis’ fight against the male-dominated studio system. On the night of the 1939 Oscars, Davis returns home knowing she’s to lose Best Actress to Vivien Leigh’s Scarlet O’Hara, because the press has leaked the winners. Davis takes us on the bumpy ride of her tumultuous rise, as the tenacious actress fights her way through the studio system to the top, while triumphing over misogyny to win roles and compensation on par with her male counterparts. See what happens when someone who always wins...loses.
BETTE DAVIS AIN’T FOR SISSIES returns for one night only -- Thursday, December 16 at 8pm at The Episcopal Actors’ Guild (1 East 29th Street between Madison and 5th Aves – accessible from the R, W and #6 trains at 28th Street). Tickets are $21.50 at www.SpinCycleNYC.com.
BETTE DAVIS AIN’T FOR SISSIES is written and performed by Jessica Sherr (Blue Bloods, Claws, Annie) and directed by Karen Carpenter (Harry Townsend’s Last Stand, Love Loss and What I Wore). It premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2008 and has gone on to sold-out five-star runs at Edinburgh Fringe Festival over three consecutive years, a month-long run in Chicago, a US tour in 2015, and a run at St. James Theater in London. The show has been seen in 12 US states including stops in Tuscon, San Antonio, Roswell, San Joseand Little Rock and three countries. For more information visit bettedavisaintforsissies.com.
Jessica Sherr (Playwright / Bette Davis) is a graduate of the Wynn Handman Acting Studio and has studied improv at UCB and The PIT. Jessica appears on Season 2 of Claws (TNT), and was recently seen on Cloak and Dagger (ABC FreeForm) and on Blue Bloods (CBS), opposite Donnie Wahlberg. TV work includes Flight of the Concords (HBO). Film: Annie (Columbia Pictures), We are the Prototypes (Dances With Films). For the past year, Jessica has collaborated on the series Scratch This, which won Grand Prize at the New York Woman in Film Short Film Festival. She is the writer / performer of the internationally acclaimed solo show, BETTE DAVIS AIN'T FOR SISSIES. Jessica worked with writer/director Caitlin Scherer to adapt this solo play into the feature film script, Bette, a finalist for the Screencraft awards. Jessica teamed up again with Caitlin to produced Wicked Image, a short film about Lucifer, The Devil and Satan which will debut at the Garden State Film Festival, in which Jessica plays Satine, aka Satan. Jessica was the face of Fruit by the Foot and had a two-year National Campaign for Aquafresh. She is a certified personal trainer and holds her New York Real Estate License. She grew up in San Diego, California, and is a graduate of UC, Santa Barbara. Jessica is married to actor Doug Schneider and lives in New York. When not on stage you can find her at Rockaway Beach, surfing. @JessicaSherr / @bettedavisaint / www.JessicaSherr.com
Karen Carpenter (Director) is the director of the critically acclaimed premiere of George Eastman’s comedy Harry Townsend’s Last Stand, off-Broadway. She is set to direct the upcoming premieres of the new play Re-Wire, and the new musical Brave New World. Karen’s previous Off-Broadway credits include: Delia and Nora Ephron’s Love, Loss And What I Wore, (Drama Desk Award, BWW Audience Favorite, NYT’s Critics Pick); Handle With Care (NYT’s Critics Pick); L.O.V.E.R., Bulldozer; and Witnessed by the World. Regionally, she has directed for the Old Globe Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Bucks County Playhouse, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, and Surflight Theater. In the years Karen served as Artistic Director of the William Inge Theater Festival, she instituted a New Play Lab hosting readings from over 70 playwrights, and directed lifetime achievement tributes to David Henry Hwang, Arthur Kopit, Beth Henley and Donald Margulies. As the Associate Artistic Director of the Old Globe, she produced over 40 plays and musicals, revived their annual Shakespeare Festival, and directed many award-winning plays, among them, As You Like It, named Best of the Year by San Diego Magazine. She is the Producing Director of The Figment Factory, LLC. Faculty, Yale School of Drama, 1991-1996. Boston University alumna. www.kcdirector.com / @kcdirector