Comedienne Belle Barth is back in “Raunchy Little Musical,” a lighthearted hysterical show celebrating her extraordinary life. In an age where men were the kings of comedy, Belle conquered show business and made a name for herself as the female Lenny Bruce telling bawdy jokes. Despite failed marriages, the lack of support from her mother, and getting fined and arrested for her foulmouth, Belle still managed to headline the comedy clubs and make the world laugh.
“Raunchy Little Musical” is headed on tour to a city near you and luckily we were able to get a glimpse at the Landmark Theater on Main Street in Port Washington. The show features a sidesplitting book by Joanne Koch and an original catchy score by Ilya Levinson and Owen Kalt. Belle Barth was born Annabelle Salzman. The Jewish comedienne amused the patrons of hotels and nightclubs with her twisted tongue in the 1950’s and 1960’s. She recorded her comedy routine on many popular records and even played Carnegie Hall. Salzman married five times and reinvented herself more times than that.
Bringing Belle to life is the extraordinary actress Sara Delbeato. Ms. Delbeato commands the stage with her cartoon-like persona and weaves Belle’s life story through song and humor. Her singing voice is strong and her charm and charisma even stronger. Ms. Delbeato zings the audience with naughty one liners and makes us blush with every filthy thing that comes out of her mouth. The Borscht belt jokes are shocking and just when you think she can’t say anything worse than she already said, she does. Even Ms. Delbeato can’t help from laughing along with us at Belle’s salacious material.
The musical comedy also features the convincing David Craven as all the men in Belle’s life. Each character he creates is so vastly different that you’d think there were dozens of male actors in the show. Mr. Craven is a man of many voices and talents. Jimmy Ferraro‘s direction is fast and fun full of quick changes, classic storytelling and pure comedy.
At the end of show, I’m sure the audience’s cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling just as much as ours. In fact, it was hard to keep a straight face during the ninety minutes and we never got a chance to breathe in between jokes. Ms. Delbeato seemed to be having the time of her life playing this lush character just as much as we enjoyed watching her. Belle’s trip through yesteryear is an old fashioned love letter to comediennes everywhere such as queen of comedy Joan Rivers who struggled and succeeded in a male dominated profession. Belle’s legacy will live forever and thanks to her nonstop determination for pursuing her passion, the authors of “Raunchy Little Musical” made sure that Belle’s audience gets the last laugh!
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Book by Joanne Koch, Music bu Ilya Levinson, Lyrics by Owen Kalt and Directed by Jimmy Ferraro
Starring Sara Delbeato as Belle Barth and David Craven as All of The Men In Her Life
For more information please visit: www.raunchylittlemusical.com