Magic Carpet Ride
Alicia Levy fine tunes her repertoire of
characters into a prime-time ready showcase
Although
SNL may have gotten a decent Angelina Jolie impression out of hiring on
Abby Elliot and Michaela Watkins this season, it may have missed an
opportunity by not calling on Alicia Levy, a gifted performer who now
has a very TV-ready showcase of impressions and characters on display in
her latest solo show, “Alicia Levy’s Red Carpet Ride,” seen at the
People’s Improv Theatre on March 5.
With Lorne Michaels reportedly always hungry for impressions when
auditioning potential cast members, Levy has at least two stellar and
relevant ones in the new show -- reality and gossip page personality Kim
Kardashian, and singer Macy Gray. These might seem easy enough to
lampoon, but Levy, having written her own show as well, gets some
subtlety into these pieces as well, where Kardashian talks about doing a
car wash benefit to be called “Kim Kardashian’s Kar-wash-ian,” for
“research and development,” never specifying what the R&D might be for
or about.
And as Macy Gray, with the trademark rasp in her hit “I Try” down pat,
Levy throws in a well-fit lyric, “…like the weed that I smoke…” She’s
also got a Victoria Beckham impression in her repertoire, along with
some original characters one could easily imagine recurring on SNL, such
as a clumsy Eastern European performer going on auditions for the
Pussycat Dolls, Sesame Street and America’s Got Talent, in desperate
pursuit of a green card -- extrapolating on a shorter version of this
character seen in her previous show (see
review from 9/8/08).
Levy has added another new character, a Britney Spears-like troubled pop
star, “Touche,” complete with a showcase song, “I’m Too Young To Be Your
Baby Mama.” The photos and video leading up to the song, chronicling her
descent into scratch-off lottery tickets and other vices, actually pack
a sharp punch themselves. Levy doesn’t rely as much on video in this
newest show, which is quite short and succinct, and could possibly
benefit with the addition of one more impression or a new take on one of
her previously seen characters.
Still, most of what Levy has in “Red Carpet Ride” has great potential
for development into more, either on television, online or in some other
wider channel.
“Alicia Levy’s Red Carpet Ride” recurs at The PIT at 8 p.m. on
Thursdays, March 12, 19 and 26, as well as 8 p.m. March 23 as part of
“Comedy Central at Crash Mansion” (located at 199 Bowery in New York). |