Dixie’s Tupperware Party

Down South LLC
presents

     Dixie Longate in 
Dixie’s Tupperware Party

by Kris Andersson

Directed by
Patrick Richwood
 
Lighting Design | Richard Winkler
Sound Design | Christopher K. Bond
Tour Manager | Michele Helberg
General Management | K L Management
 
 
The Tupperware trademark is used with kind permission of the Tupperware Brands Corporations.
 
The production was presented by  THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL

a production of THE PRESENT COMPANY
Originally produced in New York by Ars Nova, Jon Steingart, Jenny Wiener and Jason Eagan
 
www.dixiestupperwareparty.com

A Little Scribble from Dixie's Notepad

Someone once said that things often come much more into focus after that second shot of tequila.  I can’t say that I disagree with that.  And I reckon that many of you have had that experience.  You know when you are talking to a friend as the bar bill climbs and you start to make sense out of things that were plaguing you just a few hours before.  
I have to think that there was a round of empty glasses sitting on the counter when Brownie Wise thought to herself, “Hey, if I take these plastic bowls off of the store shelves and demonstrate how great they are to my friends in their own living rooms, I might be on to something.”  Over 60 years have passed and boy was she on to something.  
 
Who could have imagined that a single mother from the middle of the country could take a plastic bowl and make it an iconic piece of Americana.  This is what inspires me about Brownie Wise.  She wasn’t just creating a way to sell more plastic crap.  She looked past the bowl , and found women that were lost, who needed help, who just didn’t quite fit in, and she gave them a network of friends and neighbors who would come together to share recipes and cocktails.  They would talk about their families and their new Broyhill recliner.  They would show off their ultra-modern wood paneling, and sometimes, their empty bed where their husband had slept before he went off to war.   These parties not only provided creative food storage solutions, they also provided opportunities for women to step up and in a small way, take charge of their lives.  
Now I haven’t had the easiest life, but the good times happily have outweighed the bad times.  At least that is how I remember it.  But there ain’t a day that goes by that I don’t pick up a piece of Tupperware and thank my lucky stars at how much better off I am now than I was just a couple of years ago.
 
Maybe it’s the plastic containers, maybe it’s the drinking, I’m not certain.  But there is one thing I do know.  I am so grateful that Brownie Wise decided to walk into her neighbor’s living room with that first set of bowls all those years ago.  If she hadn’t, I am not quite sure where I would be right now.  
 
Brownie ain’t that much different than me.  And I ain’t that much different from you.  Like they say, if you put your mind to it, you can do anything.  Even if you turn down that shot sitting in front of you on the bar.
 
Welcome to my Tupperware Party!
- Dixie Longate

Dixie’s Tupperware Party is performed without intermission.

WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST
 
DIXIE LONGATE
, Your Tupperware Lady  

Hey hookers, I’m Dixie Longate, America’s Favorite Tupperware lady. I'm from Mobile, Alabama, born and raised. What can I say, I'm a southern girl through and through. I started selling the fantastic Plastic crap in 2001 and I have never had so much fun drinking for free in my life. Within a year, I was one of the top sellers in the nation because, well, me and some plastic bowls, and a bunch of drunk women somehow equals lots of sales. 


I have 3 kids; Wynona, Dwayne, and Absorbine, Jr. and 3 ex-husbands. All of ‘em have somehow died, but I ain’t crying about it. I’m way too busy traveling all over the place bringing creative food storage solutions to your town. 
 
My Tupperware party caught the eye of some New York Theatre producers and in 2007, I had a big opening in my own show, “Dixie’s Tupperware Party” off-Broadway and got a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance. I know, shut up, right!  I have now played in theaters far and wide across these fruited plains as well as 4 other countries with my show. Some of those places I didn't even realize had food. See what I have learned by traveling so much. I'm happy to be here partying it up with all y'all this evening. Now grab a Tupperware sippy cup and let's have ourselves a party!


For more info or to see pictures of me doing fun things go find me on social media at Dixie Longate.   

PATRICK RICHWOOD (Director) has been associated with Dixie Longate since her earliest days in the world of food storage and is delighted to be collaborating on her quest to save the world, one collapsible bowl at a time! As a director, he has garnered critical praise for his work in the one-person genre including Dark Horse at the L.A. Theatre Center, An Otherwise Empty Room at the Geary Project, San Francisco, and Ishmael for the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Annex, Los Angeles.
 
KRIS ANDERSSON (Playwright) Andersson debuted Dixie's Tupperware Party at the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival. Following that run, he teamed up with playwright Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl) and director Alex Timbers (Beetlejuice, Moulin Rouge! The Musical) to create the Off-Broadway version of the show at Ars Nova.  The show received the 2007/08 Drama Desk Award Nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance. The show has now become the longest-running Off-Broadway tour of the last decade. His follow up shows include Broken Sh*t and Baby Jesus, My Bags Went Where?, No Instructions, and Dixie's follow up show, Never Wear A Tube Top While Riding A Mechanical Bull and 16 Other Things I Learned While I Was Drinking Last Thursday.

RICHARD WINKLER (Lighting Designer) Over 35-years as a lighting designer for Broadway, off-Broadway, opera, regional theatres, national tours, and arenas.  Most recently—Musicals, including: Miss Saigon, The Who’s Tommy, Hairspray, at Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars; The Full Monty, A Christmas Story, the world premiere musical Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Kiss Me Kate, Jekyll and Hyde. Most recent plays include:  Jerusalem (World Premiere), Waverly Gallery, Dirty Blonde, and Wit.  Now also a 3-time Tony-Award winning Broadway producer The Norman Conquests (2009), Memphis, The Musical (2010); La Cage aux Folles (2010).  Other Broadway producing credits: A Little Night Music, Lend Me A Tenor, La Bete (London and Broadway), Long Story Short with Colin Quinn, and Nice Work If You Can Get It.  West End producing credits include: Legally Blonde, The Children's Hour, and Betrayal.

CHRISTOPHER BOND (Sound Designer) Is pleased to be in his 10th season with Dixie’s Tupperware Party.  His other work consists of more than 40 top New York & National Touring productions, including the New York and HBO productions of Colin Quinn: Long Story Short, Fame on 42nd Street, and the national tours of All Shook Up starring Susan Anton, Some Like it Hot starring Tony Curtis, Guys & Dolls, and Forever Plaid.  Mr. Bond has designed more than 30 regional productions across the US and has served for ten seasons as the Sound Designer for Theatre Under the Stars in Houston, TX.

KL MANAGEMENT (General Manager) KL has been involved in over 70 shows in the last 40 years that have toured throughout the world.  Recent productions include Tuna Does Vegas, All Shook Up, Some Like It Hot starring Tony Curtis, Fame: The Musical, Guys and Dolls, Dirty Blonde, Fully Committed, The Vagina Monologues, and Forever Plaid.

STAFF  for Dixie’s Tupperware Party

GENERAL MANAGEMENT
KL MANAGEMENT
Richard Martini | Elinor Prince | Christy Ellingsworth
 
TOUR MANAGER | Michele Helberg

Bookkeeper | Elinor Prince
Insurance | Dewitt Stern Group
Payroll | Castellana Services
 
The production was presented by  
THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FRINGE FESTIVAL
 
a production of THE PRESENT COMPANY

Exclusive Tour Direction
Please Contact:  
Down South 1501 Broadway Suite 1606, New York, NY 10036
212-730-9500 | Dixie@martinient.com