Marga Gomez is Captivating in “Love Birds”
Marga Gomez is back in the Mission with her new show called “Lovebirds”. Bi-costal playwright and lesbian comic extraordinaire has the folks rolling in the aisles with her 75 minute solo performance with the world premiere of “Lovebirds” at The Marsh in San Francisco. This marks her 10th solo performance which is being directed by David Schweizer. Ms. Gomez who I call a Latino Whoopi Goldberg has been one the better lesbian comics traveling all over the United States with her one person show. She has an amazing personality with a great wit, a mobile face and a lithe body. She is one foxy lady who could be called a lesbian Jennifer Lopez.
“Lovebirds” is not one of her autobiographical soliloquys that she usually does. Here Marga plays Polaroid Phillie an enchantingly unconventional street photographer who still takes photos of couples with of all things with a Polaroid camera in Greenwich Village haunts gay ladies bars and Spanish restaurants.
Marga as Polaroid Phillie tells the audience about fond memories of taking photos in the 70’s in these clubs. She then portrays a crew of incurable romantics as they chase their heart’s desires into the night, through decades and to insane lengths. She is fantastic playing Orestes, a macho maître d’ infatuated with a tin eared singer who is married to an academic who never sleeps or even never awake.
Marga is also brilliant playing an emerging lesbian named Barbara and through her eyes we meet a raucously “butch” Turkey who comes on strong at a local disco. She changes her name to Dahlia and she wants to leave this selfish butch Turkey for a new love with a bewitching New York University woman’s studies teacher, Aurora. She also plays the tone deft singer and even herself toward the end of the 75 minute of the comic tour de force.
“Lovebird “ is Marga Gomez at her best. I wanted to see more but this fast pace presentation is over much too soon. “Lovebirds” runs through March 15 at The Marsh San Francisco Studio, 1062 Valencia Street, San Francisco. For tickets call 415-282-3055 or on line at www.themarsh.org