So meta! A drag skating show about fighting climate change reels under climate change
"The premise is basically that the climate crisis is so impossible to address, it’s almost as impossible as getting drag queens to skate," artistic director John Jarboe said.
It was sunny and about 60 degrees. A beautiful February day, if you like that sort of thing.
But for those navigating puddles and slush on an outdoor ice rink, rehearsing for a show that was scheduled to open in two days, conditions Tuesday afternoon were far less than ideal.
The irony was not lost on a group prepping for a skating show about climate change, as they dealt with a sheet of ice that compressors were trying desperately to keep frozen.
“It’s like skating on a soft apple,” former national figure skating competitor David Shapiro said, stepping off the ice at the Independence Blue Cross RiverRink in Philadelphia.
The show is Beards on Ice: Edging, with the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, live musicians, and some of their frequent collaborators, a few of whom have little to no skating experience.
Shapiro is joined by highly trained skaters Michael Solonoski and David Devan.
Devan, who competed in singles and pairs in his native Canada, is also the general director of Opera Philadelphia.
“As a young boy, I took up figure skating,” he said, “and I got pretty proficient at it. And it was kind of my life ‘til the time I was 19 ... And then, I taught for two years, worked as a choreographer, and then I went to business school.”
At 39, he picked up skating again, relearned all his doubles, and started to work on the triple salchow. Eventual knee problems forced him to back off his training.
Now 60, Devan skates once a week for fun, sometimes chatting with John Jarboe, the Bearded Ladies artistic director founder and artistic director, who also enjoys skating.
Over several Sundays, at Penn’s Class of 1923 Rink, they dreamed up this show. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and it was shelved for a few years.
“I grew up in Michigan, so they give you a hockey stick, hockey skates, and hunting license when you’re out of the womb,” Jarboe said. “I hockey skated for about 11 years when I was a kid.”
When thinking about the reason to do this show, Jarboe said they were “thinking about being on ice and ice melting and this idea of climate change. The premise is basically that the climate crisis is so impossible to address, it’s almost as impossible as getting drag queens to skate. And so if we can get these drag queens to skate on ice, maybe we can solve climate change. It is an absurd reach towards hope.”
In the show, Devan plays Oil and wears a large headpiece that is a rig on top of a cowboy hat with black droplets hanging off it.
“It’s very top heavy,” Devan said of his oil-rig hat. “It changes your center of gravity. And so like even doing a corkscrew spin became difficult.” The hat had to be re-engineered.
Jarboe plays Miss Homo Sapiens and wears a big bow and pantaloons. Shapiro (who, Devan thinks, skates “like Michelle Kwan”) plays Carbon Credit.
“[Shapiro is] dressed exactly like me but does all the tricks,” Jarboe said, “because I’m taking climate credit for it.”
Sam Rise plays two roles: Rinky the Penguin, a corporate mascot trying to encourage positive energy despite things falling apart, and Non-Binary Parental Guardian Nature.
“I’m really embodying nature’s divine nonchalance,” Rise said, “in this sense of like, ‘I’ve given you every opportunity, I’ve given you every adorable thing, I’ve given you everything. You have mangoes and koalas, and you’ve come up with, like, tax returns. I can’t help you.’ ”
At Tuesday’s rehearsal, Shapiro sat on the boards waiting for his turn to skate. Later, he scooped up some slush off the rink and made a tiny snowman that he held in the palm of his hand. During a 10-minute break, he changed out of his costume and into shorts.
Rise glanced at the ice. “This is pretty remarkable. You know, we’re rehearsing the show in 60-degree weather and even the toxic refrigerant can’t keep the rink solid.”
Devan agreed. “It’s like literally climate change while we’re doing the show. The glacier [section] wasn’t safe for us to do yesterday on the ice because we’re getting so stuck in the snow. It was like butter.”
Some shows may need to be canceled if it rains or is too warm. If so, ticket holders will be emailed.
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The Bearded Ladies and friends in “Beards on Ice: Edging.” Through Saturday and Feb. 23-25. Independence Blue Cross River Rink. $35 (includes reserved heated seating), $20 in advance. Pay-what-you-wish tickets will be available at the door. showclix.com/event/beards-on-ice