JillineFest: Comedy and cabaret week, remembering a bright Philly light

W hen Philadelphia's Jilline Ringle died in 2005 from cancer, local theater lost a grand, bawdy presence, a towering (6-foot-2) figure who referred to herself as "a red-headed Amazon from hell, whom all men desire."

At local theater companies 1812 Productions and the Arden Theatre, Ringle wrote shows (Mondo Mangia), cowrote them (Always a Lady, with Jen Childs), and had shows written for her (the Michael Ogborn musicals Box Office of the Damned and Café Puttanesca). She was also prominent in Cape May's cabaret scene.

Next week (July 11-16), 1812 puts on JillineFest, a six-day celebration of original solo pieces by local female playwrights, along with cabaret soirées featuring actors who shared the stage with Ringle. The shows will take place at Plays and Players Theatre.

"I still find it difficult to discuss Jilline," says playwright/composer Ogborn, who is running the festival with with Childs, who is CEO of 1812. "I still write roles for her although these roles are played by other actresses; she remains muse and inspiration."

"She was tall, I was short," says Childs. That disparity drew each to the other in Philly's early-'90s theater scene. "That sounds flip, but it changes your perspective. She was smart in ways I'm not, was the first person I remember who made their own work - that was inspirational for me. She knew music, I knew structure. We both could make people laugh, really hard."

The two met when Ringle, an Arden Theatre regular, came to Childs' home base, Philadelphia Area Repertory Theater, for a cabaret. "We never worked together because we were both sidekicks - not leading ladies - but the comic relief," Childs says. "Michael Laird of Cape May Stage cast us in The Kathy and Mo Show in 1998, and we fell in love."

Childs and Ringle created characters ("mostly to crack each other up") such as the quintessentially South Philadelphian Peg and Patsy and "old Yiddish women doing Chekhov." In 2004, when the two created Always a Lady, a show on the history of women in comedy, they got encouragement from Phyllis Diller, who "encouraged us to create our own double act," Childs says.

Part cabaret, part solo theater (in the case of the passionate Italian family rhetoric of Mondo Mangia), part performance art, Ringle's self-created genre was her own spicy mix. "Jilline was a-one-of- a-kind performer who brought ethos and pathos together every performance," says Dumpsta Playas founder Ricky Paul.

Paul worked with Ringle on the original Box Office of the Damned, and he will be part of La Dolce Ringle, a fund-raiser cabaret show at 1812 on July 16. "Her powers of persuasion were infinite, with a voice - hilarious and poignant - that could bend in many ways." He says that her size and power meant that "a lot of people didn't know what to do with Jilline, so she really found her voice through solo performance."

Ringle was already ill during the run of Always a Lady. As her condition worsened, she sought to establish a fund supporting solo work. The Jilline Ringle Solo Performance Program fund is an extension of that oversized personality and generosity. "After she passed, her father very generously said, 'In lieu of flowers, send gifts to 1812,' " Childs says. A two-part fund was established, one for development of solo work and the other for production. Summer residencies allow solo performers to work with a collaborator (director, dramaturg, choreographer) for a week. "Jilline was a big believer in snacks," says Child with a laugh. "Over the 10 years, we have funded over 20 artists through residencies and grants."

On July 15, JillineFest will present Mary Carpenter's New & Improved Stages of Grief, dealing with the loss of a brother and a dear friend within one year. "It seemed impossible to make a comic show about grief," says the writer/performer, "so I examined that which was surprising, comforting, annoying, baffling, and what became my way through. It just so happens that eating and conversations with God played a part. People are going to connect . . . because everyone grieves in their own way."

During La Dolce Ringle, Childs will sing "Georgie Girl," Ringle's signature song ("once the intro starts, I'll lose it"). She says that it will be both sad and a joy because, through the program, she gets to talk about her old best friend and share her with people who didn't know her: "We feel Jilline with us when we eat pasta or drink red wine or wear a vintage dress."

JillineFest, July 11-16 at Plays & Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey. Tickets: $20 per performance; $50 for any-performance pass. Saturday, July 16: La Dolce Ringle, a fund-raising cabaret night. Tickets: $100 and $500. Ritz Carlton, 1414 S Penn Square. Information: 215-592-9560, www.1812productions.org