Above: Betsy Puckett
It’s 1981 and you’re invited into the Beverly Hills home of Sue Mengers, a talent agent during the period in film history known as New Hollywood. Working in the male-dominated industry of show business, Sue rejects many of the expectations of how women are supposed to act and she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Starring the ever-talented Betsy Puckett as Sue, Asheville Community Theatre presents the one-woman tour-de-force I’ll Eat You Last at 35below, May 6–22.
When the play premiered on Broadway in 2013, it was the first time actress Bette Midler had performed on Broadway in 30 years. When asked how she would characterize Sue in one word, Betsy replied, “unapologetic,” adding, “She was as tenacious as she was passionate, and while her business style and frequent lack of tact may have rubbed people the wrong way, I don’t know that she could’ve accomplished all that she did without her special way of navigating the shark infested waters of Hollywood.” Sue spends nearly the entirety of the play sitting down, talking frankly to the audience as if they were guests in her home.
When the play opens, Barbra Streisand has just fired Sue after the failure of a motion picture directed by Sue’s husband, Jean-Claude Tramont. Despite Sue’s efforts to cast Barbra as the role opposite Gene Hackman, the film was a bust. Betsy says, “In the play, Sue does discuss what led to the dissolution of her and Barbra’s working relationship, as only Sue could—with razor sharp wit, slight bitterness, and the vocabulary of the trashiest sailor. She is a master at speaking with vulgar panache.” Containing profanity, alcohol consumption, drug use, and gossip, this play is for mature audiences only.
Director Waylon Wood shares, “Here is a woman—a powerful woman— who has a job in a male dominated profession. What was it about her that gave her a competitive edge? How did she survive? Well, once you meet her it becomes pretty obvious.”
Performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets ($15) are available at ashevilletheatre.org, by phone at 828.254.1320, or at the box office, 35 E. Walnut Street.
