Parker Playhouse: Dame Edna's First Last Tour (3 reviews)

Dame Edna opened her "first Last Tour" at Fort Lauderdale's venerable Parker Playhouse on March 10, 2009.

Christine Dolen reviewed for the Miami Herald:

Ever notice how, just when the world seems ever-closer to the precipice of doom, an inimitable megastar turns up to offer relief to the comedy-starved masses?

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Truth be told (truth being a precious and rare commodity in any encounter with Dame Edna), My First Last Tour is different from The Royal Tour and A Night with Dame Edna, the previous caring-and-sharing shows she brought to South Florida.

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My First Last Tour is a leaner show for meaner times. Yet it is no less hilarious, thanks to the combination of well-honed material and improvisational skills that Barry Humphries, the rapier-witted actor who plays Dame Edna, brings to his most famous role.

The Sun-Sentinel inflicts another review strewn with fragmented-sentence on its readers, courtesy of fashion editor Rod Stafford Hagwood:

To say that Dame Edna: My First Last Tour playing at Parker Playhouse is old-fashioned sounds like a slight I must admit.

But I mean it in the best of ways possums, the very best.

John LaRiviere reviewed for Talkin' Broadway; I almost didn't include it because, well, frankly it's the most poorly written review I've read in 2009. Eight paragraphs, 7 of which are either biographical or historical. The only paragraph that actually deals with the show barely hints at quality; it's a recitation of events. Booooooorrring. I get no sense of the show at all from this review.

But for whatever it's worth, here's his review in a nutshell:

Audience members are brought up on stage in an impromptu talk show for further homage and humiliation from the sharp wit of Dame Edna. There are mentions of pop icons such as Brittany Spears, and of course ex-President George Bush, but most of the show is based on personalized, comedic interaction with the audience. There must be a pianist to help with the songs of course, and her daughter Valmai to provide cover for a costume change. But what can be said of two hours of shear fun except "Don't Miss It"?

I'm pretty sure the show is more enjoyable than this review. Instruction manuals are more enjoyable than this review.Dame Edna's First Last Tour plays at the Parker Playhouse through March 22, 2009.