Thanks A Lot: My Gratitusical!

I first saw Rebecca Larsen in a short show that was funny, moving, and beautiful. When another actress took over, I realized the show was stupid and it was Larsen herself who was funny, moving, and beautiful. Here, she plays Beryl Swiver, a slightly self-involved chanteuse whose life story "just so happens" to set up clever, tuneful trunk songs from Richard Levinson (also accompanying). Larsen is a riot and sings beautifully. But the real magic is watching her walk the tightrope between real person and caricature and never once fall. She can land dick jokes with the best of them, while also finding subtler laughs- like a priceless look of relief, when, in a drawn out intro, she finally gets to a word she understands- sexuality. Call me a Ber... full review

For fringereview .com Beryl Swiver is a fictional chanteuse, played by actress and singer Rebecca Larsen. “Thanks A Lot” is Beryl’s tribute to herself; and the story of her journey from obscurity in anecdote and song. Beryl is a fully-rounded comic character, best compared to the Paul Reubens creation Pee Wee Herman or the Barry Humphries grotesque Dame Edna Everage; heightened, but rooted in truth. Part-monster and part coquette, she is the sort of performer who gives performers a bad name; self-obsessed and delusional, blind to her faults and without a concern for anybody but herself. Larsen manages to look ageless as Beryl, who claims at one point to be twenty-two but... full review