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By David Savage
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If the phrase Barbara, please! means something special to you and you live in New York, most likely you’ve attended at least once the weekly Clearview Classics series at Chelsea’s Clearview Cinemas, hosted by New York’s own, reigning “Queen of Green,†drag performer and comic chanteuse Hedda Lettuce. If not, you have no excuse. Mark your calendars now. Screening twice on Thursday nights and once on Saturdays, and attended by a congregation of fanatical members who can recite every word of Mommie Dearest, Torch Song, Airport ’75, Earthquake, or Xanadu at will, Clearview Classics has been the main home of “Lettuce†for eight years now. Every week she packs in a crowd for her hilarious pre-movie show in which she warms up the crowd (not that they need it) with songs (which she sings herself), key scene re-enactments with audience members, special guests and, if you should be so unfortunate, identification of “virgins†– mousy first-timers who have never seen Valley of the Dolls or its ilk and are dragged mercilessly into the spotlight.Â
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For the current schedule of Clearview Classics, its address and directions, go to: www.clearviewcinemas.com/classics.Â
For more on Hedda Lettuce, visit The Queen of Green’s website at: www.heddalettuce.com