Interview: Dorothy Bishop of THE DOZEN DIVAS SHOW at The Triad Theatre

Dorothy Bishop is suffering from an identity crisis. You see, at any given time, she's got 12 Divas from the worlds of Opera, Pop and the Musical Theatre running around inside of her head. When they spill out, there's comedy, music and fun to be had for any lucky audience member who takes a seat at The Dozen Divas Show!

I had the opportunity to sit down with Dorothy and discuss her long-running show, which is enjoying a lengthy residency at The Triad.

This interview has been edited for space and content.

Dorothy, thanks for talking with me and telling our readers about your fabulous show! Tell our readers about how this long-running show began and how someone from the world of opera and musical theatre finds themself impersonating people?

It's a long story. I had a small opera career, did some great things. I sang at Carnegie Hall, I did the National Tour of Master Class with Faye Dunaway, but I was a little frustrated because there's not a whole lot of work in opera here in the United States. It was dwindling - especially after 9/11. People would tell me that I needed to go to Europe if I wanted to work - but I didn't want to go to Europe. I knew that I could be funny. I got cast in a lot of comedy roles. Once directors found out I could be funny, comedy roles were all that I did. I did a lot of Cosi Fan Tutte, Die Fledermaus, a lot of operetta. I really loved musical theatre, and my coach asked "Can you belt?" and I said "Yeah, I used to do it as a party trick." I sang I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miz and he said "What the hell are you doing? Get the hell out of opera. There's no work here if you aren't going to go to Europe. There's a lot of legit work on Broadway. Try something new." I would audition for Broadway and I would get called back a lot, but I wasn't getting cast. Then, I did a cabaret show and I really enjoyed doing my own show. Ultimately, I ended up doing my own show as a guest entertainer on cruise ships for 10 years. I would do this Sarah Brightman pop/opera show. I still got to sing opera, which was really cool, but after about 10 years it started dying out. The work started going away and I realized I was going to have to reinvent again, and I noticed tribute shows were the big thing. As a sideline, when I wasn't doing the pop/opera shows on the cruise ships, I began headlining a lot for the bigger gay clubs here in New York - one of them was Splash, which people of a certain age remember. They had a big stage, a dance floor, go-go boys. I would take my pop/opera show there, except I'd make it funny. I'd change words around.

So, who was your first impression?

Cher was my really first, but I really did her for fun. But I never did her professionally until after Sarah Palin. Around 2008, Sarah Palin came on the scene. I started doing her and people would go "Oh my God!" I began working doing impersonator jobs and gigs for 4 or 5 years. I broke into the look-a-like industry. When Palin's time was up, my agent asked: "OK. What other impressions can you do?" So, I started doing Cher and Barbra and a few others. Then I decided to put together a show where I'd do a whole bunch of divas.

Where did the show, as we know it, begin?

We started out in the basement of the Iguana club. They were really great to me. I did the show once a week for a year. I just did this rough show - no cover charge, people just had to buy stuff. Then I got picked up by The Metropolitan Room, and was there for 5 years, and now I'm at the Triad. This is my 5th year there, if you don't count the year off for Covid. Of course, I book the show out of town.

How has the show changed from your days at Splash and The Iguana? Is there more structure?

There is definitely more structure, WAY better costumes and wigs. I've learned to do quick changes. I used to mess up the quick changes so badly. One time at the Iguana, I forgot to take off Dolly's boobs and I came out as Cher with huge Dolly boobs. People were like: "Whaaat?" I usually get the wigs right. The changes have to be simplified. They have to be fast and can't be exhausting unless I have a video going or have a guest, such as Charles Osborne or Michael Musto who come in and add a lot of fun to the show.

Who is your favorite diva to perform?

(Laughs) Everyone always asks me that! I really love doing Stevie Nicks. I kind of grew up with her. She's the least like my voice, but she's such a character and such a diva. Even though I make her funny, I do get to sing "Landslide" which was my mom's favorite pop song ever. Her costume is great. People still know who she is and she's still out there doing it. She's easy for me to look like. My second favorite is Renee Fleming.

You always have 12 divas in your show - after all it IS called the Dozen Divas Show. How do you decide just who is going to appear since you do more than 12 divas?

I always check out pop culture and see if there's anything huge going on, anything I HAVE to address. I'll throw it in if I can. Of course, the show can be multimedia, so during costume changes, I can throw in funny videos. If it's something I don't think I can do live, I'll make a funny video about it. It's really about who's current. Most of my Divas are icons, so they're classic. I may do Kim Kardashian. Sarah Palin is back in the news, so she may pop back in. I always do Meryl Streep whenever she's nominated for an Academy Award. I have a funny, clever parody of "The Winner Takes it All", but I call it "Meryl Takes it All." Some of them are always relevant because they're icons. I do change my opener a lot. I used to do Shirley Bassey a lot, but I've changed it over to Liza, because Liza is very relevant right now. I'll do Patti LuPone - depending on what she's doing. New York audiences love to see that. I'll always do the Judy/Barbra duet on Skype because people who come to my shows expect to see it. If I didn't put that in, people would be furious. My New York show is very different from the show I'll tour out of town. If I play a gay club, I'll do the New York show.

You played Spamilton Off-Broadway as Liza and Barbra (among others). Even though you were doing some of your familiar impressions, did you find it to be a different animal than doing The Dozen Divas Show?

It was a completely different animal than Dozen Divas. It was really fun. The cast was extremely talented. Some of them are on Broadway right now. It was a lot of fun, because I got to do Patti LuPone, who I don't do much in Dozen Divas. I got to do Carol Channing, Bette Midler.....Barbra and Liza, who were very easy for me, but I got to take on some new divas. And it was fun to be in a hit Off-Broadway show. The show was always packed and people were always laughing. It was great.

While you toured Dozen Divas to Mexico, you wound up adopting a scene-stealer: Luther the singing chihuahua. Has he become more famous than you?

He's got more offers than me. The other day, someone offered me $5000 for him on the street. He was asked to be on America's Got Talent. We were scouted by the show. But he stopped being a singing chihuahua onstage, but he will still sing offstage - especially with a Bass or Baritone. He will wait backstage, but still come out for the curtain call, but he's back in the show with one of my new divas - Charo. He will come out for her second song. If you want to hear him sing he will. Just not for me.

Dorothy will be appearing April 22 at The Triad with special guest Charles Osborne. For Tickets, visit www.triadnyc.com and for more information on Dorothy, visit her website at www.DorothyBishop.com

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