Review: Lolly Lardpop & Friends Have a BIZZARE BRUNCH With Pal Leslie Carrara-Rudolph At The Green Room 42

Heigh-Ho, My Merry Rainbow Tribe! Bobby Patrick your RAINBOW Reviewer here… Grabbing that silent T from cabareT to bring you all the Tea!

Believe it or not, my rainbow angels, someone got Little Bobby out of the house before the crack of noon, and on a Saturday no less… could you die? But that someone was none other than the wildly talented and wildly insane Leslie Carrara-Rudolph who, for the first time in three years, resurrected her breakfast with booze cabaret THE BIZARRE BRUNCH at The Green Room 42. Saturday afternoon’s show was a full house and a full show of the LCR mayhem that springs from her explosive ADHD-TNT, as she let fly her imagination and emptied her brain all over the stage - a brain, mind you, that plays host to all the voices in her head that have found their way out into the “real” world, and become her money-making arm candy. As one of the voices (& arms) behind the Sesame Street gang, since the mid-1990s, this master Muppeteer has garnered 5 Emmy and Behind The Voice Award Nominations, taking home the BTVA 3 times for her Muppetry, including her VERY popular Sesame Street pal, Abby Cadabby. But in the realm of NYC nightclubs, it is her wonderful, original, handmade creation, Lolly Lardpop, that slays audiences, wherever they go together. Lolly is a decorous, hybrid sock puppet of indeterminate species who is, at turns, whimsical and sweet, then loud and boisterous, but always hilarious. The magic that is Leslie Carrara-Rudolph lies in her absolute belief in the characters she creates. These are her friends, as well as the well-practiced roles this very gifted, sensitive, musical actress plays, and although she’s an elegant, well-dressed, blonde bombshell, she is as nimble a physical comedian as she is a vocal one. There was no corner of the stage or of The Green Room itself that she did not cover, as she zipped about, singing songs and doing bits and schtick with her very appreciative audience… an audience that was also enjoying what looked like a fine brunch menu, if the yummy-looking fluffy pancakes and piping hot eggs benedict of Bobby’s two table mates are any indicators.



But then there’s the Yummy Leslie - along with all the character voices she creates for herself and her puppet friends, Leslie has her own voice too, a bright, happy-sounding instrument that sings songs like PURE IMAGINATION, GOOD DAY, and even MAIRZY DOATS with abandon, range, and beauty. Her characters (sans puppets) like Madam Velveetaaaaaaarrrr (who appeared after LCR popped her fave red tutu on her head and then gave psychic readings of a poor unsuspecting audience member's foot) or her society matron, Mrs. Gilgecch {sp?}, (who opened the show to songs from OKLAHOMA) are parodies, yes, but they are rooted in the universe inside Leslie’s head - a universe of galaxies as real to her (and just as swirly) as our own, and, so, they play for her audience as real, fully rounded and grounded denizens of her universe. Using Lolly and her Grandma Dot to melt the audience into laughing puddles, LCR also told touching and heartfelt stories of her dad and her beloved, doll-loving Uncle Michael, both of whom have “Gone over the rainbow and are sitting in the balcony seats,” to bring up some lite, loving puddles in our eyes (yeah, you’re not crying… Bobby is), all from the most loving and heartfelt space it has ever been this rainbow writer’s joy to experience. Therein lies the enchantment that is Leslie Carrara-Rudolph, the joy she NEEDS to bring to everyone, and her absolute belief that she gifts to all who are watching - belief in magic, belief in her characters and their stories, belief in Leslie that allows her to throw herself forward - sometimes blindly - knowing that she will still be able to take care of all of us out there in the dark with pancakes. All her madcap shenanigans were backed up beautifully and economically by just 2 musicians, the wonderfully gifted Michael Hicks, her music director/keys dude, and her handsome, Emmy-winning musician husband, Paul Rudolph, on everything else. If there is anything to take away from a Leslie Carrara-Rudolph show, it is that reconnection with your inner child who wants so badly for there to be magic in the world, and, because of Leslie, knows, now, for certain, that magic is real. 

Leslie told us, on the day, that we were seeing her Dress Rehearsal, her First Preview, her Opening Night, and her Closing Night, as this performance was a one-shot deal at The Green Room 42. That's a shame, really, because this ol’ city needs Leslie Carrara-Rudolph and her BIZARRE BRUNCH, now, more than ever, and some smart club needs to install her permanently for the breakfast with booze crowd (The Gays) because she really is “a Wizard Harry” and she fully deserves …

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows (if anyone does) … and here’s why

Leslie Keeps Her Webbysite With Links To All Hers & Lolly’s Socials: HERE

Subscribe to Lolly’s YouTubes: HERE

All Photos By Yours Truly, Bobby Patrick