TAP DANCING WITH MY PRONOUNS: THE HE/SHE LIFE OF RICHARD GREENE Comes To BRAVA! For Women in the Arts

It’s a boy! It’s a girl! No, it’s the award winning Lynne Jassem in “Tap Dancing with my Pronouns: The He/She Life of Richard Greene” at San Francisco’s acclaimed BRAVA! For Women in the Arts (2781 24th Street in SF’s Mission District).

Directed by Wendy Hammers, this impactful autobiographical story follows Lynne as she/he discovers how she/he fits in with the world. Along the way, every strange situation she encounters brings her closer to her truth, and all with the jumping off point of a not-very-socially-exploratory time: 1949.

The show run for four performances only: Saturday, October 19 at 7:30pm; Sunday, October 20 at 2pm; Friday, October 25 at 7:30pm; and Sunday, October 26 at 7:30pm. Tickets at $ 25 and may be purchased online at www.brava.org.

“I have been a gender-bending-into-twisting performer, dancer, mime, stand-up comic, and story teller….for mmm…50 years, ok, MORE,” laughs Jassem, 77 years young,  known to several generations of audience from San Francisco to Soho, the Edinburgh Festival and beyond. “Trying to pigeonhole me does a dis-service to pigeons, and well, holes of all shapes and sizes.”

A highly entertaining exploration of gender, from post war America through to the present day, “Tap Dancing with my Pronouns” is an exhilarating mix of tap dance, mime, multi-media and love offering a perspective from yesteryear when gender was rigid and cemented at birth.  Audiences will witness an ancient theme, still highly relevant today. Jassem’s autobiographical tale unfolds through an exciting mix of tap dance, spoken mime, characterizations, multi-media and love.  Laughter mixed with tears is the usual reaction as audience members watch the decades roll by.  Innovative green screen installations allow “multiple Lynnes” to interact during the show.   Perhaps Broadway World described it best:

“Feeling like a boy who looks like a girl was never thought about in 1949 or heaven forbid actually spoken of. In 1949 a three-year-old girl living in Queens NY begins to discover the transgender feelings inside herself. A woman dressed like a man ignites the turmoil that is about to begin.”

“Tap Dancing with my Pronouns: The He/She Life of Richard Greene a laugh-‘til-you cry intimate exploration of one person’s intimate journey of gender identity,” said Edith Castorena, BRAVA for Women in the Arts  “It is a comedic yet poignant exploration of gender and identity, blending Lynne Jassem’s trademark tap dancing with personal anecdotes and reflections. BRAVA is the perfect venue for this work, and this artist.”

Jassem, a native New Yorker, first entered the limelight at the tender age of ten on the Perry Como TV Show. Her storied career includes performances on the famous Borscht Belt circuit and the TV soap opera, Edge of Night. As an adult, she toured with the Claude Kipnis Mime Theatre, performing at prestigious venues such as the White House, Boston Pops, and Kennedy and Lincoln Centers. She later formed her own company, Manhattan Mime Theatre, and became a founding member of the American Tap Dance Orchestra, sharing the stage with luminaries like Gregory Hines and Tommy Tune on PBS.

Jassem’s solo performance career includes award-winning shows such as “Tap Dancing My Way to the Nuthouse,” and she has conducted masterclasses in Mime and Tap Dance across the USA and Europe. Her accolades include Best of Fringe in San Francisco and North Hollywood, Best Storyteller in San Diego, and five-star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for her show “From Como to Homo.”

BRAVA! For Women in the Arts is a hub for diverse and innovative performances, celebrating the voices of women, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ communities. Founded in 1986, BRAVA! has been at the forefront of presenting groundbreaking and inclusive artistic work, making it the perfect venue for Jassem’s new show.

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