photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert
Hedda Lettuce at Cherry's
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Hedda Lettuce made a seasonal return to Cherry’s on June 4, with DJ Stacy assisting, and welcomed us by singing “I’m the Queen of Green and everybody loves me” and, declaring that others are “green with envy” of her, demanded the homage due her. She kibitzed with audience members and claimed that “dried pills, poppers, and regrets … and a couple of dental dams” were what “kept Cherry Grove from washing away” in Super Storm Sandy.
Beginning “Put your key in my hole,” Hedda assured anyone rude enough to question her gender, “Don’t you worry, honey, the carpets match the drapes!” To the tune of “The Lady Is a Tramp,” she shared the saga of “The Lettuce Family Line,” recounting her descent from Matriarch and Grandmother Bedda, Mother Shredda, Aunt Nedda on Long Island, and the rest.
Hedda offered a quintet of impressions, in brief, doing Bette Davis, Liza Minnelli, Katharine Hepburn running a phone sex line, Carol Channing, and Cher, and lamented, country style, “You only text me when you’re drunk.” “I’m burning up for your love” was Hedda’s jazzy number and “(Working) 12 to 5,” her hooker’s take on Dolly Parton’s hit.
“You can touch me anywhere/But don’t touch my hair,” Hedda sang—well, lip-synched to her own singing—to a disco beat and, for a finale, tugged our heartstrings by singing “I’ve got them drag queen blues,” with a lively scatting section.
Catch Hedda Lettuce’s show at Cherry’s on Tuesday nights and, on Wednesdays, play Bingo with Hedda presiding.