Come see Two-Bit Opera perform at The Petting Pantry in July, August, and September!
The Two-Bit Opera is comprised of the incredibly, heart-stoppingly, lovely Natalie Miller and the horribly odious Ari DeSano and a bunch of their friends: a ukelele named Lulu, an accordion named Trixie, a banjo named Benji, a kick drum made out of a hatbox, a mature washboard (we don't say "old") from the Columbus Washboard Company, and some kazoos, whistles, and noisemakers.
They play a mixture of less-known-but-still-very-worthwhile tunes from the 1920s and '30s and also rousing originals about such uplifting topics as losing all one's money and having shameful, closeted sex in public restrooms.
Natalie leads a hectic, quadruple life in which she is constantly running around the streets of Koreatown and Santee Alley finding bargains, with a hot glue gun as her special weapon. She is also a flapper-era (in style, not age) dancer who designs and builds her own costumes (hence the glue gun). She also moonlights as The Capable Miss Puddles, the gold-digging magician's assistant from Queens who wants to be a star in Van Nuys some day. And when all that's not paying the rent, she is an innovative and ambitious figure model whose limbs are often alseep.
Ari leads a similarly complex life filled with personality disorder by parading around in a moustache and calling herself Odious Ari from time to time. Odious Ari is not a drag king, but more like a drag peasant. Ari also has a band called
Odious Ari and the Syphilitic Syncopaths. When she feels moved to do so, she'll channel an old Vaudeville has-been who performs terrible magic tricks and exhibits even worse juggling skills called The Amazingly Odious Ari. Poor thing.
Come see them play soon at a venue near you!
