Sierra Mist is a middle-aged British rocker on a comeback tour who has something to say.
Yes, Pepsi-Cola stole her legal name for their lemon-lime drink. Why couldn’t they have called it something like Alpine Dew? Of course it’s named after her. That lawsuit continues. No, she hasn’t been in rehab or a cult for the past fifteen years when she didn’t tour or release albums. And yes, she wants the blogger interviewing her to tell her fans she still has a lot to say about sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll.
What Sierra mostly wants is to remind everyone that she’s still relevant – that her age doesn’t matter in a time when we are reminded on a nearly daily basis that women (and men) over 40 in nearly every profession are regularly put out to pasture regardless of their skills.
Actress Jen Childs who has created Sierra from bits and pieces of Joan Jett, Pat Benatar and other 80’s rockers is an inspired performer and comedian, as those who have seen her 1812 Productions shows in Philadelphia or caught her on YouTube know. When seeing the half-century mark on her immediate horizon the multitalented Childs dealt with her own mid-life malaise in a different way – turning it into a comedy about Sierra and four other cross-generational women who face the challenge of becoming – and remaining – relevant.
People’s Light has brought Childs’ one-woman show “I Will Not Go Gently” directed by Harriet Power to Malvern. The original production was done by 1812 Productions in Philadelphia in May 2016 and at Act II in Ambler last year.
It’s more a multi-woman than one-woman show. In addition to Sierra, Childs portrays 47 year old Abby who was Sierra’s biggest fan, now hosting the “I Can’t Sleep” podcast with several glasses of wine every morning at 3:30 a.m. as well as Abby’s totally-online-13-year-old daughter, Tabitha, her 90-year old grandmother, Frida, who is preparing for her standup debut, five friends together for their 25th reunion; and Daphne Thundergrass, an actress who played a superhero on a cancelled TV series and has turned her action persona into a self-help business aimed at women of a certain age.
The show features eight great “original” Sierra Mist rock ‘n roll songs from the 80’s and 90’s (including the unforgettable “Jack In My Box”) by Childs and guitarist Christopher Colucci, bassist Andrew Nelson, drummer Ben Diamond and pianist Alex Bechtel with Childs on vocals.
Childs has lots of time – 90 minutes with no intermission – to establish each character with sympathy and humor, raunchiness and fondness. It’s an amazing marathon performance inspiring standing ovations that firmly establish Childs’ relevance – although she doesn’t really need us to confirm it.
