From the writing team of EllaRose Chary and Brandon James, TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix premiered in 2024 at Diversionary Theatre in San Diego. This fall, the rock musical is enjoying its Midwest premiere at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre. When you walk into Theo for TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix, you see the space is completely transformed. Instead of a simple stage with seating all around it, and a few café-style tables, we are in a garage band space, with loads of retro rugs and bean bag chairs, and all the tables are plastered with pop art posters.
The director, Claire Divizio, writes in the program that they were drawn to "the experimental, magical-realism-meets-touching-absurdism structure of the storytelling." The show certainly lives up to that summation: it includes the titular (and doubly fictionalized) characters, Thelma and Louise, stuck forever in a car flying off a cliff, a garage rock band ushering them along their queer journey, and a supervillain doctor (representing heteronormativity) raising the stakes in the second act, as our queer-oes find the power to fight him off using their uniquely gay superpowers. The cast includes T (Carolyn Waldee), L (Claire Guthrie), Cubby (Jack Chylinski), Blazer (Jeff Rodriguez), Marie (Bailey Savage), and Henrietta (Crystal Claros).
The vibe was immediately set, and the audience was ready to enter what the band would call "our little queer fantasia." My partner and I were slightly put off, though, by an introductory announcement from the band leader, Henrietta (Crystal Claros). They shared that the band members would be interacting with and potentially touching audience members throughout the show, and if you were uncomfortable with that, then you should remove yourself from the café seating and head for the bleachers. However, this wasn't a realistic request: The audience was nearly full, and the show had just begun, so no one would be able to move seats. This potential for non-consensual touch didn't put the best energy forward for the rest of the show.
The band played us in with a spirited diatribe: "Why Do Strong Female Characters Always Gotta Die?" This opening number brings the energy up, like the opening night of a rock show. And the question is valid—we've all had enough of the "bury your gays" trope in TV and movies. We transition to T and L, sitting on a couch, which is actually a snazzy T-bird. And these are no ordinary characters—they're Thelma and Louise from the eponymous cult classic film, and they're super into each other romantically. Thanks to a glitch in the matrix, or maybe the hardcore fandom of the rock band, the T-bird is stuck floating above the Grand Canyon, picking up where the movie left off without concluding in the characters' fall and assumed demise. As T and L negotiate the nature of their relationship, the band begins to chime in with their own thoughts and feelings about queer dating and love. We get songs like "Quiz: How Lez Are You?" and T and L sing a duet, "U-Haul." They play with Barbies, making them act out the moving process, fly together across the stage in a toy T-bird, and essentially live out their storylines on a micro level.
The characters drift into stereotypical territory when it comes to writing that deals with lesbian relationships—they complain, "We never drive off a cliff any more!" and that they only do dishes, taxes, laundry, and go to bed. Lesbian bed death? Check. What do they even do for sex? Check. This musical reads a lot like the ABCs of lesbianism for a super generic audience, and it doesn't live up to its promise for queer viewers or those hoping to learn from queer representations on stage. Still, at least a couple of questions felt more realistic for queer people going through a transition in their identity. "Maybe we’re not gay enough to be gay," or "Can we still be ourselves and be queer?"
However, instead of affirming the characters' right to make their own choices and be who they are while exploring their queerness, the musical creates a new box for them to fit into. The band criticizes T and L for separating themselves from their community, but it seems more like the couple simply chose not to assimilate into a defined queer culture right away. There is a group meeting, which is supposed to represent community action and organizing, and T and L are meant to participate. Instead, the group just gossips about other queer people they know, and everyone hits on each other. If over-sexualizing queer people is a continuous issue in straight-made media, it seems to be seeping into queer writing as well, or at least, it's still lacking a range of sexual representations. Polyamory is performed as mass makeouts on stage, oversimplifying an idea that the band members previously used to complicate heteronormative, monogamous thinking.
Would I recommend the show? There is definitely effort behind the musical performances, and the band members are all talented musicians playing their instruments live. T and L work well together, but their lack of chemistry detracts from what is meant to be the emotionally grounded part of the show: The queer wish fulfillment of a relationship between legendary badasses, Thelma and Louise. Ultimately, I would always recommend a trip to Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, and though this show missed the mark for my partner and me, it may strike a meaningful chord for other audience members.
TL;DR: Thelma Louise; Dyke Remix is playing through October 12. You can purchase tickets online and keep up with Theo Ubique on their website and on Instagram. Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre is located at 721 Howard Street, Evanston. Running time is 110 minutes including an intermission.
For more information on this and other plays, see theatreinchicago.com.
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