Les Nickelettes
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Les Nickelettes were a feminist satirical
performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
troupe from
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, California.


History

Les Nickelettes were created by a group of women experimental theatre artists from
San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...
in 1972. Started as a lark, first becoming
vaudevillian Vaudeville (; ) is a theatre, theatrical genre of variety show, variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comic ...
cheerleaders Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ent ...
at the Peoples' Nickelodeon midnight shows the group quickly evolved into a cutting edge feminist satirical performance art troupe. Women were eager to join and because there were no auditions, entrance requirements, leaders, structure or rules, all women—experienced performers or novices—were welcome to take part in the free artistic expression of pure unfettered female humor. The group became "Virgins in Residence" at the Intersection Theatre in 1973 and 1974 performing 30 minute improv musical shows before the scheduled Charlie Chaplin and
Betty Boop Betty Boop is a cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Max Fleischer. She originally appeared in the '' Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pic ...
movies. As female
urban guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism, ...
s Les Nickelettes were also involved in feminist stunts such as showing up at the infamous Condor topless night club on Broadway in North Beach dressed in Brownies/Girl Scouts uniforms adorned with plastic breasts demanding to perform on
Carol Doda Carol Ann Doda (August 29, 1937November 9, 2015) was an American topless dancer based in San Francisco, California, who was active from the 1960s through the 1980s. She was the first public topless dancer in the United States. In 1964, Doda made ...
's stage. The troupe also crashed the 1973 opening of the
San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...
. The ''
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'' society pages described their appearance; "Stealing the show ... were bizarrely dressed non-ticket holders who hopped out of a van." The group's message was that the media only paid attention to entrances. Evolving a more structured format the group created an original cabaret revue and was the first New Wave act to play at the famed Fab Mab then known as the
Mabuhay Gardens The Mabuhay Gardens, also known as The Fab Mab or The Mab, was a former San Francisco nightclub, located at 443 Broadway Street, in North Beach on the Broadway strip area best known for its striptease clubs. It closed in 1987. History The Ma ...
dinner club in 1975. The members of the group stabilized and, with a full commitment to the collective vision of a female led theatre group, decided to write a scripted play. In 1976 Les Nickelettes, Inc. became a non-profit organization and produced its first full-length musical comedy play; ''Peter Pan: A New Rock Fairytale''. The group continued to write and produce plays: 1978: ''Curtains!'' a murder mystery musical, 1980: ''Spaced Out'' an intergalactic musical comedy play. The ''Gong Show'' episode featuring a performance by Les Nickelettes aired November 1, 1979. The troupe scored a perfect 10 but was beaten to first place by a disco act. In 1981 Les Nickelettes collaborated with underground comic book artist
Diane Noomin Diane Robin Noomin ( Rosenblatt, May 13, 1947 – September 1, 2022) was an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement. She is best known for her character DiDi Glitz, who addresses transgressive social issues such as ...
to create an original musical play based on her character
Didi Glitz Diane Robin Noomin ( Rosenblatt, May 13, 1947 – September 1, 2022) was an American comics artist associated with the underground comics movement. She is best known for her character DiDi Glitz, who addresses transgressive social issues such as ...
: ''I'd Rather Be Doing Something Else - The Didi Glitz Story''. In 1982 Les Nickelettes traveled to
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and presented the cabaret/theatre show ''Anarchy In High Heels'', a compilation of skits and songs from their previous shows. In 1985 the group produced the last Les Nickelette full-length production: ''Oh Goddess!'' a spiritual musical comedy play. Les Nickelettes were part of a '70s and '80s San Francisco phenomenon of women's theatre companies. Born from the second wave of
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
, there arose a desire to express a unique feminine humor and perspective. All aspects of play development, staging, performing, directing and producing were done by women. When a story demanded a male character, a female member obliged to act the male role. The group's commitment to presenting theatre from the eyes, ears and hearts of women continued through 1985. Les Nickelettes' work reflected a new style of musical comedy incorporating broad, irreverent comedy and satiric social commentary intermeshed with contemporary music and dance. The members changed throughout the history of the group but always maintained the artistic vision of a women's theatre collective.


Performance history

* 1972 – Peoples' Nickelodeon Vaudevillian Cheerleaders. * 1973–1974 – Virgins in Residence presenting bimonthly improv musical skits at Intersection Theatre. * 1975 – It's Cool in San Francisco: ''The Ms. Hysterical Contest'' & ''It's Vicious Out There''. Cabaret theatre. * 1976 – ''Peter Pan: A New Rock Fairytale''. Musical comedy play. * 1977 – ''Nothing's Sacred'' Cabaret. * 1978 – ''Curtains!'' A musical-mystery comedy play. * 1979 – ''Peter Pan: A New Wave Fairytale'' (revised). Musical comedy play. * 1980 – ''Spaced Out''. An intergalactic musical comedy play. * 1981 – ''I'd Rather Be Doing Something Else; The Didi Glitz Story''. A comic book musical comedy play. In collaboration with Diane Noomin. * 1982 – ''Anarchy In High Heels''. New York. Cabaret theatre. * 1983 – ''Anarchy In High Heels'' San Francisco. Cabaret theatre. * 1985 – ''Oh Goddess!'' A spiritual musical comedy play.


References

{{Reflist Theatrical organizations in the United States Performance artist collectives 1972 establishments in California Feminism in California