This. Is. THEE -TAAAAAA!

I am still blown away. I am still in awe. I am still so incredibly proud of my fellow class mate, friend and hero, Sascha Alexander.

c. Ellston Photography

Last night I went to see "Naked and Crazy," a night of two solo shows, each written and performed individually by Meghan Gambling and Sascha Alexander. Here's their blurb (and where you can buy tickets):

"Naked and Crazy:" True Stories from Meghan Gambling and Sascha Alexander

The Elephant Studio @ Elephant Stages
Los Angeles, CA

Life is atrocious. Sometimes grandma shoplifts.  Sometimes dad calls you fat. And sometimes you find yourself vandalizing property in a drunken rage.  From delusions, to overexposure, to bff breakups, stripper poles, accidental crime-busting and very vocal body parts, come take a long ride on this short bus of life's mysterious lessons.

If you are a woman, you need to see this show. If you're a guy who has dated a woman, you need to see this show so that you can understand better what it is we go through, because as a guy, I know you sometimes feel helpless in our body shame psychosis.

Sascha took us on a journey of how she went from a normal little girl who was happy with how she looked, into an adolescent who grew a tummy, and that no matter what she did as a young woman, could still not get her stomach to "look right." She doesn't show us how she got this way, she takes us with her, and we experience it with her.  From one small, innocent comment from her father, to a costume fitting for her first national commercial, we understand. And to hear what her acting coach says when she asks him if she needs to lose weight to be what casting is looking for - his answer will probably shock you. And make you cheer. Because Sascha begins to get it. She begins to be okay. She begins to love herself.

We have all been there. But the way she overcame her body shame (with a stripper pole, yes, a stripper pole) and how she oozes happiness and love and power and confidence with the last three minutes of the show, my god, we were all cheering and up on our feet with a Standing Ovation.

A STANDING OVATION! In LOS ANGELES THEATER!! That just about NEVER happens here!

She is vulnerable. She is raw. She is putting it all out there, and this, THIS is what theater is supposed to be. I sat in the audience, traveled with her, empathized, understood, and I left the theater feeling as if I too were better, uplifted, sexy and confident, all because she had a story to tell and was called upon to take all the hurt, all the pain, and turn it in to something beautiful that heals people who didn't even know they were hurting.

And yet, for all the pain and emotions we went through together last night, my face hurt from all the laughing and smiling. The show was so funny.

This is what Theater is supposed to be!!

Cheers, Sascha. Cheers and Thank You. You deserve all the success and fame and love this show is going to provide you.

So, my lovely, LA readers, See it. It's this weekend only.

And if it is sold out, if you are too late, DEMAND an extension.

This absolutely can not be missed.

Ticket info here.

Again, thank you Sascha.

Brava, brava, brava.