A Dozen Divas in One – Dorothy Bishop on her Art of Impersonation

For actress/singer/comedian/impersonator Dorothy Bishop, getting cast in Gerard Alessandrini's Off-Broadway hit "Spamilton" to cover impersonating virtuoso Christine Pedi's role was a walk in the park. For "Spamilton" she only had to impersonate five Broadway icons: Bernadette Peters, Barbra Streisand, Carol Channing, Liza Minnelli, and Patti LuPone. She had already been impersonating more than twice that number of theater and pop icons in her show "The Dozen Divas Show," now in its fourth year, when "Spamilton" musical director Fred Barton caught her show at the Metropolitan Room and cast her on the spot for "Spamilton," for which Bishop has now finished a 17-month run.

Barton, who has been musical director for "Forever Plaid" and for Alessandrini's other long-running Off-Broadway parody "Forbidden Broadway" (and its various sequels) since its earliest days, has also been musical director of Broadway musicals and their national tours and is notorious for his extraordinarily high casting standards. For him to hire Bishop on the spot is saying something. But Barton hasn't been the only one impressed with Bishop. The Village Voice said, "Blessed with a voice capable of opera, Broadway, and pop, she creates funny but appreciative portraits of women we love." Bernie Furshpan, former managing partner of the now-closed Metropolitan Room proclaimed, "Dorothy has the style, talent, and personality and a brilliant and witty mind to put together 'The Dozen Divas Show.' You'll fall in love with Dorothy Bishop and her show, I guarantee it."

And Mark Rome, owner of the Palm Cabaret in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and its sister cabaret club, El Piano Rojo, in Ajijic, Mexico, said of Bishop's run in Ajijic, "It was a full-on sold-out standing-ovation show night after night for two weeks. The audience absolutely loved her 'Dozen Divas Show', although I think Miss Bishop may be bad at math–she usually did more than 12!"

Bishop, an Atlanta native without a trace of a Southern accent, is unlikely to be bad at math, however, having gotten her undergraduate degree from Yale. Let's just say, she doesn't keep count. Thanks to John McDonald and JM Productions, who has created a knockout 2019-2020 Cabaret Series, Boston-area audiences will be able to catch Bishop perform "The Dozen Divas Show" at the Common Market in Quincy on Thursday, October 17 and Friday, October 18. (For ticket information, link: www. jmproductionspresents.com/events/dozen-diva-show/:visit this website>.)

EDGE sat down with Bishop to talk about all the divas she impersonates, her avoidance of the political, except when it comes to impersonating Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton, and her close encounter with another diva, Faye Dunaway, with whom she performed in the national tour of "Master Class."

Reinvented herself

EDGE: When did you first learn you had a knack for impersonation?

Dorothy Bishop:Late in life (laughs). When I was a kid, I could do Barbra and Cher as a party trick. But first, I had a long career as an opera singer, touring with Faye Dunaway in "Master Class," then as a headliner in classical and pop opera productions. But then I was looking for work in a down time and saw that tribute shows were getting booked, and I loved comedy, so I reinvented myself as a comic impersonator. I wasn't sure who I would be able to do, so I picked 10 of my favorites, then I would sit in my garage and record myself. I would watch videos of each person I was impersonating and try to mimic them. That's how "The Dozen Divas Show" started. I ran the show for a year at the Iguana, on 54th. People laughed, and the show did well.

EDGE: Were there any people doing what you do when you were a child that were role models or influences?

Dorothy Bishop:Definitely. Carol Burnett. That was our family thing, and we would sit and watch her parodies. Especially the Scarlet O'Hara bit. Sonny and Cher, Donny and Marie, and their comedy skits.

Her dozen divas

EDGE: Who are your Dozen Divas?

Dorothy Bishop:I started with the icons: Cher, Barbra, Judy, Tina Turner, Dolly, Liza, Stevie Nicks. I do a "Phantom [of the Opera]" parody where I impersonate Sarah Brightman being tired of doing "Phantom...". For a New York crowd, I'll do Kristen Chenoweth. I did Joan Rivers for a long time, but I think I'm retiring her. I like to do Shirley Bassey. And every now and then I throw in someone new who's not an icon.

I try to stay out of politics, though I'm intrigued with doing Marianne Williamson. I couldn't stay out of politics altogether, though. In fact, before "The Dozen Divas Show," I spent years doing a Sarah Palin Show. It started with me doing some disco show. I had my hair up in a bun, and someone said I looked like Sarah Palin, so I ended up doing a Sarah Palin show for three years and that kept me going for a while. But she's kind of gone now, and I'm working on Elizabeth Warren. I did Hillary a lot until she didn't win.

EDGE: Have you ever performed in front of someone you were impersonating?

Dorothy Bishop:No, but I dread the day. The Metropolitan Opera saw a skit I did of Renee Fleming and they did a video of me impersonating her for them, and I know she's seen it. I won't be doing this in Boston but in the show, when I team with Charles Osborne, Charles does Mandy Patinkin and I do Renee Fleming doing a duet mash-up of '80s disco anthems like "It's Raining Men," "Macho Man," "Born This Way" (Lady Gaga). It's always a hit. Charles has done "Forbidden Broadway" and "Spamilton" and he guests in my NY shows along with Michael Musto.

Any new divas?

EDGE: How do you make the mental transition from one personality to the next when you impersonate so many celebrities within a single show.

Dorothy Bishop:For me, it's the costumes. I have a dark base outfit over which I throw other pieces. Then there are the wigs, and even some wax teeth to change the embouchure of my mouth.

EDGE: Do you ever try out new divas?

Dorothy Bishop:I'm always a nervous wreck when I put in a new Diva. It's very stressful. Like Patti LaBelle. I put her in the show before last, but I took her out because I need to do more work on her. I need a coach. Maybe a drag queen who does a good Patti LaBelle (laughs). I added in Peggy Lee recently, and that fit like a glove.

EDGE: Who do you have in the pipeline for people you'd like to impersonate but haven't tackled yet?

Dorothy Bishop:I'm putting in Bette, though I'm a little worried about her because she's already funny so how do you make fun of someone who is already funny? But for her, I'm working on "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" using two puppets, that might show up in Boston. I just started with Patsy Cline. She's kind of quiet and still; good for an older crowd, and she gives me a rest. I have to pace. Liza, Tina, and Stevie all jump around, so it's good to have a "still" diva now and then.

A special place for Stevie Nicks

EDGE: In your shows, who do you most look forward to impersonating?

Dorothy Bishop:Oh boy, that's a hard one. I have a special place in my heart for Stevie Nicks. I love her music. She was a star in my high school era. I do "Landslide," which was also one of my mom's favorites; She got to see me do that in my show just before she died. I use "Rhiannon," too. I often close with "White Winged Dove" ("Edge of Seventeen"). I also love Ann Wilson, from Heart, but I haven't gotten her down yet.

EDGE: Each of your divas has a lot of material. Do you switch it up from show to show?

Dorothy Bishop:I do. For Shirley Bassey, I typically do "Goldfinger" or "Diamonds are Forever" but sometimes I'll do the Pink song she covered: "Get the Party Started." With Cher I'll do "Half Breed" or "Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves" but I'll also do some others. For Liza I always do "Cabaret" and "New York, New York", or I'll do "And the World Goes 'Round" for a more sophisticated crowd. For Dolly I have to do "9 to 5" or they get upset.

Touring with Faye Dunaway

EDGE: You exercised your classical training touring in "Master Class" with Faye Dunaway. What was it like working with Faye Dunaway?

Dorothy Bishop:Faye Dunaway was beautiful in the show and she became the character. She's a method actress and spent a lot of time on her makeup and persona to look like Maria Callas. But she's also scary. She kept a distance from everyone. She had a sign on her dressing room door that instructed people to knock first, wait five minutes, listen for permission to enter, etc.

Her real name is Dorothy Faye, yet she couldn't remember my name, which was the same as hers, and she would call me Eleanor. I was a cover and went on a lot in the role I covered. So when it was my first time to go on in place of the principal, she called me to her dressing room just before the show. I knocked. I waited 5 minutes; I was then asked to come in. She stared me up and down and then she told me I looked too pretty. I asked her if she wanted me to change anything. She said no. I turned to leave, and she said, "Goodbye Dorothy," which I thought was so odd for her to all of a sudden remember my name. Or had she always known my name and chose to call me something else? I never got to the bottom of that.

EDGE: What's up next for you and The Dozen Divas?

Dorothy Bishop:I'll be at the Triad in New York once a month. Plus, I'm doing a special Halloween show with Charles Osborne at the Triad on Halloween. I'll also have drag artist Summer Orlando joining me for the Halloween show. For my NY audiences, I'm working on a multi-media show using a screen, where I do the duet "Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy" as Barbra with me also as Judy on screen Skyping from Heaven, which is fun.

Dorothy Bishop will perform "The Dozen Divas Show" on Thursday, October 17 at 11:30 am, and Friday, October 18, at 11:30 am and 8 pm at the Common Market, 97 Willard Street, Quincy, MA 02169. Tickets are $25 -$39. For Reservations, visit https://jmproductionspresents.com/events/dozen-diva-show/, or call 857.333.4199.

Ms. Bishop will also be performing "The Dozen Divas Show" on October 4 with Charles Osborn at the Triad Theater in New York City. For more information about this show and other upcoming dates, visit her website.

Watch this YouTube video of Dorothy Bishop's impersonations: