TORRANCE, CA, May 31, 2007 — “FAT GIRLS: THE MUSICAL,” the hit Los Angeles show that ran in 2002-2003 to rave reviews, is back for a short run this summer. Written and directed by Carla Drew (NAACP Theater Award nominee for best actress for the title role in William Blinn’s “Hattie,”), this musical comedy is the story of four plus-size women with powerful singing talent who form a successful group despite industry rejection. The show opens Saturday, July 14, 2007 at the Nakano Theater in Torrance, CA and runs through Sunday, August 12, 2007.

“I wrote “Fat Girls” after so many years of being rejected for parts because of my size,” says playwright Carla Drew, who also wrote all of the show’s music. “Even after I dropped from a size 28 to a size 14, I was still hearing the same old thing about my size being an issue. I was frustrated with the inability of the industry to see beyond that, and to see the talent and passion I had to give. The show’s theme centers on the idea that all of us are valuable; not just those who are lucky enough to match society’s idea of physical perfection.” Full Story »

After decades of believing that “you can never be too rich or too thin”, women are at last challenging the second half of that precept. And marketers are supporting them in turning their backs on the waif-like physical ideal that fashion and the movie industry have demanded of the female form since the 1920s. Bosses at Anglo-Dutch consumer goods conglomerate Unilever have announced their corporate determination to celebrate a more generously-proportioned body shape. This year the firm issued an edict to its marketers that the only models to be used in advertising its products would be those with a healthy Body Mass Index, calculated as the proportion of body fat to other tissue. Unilever is already boosting the self-esteem of bigger girls with its “Real Beauty” campaign for Dove soap and personal care products, whose sales seem to have benefited from spontaneous uplift even when their models didn’t. Sources: WARC Bulletin, Pi.

I recently went to see “Blue Man Group” here in Las Vegas at their new theater in the Venetian. Unlike when I first saw them in NYC off Broadway maybe 18-20 years ago. I’ve also seen them when they were in the Luxor here in Vegas so I pretty much knew what the show was about. My main concern was the seating. Unlike movie theaters, live theater seems to have stationary arm rests and lets face it..I’m pretty “Hippy” I posted a query in the BBW Vegas Admirers group and was pleased to see some others had attended with the same concerns.

So it was with great trepidation that I went. I wear a size 20-22. 18 on top, 20-22 on hips. About a 54″ and those seats were tight. We had seats 11 rows back, dead center. I would say THE best seats in the house. And our row was pretty empty. Out of 18 seats only 8 were taken. But since the arm handles didn’t rise, it was pretty uncomfortable after the 1st 30 minutes. PLUS if you are tall, forget it. I’m 5′8″ and my knees were about 2 inches from the chair in front of me.

Here is a pic of the back of the seats. You can see how the normal sized guy is squished in.

I spoke with the box office manager the next day and he said they can accommodate people in wheelchairs if they have 24 hours advance notice but there is no accommodation for those with ample hips or long legs.