Lisa Stephen Friday could have presented the eight semi-autobiographical songs she worked up with her band Lisa Jackson & Girl Friday, just as she once did at a series of Lower East Side clubs in the ’90s.
Instead, she’s playing acoustic versions of them during a one-person show that serves up more than between-song patter ever could.
“Trans Am” is making its live world premiere currently at the Keegan Theatre, which previously developed the work in its Boiler Room Series, and then produced an online version in 2020 when streaming shows was the only option during the early days of the pandemic.
Now (with masks and proof of vaccination) it’s getting that other element essential to its presentation – audience reaction and cheers after the songs.
Tall and confident in a jeans jumpsuit and red sneakers, Friday is unflappable in telling a about a life that had more than its share of challenges, not just as a trans woman finding a place in a cold world, but in overcoming heartbreak and alcohol dependence. … Friday is at least as well schooled in theater as she is in rock ‘n’ roll.
