Was Bernadette O’Connell asking for it? This powerful and poignant one-woman comedy written and performed by Joanna Rush is a coming of age story about a feisty dancer and former ‘Outstanding Catholic Youth of the Year’ who takes on New York where her convictions about religion bump up against the confusions of reality. Young Bernie, a future “Sister of Charity” with a fierce libido, puts her religious vocation on hold, skips out on the nuns, and joins 35 sisters at Radio City Music Hall…the “Rockettes.” But her sexual mis-education leaves her wide open and vulnerable to the twisted testosterone-filled world permeating her new life in the Big Apple. Amidst her sexual misadventures, Bernadette marries, births a child, and lands on Broadway. But alas, as time passes, a dancer with bum knees and a kid to support, must settle for a slew of raunchy roles…from a pregnant burlesque queen to star of the filthiest show Off-Broadway. While fearing and flaunting her sexuality, Bernadette learns its potent affect on patrons and predators but struggles to embrace it for herself. After witnessing her full circle transformation, you’ll laugh at what she really asks for…and maybe even gets.
As directed by Tony nominee Lynne Taylor-Corbett, “Asking for It” is a joyful kaleidoscope of faith and femininity, repression and redemption, humor and humility. Spiced with dance and song, Rush takes her larger-than-life experience and filters it through the prism of humor. She portrays a colorful cast of characters ranging from uptight clerics to sexy chorines, to growing boys…of all ages. Hilarious, irreverent and moving, JoAnna Rush’s “Asking for It” leaves audiences – male and female, of all ages – invigorated and inspired.