Slapstick With a Little Pink Lipstick

Amanda Duarte wants to be a household name of a different kind.
By Joshua C. Harris

I enter the Peoples Improv Theatre at W. 29th St. and 7th ave. It’s tucked upstairs, nestled as most things are in the city so I almost miss it. I don’t know what to expect from the show. All I remember is Amanda’s picture on the promotional flyer that she gave me: her legs open with the title “Lucky Pink Wonderland” in bold lettering conveniently covering anything indecent. “Hi! Come on back! We’re setting up…” Amanda yells to me from the theater as I stand in the lobby. She seems a bit flustered but excited nonetheless. I obey. I creep back, suddenly surrounded by the black walls of the theater. It’s small, with flairs of red and pink, sort of like Amanda.

She’s about to go on; the music blasts a bubblegum pop tune as the lights dim. Amanda enters wearing a white dress, pink scarf, pink handbag, and pink sunglasses. She has so much overdone sass, I have to laugh. Her intro is hilarious. The opening dance satirizes the latest music video, incorporates faux cocaine snorting, and Britney upskirt shots . If I had had an expectation it would have been shattered in this moment.

Amanda’s Video Interview

Amanda Duarte has probably always been an actor and writer, because as she puts it “…she was never good at anything else…” I find that hard to believe and laugh as we sit down at the G:NY studio and have a chat. The topic: how Amanda got where she is, and where she’s going. Amanda duped her way through college, conning professors into giving her credit for acting and writing gigs. After graduating, she lived in San Francisco for many years, honing her skills by getting acting jobs at various venues. Eventually, she made the leap to the Big Apple: the ultimate test of an actor’s true value. Amanda quickly realized the game was much bigger in the city that never sleeps; however, she’s proving she’s up for the task.

Amanda penned her one woman show “Lucky Pink Wonderland” over time by collecting different pieces of her writing and weaving them together into a full commentary on modern ideals of celebrity, self-worth, and the pit falls of stardom. In the play, Amanda is an ex-child star “What’s-Her-Name” or “Pinky Peppercorn” as the public remembers her. She’s struggling to transition from child actor to actress, relapsing into impressions of her former character for old “fans” but more often waiting tables. Yet, “Pinky Peppercorn” isn’t the only character Amanda plays, she shifts seamlessly into a negligent mother, a drunken ex-actor, and a hyper-unaware teenager among others. Each character is introduced after a musical interlude in which Amanda does another dance number against a video projection backdrop featuring the latest in pop-culture’s excess.

The show is a success. The audience laughs uncontrollably while feeling guilty for doing so after one of Amanda’s soliloquies as the forgotten ex-child star. It’s a thrilling mish-mash of reactions. Amanda’s excited after performing two sold out runs. She remembers a time only close friends and relatives would come see her perform, “…probably the most exciting thing were the nights of my show when I would look out in the crowd and I didn’t really know the people who where there…”

I ask Amanda what happens in the moments before she goes on and performs as these characters and she stares at me blankly. I re-iterate, “what are you thinking in that moment? You seem very pensive”. Amanda responds with a giggle “I don’t know…I’m probably thinking about what I’m going to eat later!” I laugh with her and then try to pry out some more information with my next question, “where do you want to be in the future?” She answers, “I want to be on your TV; I want to be in your movies; I want to be in your cereal bowl,” she laughs, “I want to be all up in you,” she laughs some more, “…that’s what I want, why else would I be here?!” I join in her laughter as I realize that’s all anyone can do when they’re in a room with Amanda Duarte.

Amanda’s Photo Shoot