For years, they’ve entertained all over the Permian Basin and state.
They’ve remained good friends throughout and still are to this day.
Friday, Dana Ritter and Patsy Allen will be among the 12 divas performing at Divas and Desserts.
It’s hard to tell exactly how many shows and performances they’ve done together but Allen and Ritter estimate they’ve done about 40 shows over the years.
“We’re best buddies and we want to do shows for as long as we can,” Allen said. “That’s one of our main interests together. We just love it.”
The dynamic duo has been versatile in their performances as Ritter and Allen can both act and sing.
This will be the fifth year of Divas and Desserts (returning after a three-year hiatus) and the two have been a part of it each year.
“This is a nice thing to cap off the year,” Ritter said. “I’m glad they brought it back. We hope everyone buys a ticket. We’d really love to fill the place up. It’s been a tough three-year-gap.”
Divas and Desserts will start at 6 p.m. Friday at the MCM Grande Hotel.
Tickets and sponsorships can be purchased online at https://tinyurl.com/3csj4zc2.
Ritter’s performance on the stage began in 1981 when she was an extra for the show My Fair Lady.
A year later, she played Molly Brown. It wasn’t until a few years later when Ritter and Allen met up and became friends.
“I didn’t meet Patsy until 1986,” Ritter said. “We were auditioning for a play called Side by Side by Stephen Sondheim. It was a three-person play, two women and one man. That’s how we became friends. We just kept this friendship going.”
That friendship led to Allen and Ritter forming their own acting troupe throughout the 90s, performing shows throughout the state.
“We traveled together and left our husbands at home,” Ritter said. “We shop together and do shows together. … We traveled all over Texas. We bought a trailer and traveled throughout the state. We would take turns pulling the trailer. We didn’t make any money seriously because we spent all of it on props but we did that for a long time.”
While they’ve since retired that part of their acting career, they still remain busy performing at different events.
“Patsy and I have performed at small parties,” Ritter said. “We do things once a year for the Midland Lions Club. We went in as showgirls. We’ve got a wardrobe of clothes that our poor husbands have had to pay for.”
Ritter also said that anytime she and Allen are asked to perform, they are free, with a laugh.
Allen began doing theater in 1968.
“My director was the founder of Permian Playhouse (Enid Holm),” Allen said. “And then I did mostly musicals out here.”
Both have enjoyed their time on the stage and they said they love coming back to perform in Divas and Desserts and have become good friends with the other divas.
“We enjoy all the women,” Allen said. “It took us a couple of years but we’ve all become really good friends. So we’ve stayed in contact with each other. Even during COVID. … Of course, we love singing and we get to sing songs.”
Both will perform a duet called Sisters from the classic movie White Christmas.
“We’re not going to have the same blue dresses those ladies but we are going to be stunning,” Ritter said. “People won’t even care but they may not be able to see our heads. Each year, they’ve allowed Patsy and I to do our own solos and duet. That’s just been standard but I think it’s cool that they ask us to do “sisters” because that’s such an iconic movie and song. They play that movie all the time on the old channels.”
This year’s show will be a Christmas-themed show titled “Home for the Holidays”.
Each different diva will perform a Christmas song.
“Everyone will love all the songs,” Ritter said. “The sing-a-longs and there’s some surprises along the way. It’s worth the price of a ticket. Also, you’re helping out the institution that’s been around forever. You don’t want to close the doors. It’d be so nice to keep it open.”
Allen is hopeful of seeing a full crowd at this year’s show.
“Most of the Christmas parities will be over by Dec. 16 so (divas) would be a nice thing to go to have fun because it is a fun show,” Allen said.
Divas and Desserts show director Amanda Lopez has grown up watching both Allen and Ritter perform and is excited to have them back for Divas and Desserts.
“For me, it’s super exciting because I grew up seeing them on the stage so in my head they’re the original divas,” Lopez said. “As a kid, I got to see them sing and dance and they both have such an incredible stage presence and voices. … so having them and they have a unique friendship story that originated here at the theatre. They’ve been friends for so many years at this point. Getting to have them in the show is great.”
For more information about Basin Theatre Works or Divas and Desserts, visit https://tinyurl.com/yeycehds.
If you go:
>> What: Divas and Desserts: Home for the Holidays
>> When: 6 p.m. Dec. 16
>> Where: MCM Grande Hotel
>> Where to purchase tickets: https://tinyurl.com/3csj4zc2
Meet the Divas:
>> Brittany Handlin
>> Cindy Ward
>> Dana Ritter
<< Dawn Weaks
<< Emily Baker
>> Kara Williams
>> Krista Escamilla
>> Nikki Windham
>> Sara Lillestol
>> Stephanie Rivas
>> Tina Mobley
>> Patsy Allen
