This is one I'd heard mentioned by people before shows. The older generation--the boomers marvel at the name alone. Dixie's Tupperware Party. I'd heard the question asked by a couple of different women before a couple of different shows . . . "They still make Tupperware?" Yes. Yes, they sell make Tupperware. It's a million dollar business that continues to employ over 10,000 people. So long as there oil in the ground, they will make Tupperware.
And so the idea of a comically stage Tupperware party hosted by Dixie Longate--"America's #1 Personal Seller of Tupperware" is . . . actually kind of creepy. Longate had been approached by a few theatre prodders to put her party onstage Off-Broadway and she's been touring all over the place since then. I keep looking through the promo materials looking for the punchline, but this is actually a staged Tupperware party. (Creepy.) Multi-level marketing has reached a whole new level when it is staged as entertainment. And I'm sure Longate is very entertaining and all. (There are giveaways and everything) but this is a very strange mutation of commerce as art. And it's got to act as a really interesting kind of marketing for a company that still has to maintain brand awareness amidst all those potential customers who don't even know it exists anymore.
Dixie's Tupperware Party runs May 14th through 26th at Marcus Center's Vogel Hall. For more information, visit the Marcus Center online.
