In The Event That...

You always thought Tori Spelling was a man

by Katie Karas

Beverly Hills 90210, Live!

Sat., Feb. 7, 10 p.m., $5, Latvian Society, 531 N. Seventh St., bittercocktail.org, e-mail jj@bittercocktail.org to reserve tickets

It's time for a high school reunion, West Beverly style. Bitter Cocktail Productions, comprising self-admitted "lazy pop culture addicts" JJ Orgera and Damian Bellino, are reviving the '90s classic Beverly Hills, 90210 for a live performance faithful to the original show you all know and love, with a few twists.

"Basically what we're doing is taking two classic episodes of the original 90210 and just transporting them onstage," says director-actress Orgera. The catch? "But we're having them in drag."

The two episodes follow the gang to their high school prom, where Tori Spelling's Donna Martin (played by Bellino) drinks too much, ruining her plans to finally lose her virginity to her patient beau, David. From there, the always true-to-life intrigue unfolds.

This is the second such show for Bitter Cocktail, following 2007's Full House: Live! performance, which Orgera described as "more successful than we ever could have imagined." Their "lark" ended up selling out in about five minutes, leaving many out in the cold.

Orgera and Bellino learned from their mistakes, though, and this year the show will be put on at the Latvian Society, a space equipped for a larger crowd and complete with a bar where drinks and home-baked goods will be sold.