Some of us keep journals to record and remember our past. Others take pictures. Often a book or even a post card ignites memories. For Jackie Soro and Pax Ressler, it was their dolls. In particular, it was the dolls produced by American Girl that they started collecting in the 1990’s. Now, some 30 years later, they are reflecting on what they believed then and what they think now of those times. Bearded Ladies Cabaret in partnership with Fringe Arts has on its stage for a brief run, the play by and starring Jackie Soro and Pax Ressler, “Girl Dolls: The American Musical.”
The key word in the title beside girl and doll, is the word American. Not only is it a brief history thru the history of that dollmaker, it is also a look at what it is to be an American girl.
It begins with the two women on stage sharing the meanings of the many dolls they’ve had over the years. They even give us a brief history behind the era these dolls represented. Kristin is a Swedish immigrant from the 1850’s. Samantha is a well-to-do orphan from the beginning of the 20th century. And Molly is a girl from the 1940’s. These were to be alternatives to the sexualized Barbie dolls. Soro and Ressler show us the dolls but also become them through quick costume changes. They are so happy as they try to emulate the dolls. And the play is accompanied by beautiful representations on the back wall of them in family pictures and movies. But there is more that is not so upbeat.
This is history but it is selective history. There is no representation of poverty, of abuse, or of racism. When finally, American Doll creates Addy Walker, a Black doll, it will be years before it creates another Black doll. Black kids are forced to play with and nurture white dolls. And there are clearly no dolls that represent transgenders. Soro is light skinned Afro-American and Ressler is transgender.
The two women talk to each other and talk to us as their story unfolds. They also talk to their dolls… who will eventually talk back to them and at them, forcing them to face the realities of the lives these women imagined for themselves.
Watching them on stage is a visual treat as they maneuver the different costumes and we listen to their stories- so powerful and so real. Lest I forget, this is a musical, so much of the story is revealed through songs created by this talented pair. The 3-piece band on the stage is excellent.
This is so much more than a play about dolls. It is a play about identity and what it means to accept who we are. This World Premiere event, directed by MK Tuomanen is a unique history and moving memoir that is presented in just 75 minutes and will leave you breathless!
“Girl Dolls: The American Musical” at Fringe Arts, 140 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19106, 215-413-1318, https://fringearts.com/event/girl-dolls-the-american-musical/, Thru May 17, 2026.
Philadelphia Theater Reviews by Frank Burd 