A one-woman ode to the ’70s superheroine

Long before there was Lucy Lawless as Xena, there was Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman. In addition to introducing a generation of young lesbians to the seductive idea of an all-female paradise, she also schooled disco queens on her flawless yet flashy spin. In her "one-woman musical," Elizabeth Whitney explores what the campy television show left out. She starts with a winningly detailed evocation of her own happy childhood efforts impersonating the superheroine with the help of the girl next door; later, crooning in a red beaded dress as Wonder Woman herself, she reveals the secrets behind the veils of Paradise Island, the hidden gay life of her supposed love Steve Trevor and the hard road she’s faced in the changing political atmosphere since the show’s cancellation in the late ’70s. Whitney deftly mixes incisive political satire with sheer campy fun; her heartfelt but knowing song parodies ("I Am Wonder Woman," "Stand by Your Butch") are delivered in a warm soprano. A most satisfying show, for lesbians or gay men, entertainment or commentary.