Occasionally, Julie takes to the theatrical stage for full-length shows involving a mix of original and classic songs, interleaved with monologues and stories based on her worldwide adventures.
Double Entendre "I performed Double Entendre in NYC at Don't Tell Mama's. It was an early version of French Kiss updated with several colorful characters including my male drag, Sam Turner. The audience was filled with Mark Morris and his company and all their friends. It was one of my best shows ever!
Ciao Bello "I performed my beloved Ciao Bello at Thumper's in Seattle. (Everyone's favorite gay bar!) This one woman show was based on my perverse desire to run away to Sicily and find my real roots. I not only found my long lost family, I found out why they left Sicily in the first place. Gee whiz, I guess my poor Grampa had quite a temper, but he was so handsome. I also found myself falling in love with a blond Sicilian gigolo that stimulated my imagination to add tidbits to my greatest fantasy of finally finding Mr. You'll Do. My Sicilian family had no idea who I was, yet by the time I left they were bereft that I was leaving. A cousin even proposed. Ah life in Sicily would be so different. French Kiss (co-written and directed by VIctor Janusz): An autobiographical account of a Paris rendezvous with a dashing but fatally aloof Frenchman; featuring cameo appearances by two of her cabaret characters, Sam Turner and the Chanel Lady.
I Love Being Abroad (Tales of the Orient) A two-act saga that premiered at the Bumbershoot arts festival, then had an extended engagement at Thumper's Cabaret. In Act One, Julie tells how it was like to sing at the Hong Kong Sheraton over Christmas. In Act Two, she takes a side trip to Thailand and falls in love with a local man. She contemplates marrying him and living together on an island.
I Love Being Abroad, Bali Hai, Tales of a Globetrotting Chanteuse! Julie travels to fascinating exotic places that we only dream about. She gets there by having a 5 Star Hotel hire her to be their in-house-jazz singer. ("Every hotel needs one", Julie quips) She usually stays on a contractual basis for 3-6 months. After her contract she takes a vacation in that country, and comes home with lots of tales to tell! Interspersed with songs that help her 'plots' unfold. As unreal as it all sounds, this really happens to Julie! There's a good reason there's an exclamation mark after her first name.
I Love Being Abroad, The India Odyssey told of the adventure for Julie to sing on the sub-continent at a remote resort without women in the jungle of India. She learned to sing Hindi, ride a horse and love Indian food! It's vegetarian and YUMMY. Fast forward to 2009 Julie is contracted by a 5 Star Hotel in Bali, and finally gets a little closer to Australia, where the man she's been chasing for 5 years lives. Romantic intrigue, wild boat rides into caves and temples located in the golden triangle. Geckos falling from ceilings into her low cut dresses... what's next?
"…Dressed in a faux tiger-skin coat, Cascioppo makes a dramatic entrance. With false eyelashes slightly longer than a direct flight from Seattle to Chicago and a smashing, Asian-inspired diva dress, the popular comedienne/singer looks every inch the cabaret star. In telling her tale of a three-month gig at the Hong Kong Sheraton in a basement bar called "Some Place Else," Cascioppo's banter is quick and bright. "Did you know I left Seattle," she asks a friend at ringside, "or did you just think I was in rehab?"
"My Guy," one of the all-time girl group anthems, becomes "My Thai" as she tells of her affair with an Asian gigolo — "$2 a day for an incredible escort," she swoons. "He took me to Victoria's Peak one day. I thought it was an underwear shop for men!" she deadpans. "It turned out to be a mountain." Stories abound — propositioned by a Polish pilot who offered to trade "marriage for a green card for free flights for life," a local cabaret performer who wouldn't give Cascioppo the music for a new, unpublished cabaret rarity ("I got it anyway," she smiles). Her one word description of a bad date — "Insect!" — got the biggest laugh of the show from the intimate opening night crowd.
The songs all work well. "It's Been a Long, Long Time," "Is It Hot In HERE?," the wistful "Bird Alone," "Fools Rush In," "Bali Ha'i," "I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do" (with its melancholy lyric "I never loved him and he never moved me") mix popular standards with cabaret classics." Milton W. Hamlin, Seattle Gay News, on I Love Being Abroad
" Rather than sentimentalize emotional dependency, French Kiss satirizes love addiction… and offers some stylish singing and goofy vignettes… Cascioppo really is a skillful dramatic singer." Joe Adcock, Post-Intelligencer, on French Kiss
" The show has really surprised Julie's fans… she has gone to a deeper, more complex place… Now when she gives a situation her characteristic comic twist, it resonates even more." Victor Janusz on French Kiss