[NoHo Arts District, CA] – The Whitefire Theatre is proud to host a new musical comedy at Solofest 2026, Hashtag What I did on My Summer Fake-Cation, written and performed by Jacqi Bowe and directed by Terry John Barto.
Jaqui is a veteran Solofest participant. I have very fond memories of seeing her solo show back in 2020, when we all needed cheering up!! She was absolutely brilliant, and I am thrilled to see her back for more!
Jacqi is back at the Whitefire’s Solofest with her new musical comedy, Hashtag What I did on My Summer Fake-Cation, which she of course, wrote! Since she is such a wonderful artist, I had a few questions about her show and how all her hard work pays off for her.
Hi Jacqi, congratulations on being a part of the wonderful Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest this year. You are a regular solo show writer and performer. What is it about this genre that you love so much?
I love the autonomy. Total artistic freedom. Of course, it is still very much a collaboration. I workshopped show pieces with Jessica Lynn Johnson and Heather Dowling of Soaring Solo Studios. My collaboration with director Terry John Barto has been supercharged! We just clicked. With his extensive background in musical theatre, he was the perfect choice since Hashtag What I Did On My Summer Fakecation has 18 characters, counting me. The show also includes my mom, Dixie Bowe, and my cat Zoey, and seven original songs that I wrote with musician, producer, and Ted Talk regular, Drew Lawrence.
A solo show is not just about me. All the themes and stories need to resonate universally. Solo shows have been vilified by some as vanity projects. The beautiful shows I have seen are anything but. They always strike me with their humbleness, gratitude and honesty. This show is definitely going for naked authenticity-what’s really behind the smiley Instagram selfie. We all have unrequited dreams, pain from loss and bonding over this in the theater is so healing and uplifting. I want everyone to go out of the theater humming my theme song. I do adore solo performing, and I have been bringing The Jacqi Bowe VaRiety Show to senior communities for 26 years! Singing, dancing and comedy. So let’s just say I have no problem filling up an hour with entertainment after that performing bootcamp. I also love that the festival circuit has just exploded. My new show has some dance legs and I plan to waltz with it from L.A. to New York to Edinburgh.
In the past year, I worked as an actor on over 20 vertical micro dramas, and while I love going it solo, it made me realize how much I love being part of a cast. An on-set family is such a fabulous experience. Except when it’s over, you feel like you just finished summer camp and have to wait now to go on location. That’s why we all take a billion BTS selfies.
But going solo is something I recommend to anyone thinking about it. It’s like an extreme sport. You come out on the other side, stronger, deeper and ready to leap into the next one.
How did this story come to you and why did you have to share it?
It started off being a TikTok series. I happened to see some videos on Instagram, people who jump into their bed and then edit it so they emerge into an infinity pool. How clever, inviting and tempting and somewhat pretentious. I realized if I dove into my bed, I would end up jumping into my apartment pool, heated only from May to August. It made me laugh, and then it developed into the whole concept of the wanderlust syndrome. I went right from the Pandemic years into caretaking my mom. However, I had not been on a vacation in many years before that. They are all work vacays, which are super fabulous, but I only got as far as Las Vegas and Bakersfield. I started doing research on why vacations are so important for mental health, and as my mother’s Alzheimer’s condition became worse, I found myself wanting to make sure I told her story. As her reality became more and more alternative, I started writing down our conversations, her recollections about my childhood, her childhood. I found an article about my second birthday in our local paper, pitched to the editor by my mom, the first social media influencer, so now that is a whole piece in the show.
You have been a performer for many years. What still keeps you wanting more?
Always wanting to grow. So fun and challenging to learn a new dialect, mastering the keyboard, learning a new skill. And working on a character as a cat. Zoey, my finicky feline, says she doesn’t believe me yet. This is certainly the most ambitious show I have ever done. I’ve done shows with multiple characters, but none in which they all start talking to each other. And they love to talk. Which has really honed my editing skills. I have never experienced writer’s block. The editing block has frustrated me for many long nights. My director is particularly skilled at this, and I have learned so much from him. I can’t wait to apply my new ability, the art and practicality of putting all those funny brilliant lines in an extra file for later, to my comedy pilots like Our Lady of Hollywood and Vine, which I am adapting into vertical mini-comics.
How did you and Terry John Barto decide to work together on this show?
I asked him! I pitched him since I knew that with his background and expertise as both choreographer and director, he could really take my show to the next level. We go waaay back. We were a part of a West Coast version of “Up With People” the Great American Entertainment Company, founded by Disney Legends Award recipient Robert F. Jani. This was a group of singers, dancers, and musicians who appeared in industrial shows nationwide and on television. The theme of my show resonated with Terry because he had also been his mom and dad’s caregiver and he loves to travel. We saw the potential of this piece healing us as well as so many people who have experienced or will take on the role of parent to one’s parent. My hope is that I can share our stories, laugh, reminisce, release our guilt and celebrate how we all stepped into this right of passage and often did one heck of a good job.
What have been some of the best and worst of times working on this show?
The best times are those, “I think that is our best work,” lightbulb going off, being on the same page, shaping the evolution of the show.
The worst?
I wouldn’t say worst, but it’s frustrating just wanting more time. I think because it is a world premiere, you want every moment to be perfect and theatre needs to take shape in its own time. It has a life of its own, the creators have their lives, and art and lives come together and make an incredible night of theatre.
Is there something you would like to tell us about the show before we see it?
The walking/talking stick so important because the show starts and ends with being a part of an accountability group. Living up to promises and realizing what is and what is not in your control.
I can hardly wait to see Hashtag What I did on My Summer Fake-Cation this weekend!
When:
March 6 at 8pm
Where:
The Whitefire Theatre
13500 Ventura Ave, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
Tickets:
Available at the door.