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STORYTELLING A CAPPELLA >> JUST DESSERTS
WENCH IN YOUR PLAN
Just Desserts W RIT TE N BY R A MON PE N A
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n the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire of 2011, Crissy Hensley was a volunteer, dressed in full medieval attire. On a rainy day, under a large tent where many performers were huddled to stay dry, she said somewhat sarcastically to Toni Finley, maybe better known as Cupcake, “You should start a singing wench group.” Finley responded, also somewhat sarcastically, “OK. You want to be in it?” After a night out with the wenches and a fated karaoke audition for Hensley, she was happily accepted into the group of wenches, and took the role of Cherri Tart, the youngest and most innocent with a tendency to end her sentences in question marks. Just Desserts isn’t just sweet. It’s lively, comedic and full of double entendres. As wenches — a term to which they take no offense — their songs are, Finley said, funny and kind of sexy, but with no explicit language; mostly metaphors. Gayle Shlafer (AKA Tira McSu), and Shay Smith (AKA Ginger Snap) knew each other since 1996 when they were part of the Gainesville Thieves Guilde. In what was to be a fateful audition for Brigadoon at the Gainesville Community Playhouse in 1997, Shlafer, Smith and Finley all auditioned. Shlafer won out over
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OUR TOWN MAGAZINE
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015
Finley for the role of Fiona MacLaren. They don’t consider themselves a band, but rather a comedy act that sings. Crowd interaction is a must in every performance. Very often during the songs, they will stop to make jokes at each other’s or the crowd’s expense. Finley said that a lot of what they do is off-the-cuff, but mostly it’s hard to tell what is improvised or not. As ‘tavern wenches,’ the group closely resembles its on-stage persona in real life. They jest among themselves and are each easily found as the life of the party. And just as it would seem on stage, the group is extremely close-knit. Still, the group keeps strong ties to the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire, where the origins of their characters and Just Desserts lie. “It really is a big family and you only see each other once a year, so it’s really meaningful,” Hensley said. They admit that they owe some of their success to the Gainesville performing and music scene, as well. Although there is still competition, performers and artists are more willing to help each other out. “It’s not a competition,” Finley said, “it’s ‘a rising tide lifts all boats.’” A phrase they have adopted and still widely use is, “Because Gainesville.” PHOTOGRAPHY: ALLEN FINLEY PHOTOGRAPHY