Alicia Ybarra | Courtesy The Methane sisters, Monessa Esquivel and Annele Spector, must have caught reunion fever from Van Halen.

Though it took some extra scrambling and fundraising, not to mention a couple of floated kegs, things are about to get filthy at the Jump Start Performance Co.

Having raised enough money to put on “As Filthy As It Gets” for the third time since June 2006, co-stars Annele Spector and Monessa Esquivel will take the stage again on Friday, Jan. 11. The show, detailing the lives of burned-out punk rock duo The Methane Sisters, runs on Fridays and Saturdays through Jan. 26.

“The benefit was great,” Spector said of a September party, aptly titled “Filthy F*&#in' Fest,” which featured whipped cream wrestling and a performance from the band. “I was surprised we floated two kegs. I said we should have gotten three. Bummer, but it was really fun.”

That benefit helped raise the necessary funds to put on “As Filthy As It Gets.”

Not that those in attendance can expect the same old routine.

“This time we're excited because we're doing special late-night shows,” Spector said of a pair of 11 p.m. shows, slated for Jan. 12 and 19. “That will be crazy. We're thinking we'll perform a little extra music and have it actually more like a concert at the end of the show.”

As for the storyline, “As It Filthy As It Gets” centers on the disbanding and subsequent resurrection of The Methane Sisters. The show begins with the band performing at a club and segues into to the subsequent breakup after that show. The story then jumps forward 20 years, when the band's former record label tries to get the foul-mouthed Methane Sisters geared up for a reunion tour.

Spector and Esquivel came up with the two profane characters while on a work retreat almost five years ago.

“We did a mini-performance with what we came up with at the end of the day,” Spector said. “Everybody went crazy, like, ‘Who are these characters, and what are we going to do with them?'

We started building on that idea.”

The duo has since built a following around San Antonio, thanks in part to its rather brash show.
“It's going to be even filthier than last year,” Esquivel said. “Sometimes, it's OK to say what you need to say and not be afraid of people. Some people have enjoyed that we're open and raw with our language and acting, and everything has just caught on.”

“The idea is just to be outrageous and make people laugh, to see what we can get away with,” Spector added.

So what exactly can the duo get away with?

“Apparently,” Spector said, “everything.”

CLINT HALE | 210SA