Cooper: Queen Tamalalia

For almost ten years now, Tamarie Cooper has treated Houston audiences to the nutty particulars of her imagination. Dancing pieces of bacon, singing cockroaches and rented yellow school buses all have taken center stage in Tamalalia, her annual revue that guides the lucky few through the twists and turns of her dreams, fears, love life and just about everything else.

"The shows are an exaggerated comic version of myself," Cooper says.

Her life certainly has provided fodder for her stage show. Her parents were hippies, as a child she crisscrossed the country, and her father abandoned her. She attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and met the cast of characters that would help her produce the first Tamalalia in 1996.

The group, many of whom later joined Infernal Bridegroom Productions, rescued a slice of the local theater scene from the blue-hairs, to the utter delight of hipsters. Houston hasn't been the same since.

But all good things come to an end. Tamalalia 10 will be the last of the sequels.

"Relax. It's okay. I want to end on a high note," Cooper says. "I don't want to be doing Tamalalia 27 in some lounge somewhere."