Franchesca Page

1998 Comedy | Musical

In this campy musical parody, Franchesca Page (Franchesca Leon), an aspiring singer and dancer with stars in her eyes and no discernable talent, scores a role in the upcoming disco stage extravaganza The Lady Does It All! as understudy to the leading lady. When the star unexpectedly dies, Franchesca is suddenly put front and center, where she proves woefully inadequate to the task before her, leading some to suggest her casting was an effort by the producers to deliberately sabotage their own show. However, help is on the way in the form of Franchesca's nagging stage mother, Rita Page (Varla Jean Merman), a former Vegas showgirl looking for one more moment in the spotlight. Varla Jean Merman is the creation of drag artist Jeff Roberson, who describes his character as the illegitimate child of Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine.~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide