Barrymore Award winner Joilet Harris, of Germantown, is currently starring in “Broads” at Plays and Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey St., until Feb. 24. Here she is seen in an earlier production of “Cinderella” at People’s Light and Theatre Company in Malvern.[/caption]

by Len Lear

In the Philadelphia theater community, Joilet Harris is regarded as a superstar. Harris is big, bold and brassy. Her personality takes up the entire stage, and her oversized talent has never been more clearly on display than in “Broads,” a hilarious comedy revue now playing at Plays and Players Theatre, 1714 Delancey St. in center city until Feb. 24.

“Broads” is a valentine to the great in-your-face, risqué female performers of generations ago, both black and white, who refused to take a back seat to the men — divas like Sophie Tucker, Mae West, Pearl Williams, Moms Mabley, Ida Cox, Belle Barth, Rusty Warren, Bessie Smith, et al.

If it were not for these gutsy pioneers, who all had to struggle relentlessly with male chauvinism, there might not be any Sarah Silverman, Bette Midler, Joan Rivers, Margaret Cho, Whoopi Goldberg and other audacious, take-no-prisoners female “broads” of the modern era.

Three terrific Philadelphia performers — Jess Conda, Joilet Harris and Mary Elizabeth Scallen — recreate some of the jokes, anecdotes and songs that made these giants of generations ago such feminist icons. I cannot remember an audience laughing so much as the one at “Broads.” Harris’ performance is unforgettable.

There is no intermission, and the play flies by in about 100 minutes. As far as I am concerned, it could have been a lot longer because it was so entertaining. Many of the songs and jokes cannot be repeated in a family newspaper. One of the mildest was attributed to Mae West: “That broad has been in more laps than a napkin.”

A few others by Mae that are printable: “Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.” “Good sex is like good bridge. If you don’t have a good partner, you’d better have a good hand.” “I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.” “Good girls go to heaven; bad girls go everywhere.”

According to Jennifer Childs, the show’s curator and director and a great improvisational performer in her own right, while choosing material for the show, “a theme that quickly became apparent was ‘being unafraid.’ These women were telling stories that … were, however outrageous, true — and they were risking career and reputation to do it.”

Joilet Harris, 60, who grew up in Germantown and went to Germantown High School, considers herself a “real Germantown girl” who “was in student government thinking I was going to go into politics ‘cause I have a lot of mouth. Then I said, ‘No, that’s not my calling,’ and I did the corporate world thing.”

Harris told us in an earlier interview that she was inspired to become a singer and actress even before high school. “At Pickett Middle School I met John Lamb, who was one of Duke Ellington’s bass players, and he took me under his wing. There was also Maryanne Lancaster Tyler, sister of famous jazz musician Bayard Lancaster, who also took me under her wing. So my singing was encouraged early on.”

Harris’ family kept pushing her to go to law school, but that just wasn’t for her. Instead, one day in 1981 when her cousin let her know that Freedom Theatre was conducting auditions, Harris decided to walk out on the high wire. She got a role in “The Gospelers” in 1982, and so began a successful career that’s lasted 37 years.

For the first 10 years, Harris worked a full-time day job while performing nights and weekends, but she then quit the day job. “I took a leap of faith. I said ‘OK, I’m tired of lying and saying I’m home sick when I was in New York at auditions.’ There were a couple of opportunities that came my way that I couldn’t take because I had a 9 to 5. I finally said ‘Well, Lord, if you’ll carry me, I’ll go.’ And so I did.”

Over the years, Harris’ talents have been rewarded with a Barrymore Award for “Caroline or Change.” She’s also been seen on TV in such productions as the HBO series “The Wire,“ “Law and Order SVU,” “Hack” and “Do No Harm,” and in movies such as “Rocky V,” “Beloved,” “12 Monkeys,” “Maximum Risk” and others.

“Some people look at success as being on Broadway or on the big screen,” Harris said, “but I feel as though when you can feed your family and lead a life that’s comfortable and happy, you are a success.”

Rita Charleston contributed to this article. For ticket information to “Broads,” call 215-592-9560 or visit 1812productions.org