Month: November 2020

Last chance to see MainStage’s clever, touching: At Wit’s End

 

Back in the day, Erma Bombeck was one of America’s most celebrated humorists, and continues to be. Going from a contributor in a local newspaper, to widely syndicated columnist, to author of numerous books, Bombeck brought her wry wisdom to the challenges of motherhood. It’s hard to say if American culture has ever been especially enlightened when it comes to the demands of maintaining a household. The chaos of getting the kids ready for school, making their lunches, cooking breakfast for everybody, cleaning house, giving a deceased guppy a proper funeral, staying vigilant with a sick child, making sure your husband’s properly dressed, to name just a few. Bombeck was a prime example of playing to one’s strengths. She was ironic, but never cynical. She was strong, but not brittle or deprecating. She was savvy but always mixed her insights with warmth and humor. She could let you know that new shirt wasn’t working for you, but make you laugh at the same time.

I must confess, I was dubious at the notion of a “one-woman show” on the life of Erma Bombeck. It would be so easy to string together her wisecracks and witticisms, without much substance to support it. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Allison and Margaret Engel have crafted a rich, absorbing, often poignant theatrical piece, tracing Bombeck’s personal history from tap-dancing at the age of four, to the autumnal years of her marriage to Bill. And the Engels never push for those deeply touching moments. Though Bombeck “tempers” even the most painful episodes with sardonic (albeit grounded) observations, they get to us. I was really overcome by Bombeck’s pervasive humanity. Her gift for embracing the best aspects of just living in the world. I don’t want to give too much away, but I found myself continuously astonished by the incredibly varied and emotional experiences that enriched Bombeck’s life.

Under the meticulous, intuitive direction of Michael Serrecchia, Ellen Locy turns in a brilliant performance. She has Bombeck’s vocal inflections, demeanor, and comportment spot on, and manages the task of being the sole performer without a hitch. She’s poised, nuanced, frank and delightful to watch. I believe that if you streamed this show, without knowing a single detail of Erma Bombeck’s life, you’d still be captivated. There’s the merriment and sharp insights, of course. But there’s also the grace, the affection, the bravery, the ethical imperative, concealed by her self-deprecation.

Don’t miss this healing, heartening experience.

Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End, streams from MainStage Irving- Las Colinas until November 21st. www.irvingtheatre.org (972) 594-6104 info@irvingtheatre.org

Get tickets at https://bit.ly/MainStageErmaBombeck

Last chance to see MainStage’s clever, big-hearted At Wit’s End

Back in the day, Erma Bombeck was one of America’s most celebrated humorists, and continues to be. Going from a contributor in a local newspaper, to widely syndicated columnist, to author of numerous books, Bombeck brought her wry wisdom to the challenges of motherhood. It’s hard to say if American culture has ever been especially enlightened when it comes to the demands of maintaining a household. The chaos of getting the kids ready for school, making their lunches, cooking breakfast for everybody, cleaning house, giving a deceased guppy a proper funeral, staying vigilant with a sick child, making sure your husband’s properly dressed, to name just a few. Bombeck was a prime example of playing to one’s strengths. She was ironic, but never cynical. She was strong, but not brittle or deprecating. She was savvy but always mixed her insights with warmth and humor. She could let you know that new shirt wasn’t working for you, but make you laugh at the same time.

I must confess, I was dubious at the notion of a “one-woman show” on the life of Erma Bombeck. It would be so easy to string together her wisecracks and witticisms, without much substance to support it. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Allison and Margaret Engel have crafted a rich, absorbing, often poignant theatrical piece, tracing Bombeck’s personal history from tap-dancing at the age of four, to the autumnal years of her marriage to Bill. And the Engels never push for those deeply touching moments. Though Bombeck “tempers” even the most painful episodes with sardonic (albeit grounded) observations, they get to us. I was really overcome by Bombeck’s pervasive humanity. Her gift for embracing the best aspects of just living in the world. I don’t want to give too much away, but I found myself continuously astonished by the incredibly varied and emotional experiences that enriched Bombeck’s life.

Under the meticulous, intuitive direction of Michael Serrecchia, Ellen Locy turns in a brilliant performance. She has Bombeck’s vocal inflections, demeanor, and comportment spot on, and manages the task of being the sole performer without a hitch. She’s poised, nuanced, frank and delightful to watch. I believe that if you streamed this show, without knowing a single detail of Erma Bombeck’s life, you’d still be captivated. There’s the merriment and sharp insights, of course. But there’s also the grace, the affection, the bravery, the ethical imperative, concealed by her self-deprecation.

Don’t miss this healing, heartening experience.

Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End, streams from MainStage Irving- Las Colinas until November 21st. www.irvingtheatre.org (972) 594-6104 info@irvingtheatre.org

Get tickets at https://bit.ly/MainStageErmaBombeck

Last chance to see DGDG’s frantic, wry Bippy Bobby Boo Show

 

A collaboration between Danielle Georgiou and Justin Locklear, The Bippy Bobby Boo Show: Call-In Special is a mashup spoof of pop and trash culture television that owes a great debt to Laugh In, What We Do in the Shadows, and the kind of variety shows (Dean Martin, Carol Burnett, Sony and Cher Comedy Hour) that featured solos by singers with great pipes and gobs of gravitas. There is a medium, a self-absorbed chanteuse, a stage manager, a stand-up comic, go-go dancers in bell bottoms and so forth. Georgiou’s choreography is varied and energetic, whether it’s the stylized, nonchalance of the 70’s or the wobbly convulsions of zombies.

At the beginning I thought that Bippy was on a nostalgia bender until I realized that all the characters are ghosts. It’s probably both. Except Nick, who longs to join their realm. He makes a pact with the Devil, manifested by a creepy, squeaky, bilious red puppet. The Call-In guests (I tried a couple of times myself) add another layer to this exploration of campiness, tongue-in-cheek irony, and a sort of tacit resignation. Much is revved up or vamped, with only the occasional hint at subtext. There seems to be a kind of mania informing most of the pieces, except for the lugubrious divas, torchy and turgid.

Bippy trades in grotesque, nearly vaudevillian content, some kinds of performance effectively being their own derision. At the same time it pays tribute to the tropes and icons of bourgeois entertainment, it diminishes it. You watch, convinced it cannot possibly be on the level, and yet it is. It was only years after I’d watched Green Acres that a friend explained it was the genius of mainstream absurdism. Bippy certainly pays dubious tribute to the frantic energy of a host like Bippy Bobby, who keeps the gags rolling with insipid gusto. Here and there (true to the old adage) throwaway sotto voce comments reveal his contempt for the audience.

The Bippy Bobby Boo Show is a triumph of style, ingenuity, tone and savvy. It works very well on its face, but the unspoken despair, the longing for us to evolve as a culture, to let go of empty values, also comes through. Georgiou and Locklear have created a strange and complicated, yet quite satisfying critique of loopy, congealed content that panders to mindless kitsch. Like Shakespeare it’s got something for everyone, whether you’re in the front row, or the nosebleeds.

Danielle Georgiou Dance Group and Theatre Three present: The Bippy Bobby Boo Show: Call-In Special. Last chance to see Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020: Election Night! Tickets are $15 and are available for purchase at www.Theatre3Dallas.com