A cotton-candy colored, non-stop musical featur-
ing your favorite songs from the '50s & '60s!
JET: Allergist's Wife
Ronelle Grier
Special to the Jewish News
T
performances befitting their respec-
tive characters; Powers' portrayal of
Ira seems bland in comparison but
appropriate to his role as the dedicated
doctor, husband and son-in-law. Scott
Norman, as the doorman Mohammed,
offers both comic relief and insight
into Lee's real motives. As the play's
title suggests though, this is Marjorie's
story, and the other characters exist
to facilitate and reflect her personal
journey from breakdown to
break even.
Christopher Bremer's
direction keeps the play
moving at a good pace,
and the female characters are powerful
without being overpowering. Costume
Designer Leah Karper does an excel-
lent job of depicting Marjorie's emo-
tional transformation as she goes from
dumpy to designer chic, from bathrobe
to bright colors and stylish ensembles.
All seven scenes, four in the first
act and three in the second, take
place in the single set designed by
Monica Essen: the Taub's elegant New
he Tale of the Allergist's Wife
by Charles Busch combines
comedy, drama, social com-
mentary and psychological explora-
tion — and the result is both enter-
taining and thought provoking.
The play, currently at the Jewish
Ensemble Theatre at the JCC in West
Bl000mfield, begins in the
upscale Manhattan co-op
apartment of Marjorie
Taub and her husband,
Ira, who is, you guessed
it, an allergist. When the play opens,
Marjorie, played with grace and
style by Kate Willinger Manfredi, is
ensconced on her plush white sofa,
wrapped in a bathrobe and a constant
state of malaise brought on by the
death of her therapist a few months
earlier. There's reference to a recent
breakage spree involving figurines at
the local Disney store and a stay in a
facility that sounds suspiciously like a
psychiatric ward.
Her devoted, but worka-
holic husband, played by Phil
Powers, can't motivate Marjorie
to resume her former life — of
mainly visiting museum exhib-
its and attending lectures on
obscure intellectual topics.
Marjorie's situation is made
worse by her mother, Frieda,
played by Henrietta Hermelin
Weinberg. Frieda, who lives
down the hall, is the Jewish-
mother-from-hell, complete
with the requisite walker and
plastic bag of suppositories.
Henrietta Hermelin Weinberg, Kate Willinger
She manages to be at once
Manfredi and Phil Powers in The Allergist's Wife
both condescending and con-
stipated, criticizing her daugh-
York apartment furnished in white
ter in between frequent and detailed
modern with accents of fuchsia and
accounts of her latest gastrointestinal
other brightly colored accessories.
adventures.
Sound and lighting designers Patrick
Marjorie is brought back to life by
Field and Curtis Green, respectively,
the serendipitous arrival of a childhood
do an effective job of scene changing
friend, Lee Green, played by Lynnae
through
the use of darkness and a fit-
Lehfeldt. Lee, who changed her name
ting
variety
of musical snippets.
from Lillian Greenblatt, regales Marjorie
The
third
play
in JET'S 2009-10 sea-
with an endless supply of stories about
The
Allergist's
Wife tells a tale that
son,
her colorful and glamorous past, filled
is
both
cautionary
and
comical. ❑
with world travels and liaisons with
famous people. Soon Marjorie and her
The Tale of the Allergist's Wife
newly discovered old friend are enjoy-
runs
through Feb. 21 at the
ing the cultural offerings of New York
Jewish
Community Center in
together, until Ira and Frieda begin to
West
Bloomfield.
For show times
suspect that Lee Green may be more
and
tickets,
call
(248)
788-2900
malevolent than benevolent.
.
or
go
to
www.jettheatre.org
The three female actors give strong
REVIEW
'One irresistable musical! An utter charm!'
,
The New Yolk Times
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February 4 • 2010
35