The People In The Picture

[edjames]

Caught an early preview performance of "The People In The Picture" starring Donna Murphy last night at Studio54. A musical based on the Holocaust? Oye Vey! Donna plays an elderly Jewish woman, a former star of Polish Yiddish theater, who lives with her daughter and young granddaughter in NYC 1977 and is going through early onset Alzheimer's. She has constant delusional moments about her tragic life in Poland during WW2. Donna affects a heavy Jewish accent throughout and wears a gray wig. Not a glam role. Written by Iris Rainer Dart, who wrote the movie Beaches, with music my the famous Mike Stoller (Yakety Yak, Stand By Me, Is That All There Is?) this is no Fiddler On The Roof. A sentimental and sad ending had the ladies in the audience with tears in their eyes. I was a bit relieved that it was finished, and by the end was a bit bored of the old Yiddish jokes.. Of note, actors, Lewis J. Stadlen and Chip Zein make the most of their supporting roles as actors in the Yiddish theater company. The Playbill neglected to include a primer on Yiddish words and phrases which flew back and forth that I think the audience missed most of the references. There are even a couple of tunes in Yiddish. Not even all The Nanny reruns prepared me for this immersion into Yiddish. I don't think Book of Mormon or Catch Me If You can have any worries about this show being in competition for the Tony's. It will be interesting to see the reviews.

 

Ed