NYC THEATER-ONE PERSON PERFORMANCES

NIGHT WATCHER WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY CHARLAYNE WOODARD

Charlayne Woodard is back in NYC performing for Primary Stages at 59 East 59 Theaters in the newest work that she has written called The Night Watcher. She is not only one of the better writers around but each time I see her perform, I wonder why she's not a bigger star. I've seen her before in one person shows but the play she was in before this current play was titled Stunning and she was the standout actor in that group ensemble. The Night Watcher tells the story about not having children of her own and relationships to the children in her life whether they are relatives or children of friends and acquaintances. Portraying the many characters in the play, Woodard gives a riveting performance. Daniel Sullivan's direction was highly praised by serious theater professional friends of mine. The lovely acting and beautiful writing of The Night Watcher puts Woodard at the top of her game and I look forward to everything she is involved in.

JUDITH IVEY IN THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS

Judith Ivey is portraying Ann Landers, who for many years wrote an advice column, in a play called The Lady With All The Answers at the Cherry Lane Theater. Landers real name was Eppie Lederer and she wrote a syndicated column for almost half a century. In this column, she dispensed wisdom about love, marriage, sex and every possible issue that she was contacted about. Lederer died in 2002 at the age of 83 and the column had been read by 90 million people at the height of her popularity. She had a twin sister who wrote the Dear Abby column and there was quite a rivalry between the two. Ivey, a two time Tony award winner, has been the quintessential actor model for most actors for such a long time and this one person performance is no exception. Drawn from Landers life and from letters, the play is both funny and touching. She has gotten the part down to every last detail, wardrobe, hairstyle, voice, Chicago intonation and manner of speech. It's a fascinating story of someone we al

l knew something about but the details that Ivey describes gives us a much closer view. The writer of the work, David Rambo, did an excellent job as a wordsmith of extreme ability. The dialogue was clever and at the same time had the homey style that Landers used when she spoke and wrote her columns. A very stunning set was created by designer Neil Patel, depicting the residence that Landers/Lederer lived in Chicago. Terrific music of the period was a lovely addition to the performance.

DAME EDNA

Dame Edna is scheduled to return to Broadway once more. Australia is sending us another one of their prime theatrical exports, following in the footsteps of other Australian megastars like Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. We owe a big thanks to the land down under for again sending Dame Edna who is played by Barry Humphries. The act started in Australia in the 1970's and after much success, went on to Great Britain, doing London stage shows such as "Housewife Superstar" and "A Night with Dame Edna". Spanning every conceivable entertainment medium, from theater to television to books, the many incarnations of Dame Edna have received numerous awards, and rightfully so.

During the performances that I've seen in the past, one gets the feeling that Edna might just be that widow that she is portraying. Though loving and comforting in her intentions, Dame Edna is really a crack up, through and through. She integrates references about her children into her monologue of neuroses, specifically about one child, possibly a homosexual, who she calls a "bigshot," with a "monster" for a wife. Edna butts into other people’s business, engaging audience members into participatory counseling sessions in an attempt to reconcile a possibly sparring couple while they are brought on stage. She even engages an elderly person or two to play rappers and, again, the result is unstoppable laughter. The act consists of mostly adlibbing, relying greatly on the complexity of the audience. The prewritten jokes are perfect and the delivery and timing couldn't be better. Clever songs and the four synchronized dancers keep the show running smoothly, and the canned music is surprisingly quite good. Of course the show stopper is Dame Edna’s most elaborate gown, fur, ridiculous eyeglasses, lavender hair and gaudy glitter. Dame Edna obviously wants to be loved by the audience, and her signature gesture of throwing gladioluses to the audience, not to mention her affectionate calling everyone she encounters a "possum", keeps the performance running on humor for all two hours and twenty minutes.

MARIO CANTONE
Mario Cantone now of Sex and the City television fame, did a one man show called "Laugh Whore" where he puts on a performance that is one of the funniest comedic performances I've ever seen. The show opened to rave reviews and rightfully so. Cantone could be called the man of extraordinary talents. He includes flawless impersonations, top-notch singing and dancing, hysterical comedy and excellent repartee. It all makes for a riotously funny performance. The singing ranges from torch songs to really dead-on renditions of acts, such Cantone doing Shirley Bassey singing, "This is my Life." He also does turns on Cher, Tina Turner, Katherine Hepburn and Sammy Davis Jr. In doing Carol Channing, Cantone recalls the recent television awards show where Carol is paired with a famous rap star. Carol famously asks, "rap, like the Christmas department in Bloomingdales?" bringing the audience to their knees in laughter. Refering to the Broadway hit "Cats", Cantone expresses his disdain for the show and asks, "what is a Jellico cat anyway?" Funnier still, he requests that a "straight" man from the audience come on stage and join him. He then proceeds to serenade this volunteer in a campy scene of mock seduction, which is one of his best routines.

Hilarious tales about his very close family relationships are revealed: the audience is brought up to speed on his analysis of his various family conundrums, which we can all relate to, having family members who are similar and with whom we've all experienced like situations. Luckily, his take on them makes it all appear so much funnier. This performance is very polished, despite seeming like a free association routine. The excellent musical numbers are written by Cantone, along with Jerry Dixon and Harold Lubin. The music is performed by a live band and the entire production was masterfully directed by Joe Mantello.