Love, Loss, and What I Wore
Encyclopedia
Love, Loss, and What I Wore is a play written by Nora
and Delia Ephron
based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman. It is organized as a series of monologues and uses a rotating cast of five principal women. The subject matter of the monologues includes women's relationships and wardrobes and at times the interaction of the two, using the female wardrobe as a time capsule of a woman's life.
The show was initially presented as a part of the 2008 summer series at Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York
, and then as a benefit series at the DR2 Theatre in New York in early 2009. Later the same year, the show was produced Off-Broadway
as an ongoing commercial theatrical production at the Westside Theatre
in New York, where it continues to run as the second-longest running show in the theatre's history. The production and its cast received positive critical attention. The production won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience
as well as the 2010 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play.
The show has been produced on six continents and more than eight countries. It began a national tour in the United States in September 2011 in Chicago. It is making an encore performance in Paris in January 2012.
is a writer, director and producer best known for writing the screenplays of romantic comedy
films. She has received three Academy Award nominations for Original Screenplay, for Silkwood
(1983), When Harry Met Sally...
(1989) and Sleepless in Seattle
(1993). She has also written five best-selling books, and she wrote the 2002 play Imaginary Friends
, which fictionalizes the antagonistic relationship between Lillian Hellman
and Mary McCarthy
. Ephron sometimes co-authors screenplays with her sister, writer-producer Delia Ephron
, including You've Got Mail
(1998), Hanging Up
(2000) and Bewitched (2005).
Nora Ephron wrote the introduction to Beckerman's eponymous 1995 book, which she immediately thought had dramatic possibilities. She identified with the stories in Love, Loss, and What I Wore because the book "is not about fashion; it is about what clothes really are to us, those moments when we are constantly trying to find our identity through them". Soon after its publication, Ephron gave the book to eight of her friends for Christmas. She became interested in writing her own version of the book. Once she decided to adapt Love, Loss, and What I Wore into a play, she and her sister emailed 100 women for stories.
The show's monologues are sourced largely from Beckerman's book. The Ephrons wove together a collection of stories adapted from the book with recollections of friends, including Rosie O'Donnell
. One of the monologues that became a highlight of the original production was based on Nora Ephron's 2006 best-seller
I Feel Bad About My Neck
.
In addition to Gingy, one character serves as the vixen, another plays a vulnerable gang member from Chicago, a third portrays a brave cancer patient, and the last serves as a mature woman pierced by vivid memories. One of these characters, named Heather, chooses conservative "think" shoes over high heels in her youth, but at a later stage in life shows a preference for high heels. The gang member likes insignias that are prominent on sweaters and their creator. Among the 28 stories, other notable tales include one about the influence of Madonna
(with discourse including "Any American woman under 40 who says she's never dressed as Madonna is either lying or Amish
."); one about dressing room anxiety (a story revolving around the concept that "I’m an 8. I’ve always been an 8"); and one about your mother's tastes in clothes ("I don’t understand, you could look so good if you tried"). Three of the characters sometimes work as a trio and all characters have monologues.
The Los Angeles Times
spent a full paragraph on a vignette
about two high school prom dresses. The junior prom dress was a conservative powder blue gown to wear with a nerdy date. The senior prom dress was a sexy black mini dress that was befitting of her more desirable date. The dresses presented an identity crisis to one character: "Here's the thing — I’ve never really known for sure which of those two people I am — the girl who almost doesn’t get asked to the prom at all or the girl who gets to go with the really cute guy. Every time I thought I knew which one I was, I turned out to be the other. Which is one reason I think I got married, to, like, end the confusion."
The New York Times
presented three stories that it felt were particularly emotional: the first was about a woman who removed miniskirt
s from her college wardrobe after being raped, but continued wearing her favorite boots; another was about wedding attire anxieties; and the third was about the choice of adorning a newly-reconstructed breast with a tattoo. In addition to these three stories, the same article also noted a humorous ode to black as a part of a wardrobe or in fact as a wardrobe, when one character notes: "Sometimes I buy something that isn’t black, and I put it on and I am so sorry".
Other stories include recollections about the dress purchased for the date with a guy who subsequently married someone else; the foibles of spandex
bras that result in a look known as the monoboob; issues involving toe cleavage; the Juicy Couture
tracksuit that is a prominent staple of California wardrobes; wardrobe choice on the wrong day of the month; and the story about an incarcerated lover and the strategic hole in a certain pair of pants.
, Karyn Quakenbush, Leslie Kritzer
, Kathy Najimy
, and Sara Chase
. Then, Daryl Roth produced the play in the 2008–09 Monday night benefit series of performances for Dress for Success, which is a charity organization that serves low-income women by enabling them to afford work clothing and providing job support, under the direction of Karen Carpenter. The set of six Monday night readings were held from February 2 – March 9, 2009 at the Off-off-Broadway DR2 Theatre. The first cast at DR2 Theatre was Marian Seldes
, Joy Behar
, Katie Finneran
, Heather Burns
and Lucy DeVito
. Other participants in the original readings included Tyne Daly
(who created the narrator character, Gingy, for the New York Production), Rosie O’Donnell, Samantha Bee
, Rondi Reed
, America Ferrera
, Debi Mazar
, Marlo Thomas
, Blythe Danner
, Christine Lahti
, Parker Posey
, Julie White
, Kelly Bishop
, Sarah Jones, Veanne Cox
and Kristen Wiig
.
. The cast originally included Daly, O'Donnell, Bee, Katie Finneran
and Natasha Lyonne
. The rotating cast also included Mary Birdsong
, Kristin Chenoweth
, Lucy DeVito, Jane Lynch
, Rhea Perlman, Mary Louise Wilson
and Rita Wilson
. Chenoweth was replaced in the last of the initial three 4-week runs by Finneran. The production benefited Dress for Success. Karen Carpenter directed, with scenic design
by Jo Winiarski, costume design
by Jessica Jahn, lighting design by Jeff Croiter, sound design
by Walter Trarbach and make-up design by Maria Verel. Daryl Roth was the producer and Alexander Fraser was the co-producer. The production was staged with the five women seated, all dressed in black, at the lip of the stage, consulting scripts on music stand
s as needed. The first seven performances had seven different casts.
The production has continued at the Westside Theatre with an open-ended commercial run with the casting strategy of rotating 4-week casts because it enables the production to pursue higher caliber actors. Nora Ephron stated at one question and answer session: "We keep re-casting it so we can get really great actresses to come for four weeks. It is really hard to get really good people to work Off-Broadway for six months because it does not pay much, but you can get them for four weeks." Other well-known actresses who have performed in the Off-Broadway production include the following: Carol Kane
, Debra Monk
, Janeane Garofalo
, Fran Drescher
, Melissa Joan Hart
, Brooke Shields
, Victoria Clark
, Tovah Feldshuh
, Loretta Swit
, Mary Testa
, Nikki Blonsky, Donna McKecknie, B. Smith
and Marla Maples
. , it was the second-longest running show in the history of Westside Theatre.
The show won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience
as well as the 2010 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play. Daly and O'Donnell were nominated for 2010 Drama League Award
s for Distinguished Performance. Tara Rubin, Merri Sugarman, Eric Woodall, and Lauran Schtuzel were nominated for the 2010 Casting Society of America
Artios Awards for NY Off-Broadway Comedy/Musical Excellence in Casting. the show had plans to continue its Off-Broadway run through the December 11, 2011, according to the casting schedule on its official website. The ongoing Off-Broadway production continues to sponsor Dress for Success.
in Los Angeles. The Geffen production ran from May 12, 2010 to November 19, 2010, breaking box office records. The Geffen casts also rotated. Well-known actresses there included Kane, DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Nancy Travis
, Daly, Bonnie Franklin
, Meredith Baxter
, Florence Henderson
, Marissa Jaret Winokur
, María Conchita Alonso
, Christine Lahti
, Lauren Hutton
, Teri Garr
, Mimi Rogers
and Sally Struthers
. Most of the initial Geffen cast had performed in the Off-Broadway run. At the Geffen Playhouse, the show was directed by Jenny Sullivan
. Kane played the role of Gingy when it debuted in Los Angeles.
By the end of 2010, the play had been staged in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Buenos Aires, Australia (at the Sydney Opera House
), France, South Africa, and Manila
, Philippines and was scheduled to appear in Mexico, Brazil, Germany and Scandinavia. It played in Sydney from January 3 – 30, 2011 with an opening cast of Natalie Bassingthwaighte
, Judi Farr
, Amanda Muggleton
, Magda Szubanski
and Mirrah Foulkes
under the direction of Wayne Harrison
with some minor modifications to localize some of the Americanisms. It made its Asian Premier in Manila from July 14 – 17, 2011 at RCBC Plaza
with a cast that included Bituin Escalante
and was directed by Michael Williams and Azanza-Dy. Carpenter directed the international production, which was produced by Roth. In South Africa, the show was performed from April 8 – June 12, 2011 at Studio Theatre, Montecasino near Johannesburg
and at the Theatre on the Bay in Cape Town
from from June 15 to July 2 under the direction of Moira Blumenthal.
The Toronto production ran from July 16 to October 2, 2010 at the Panasonic Theater. Carpenter is directing a US national tour that began in Chicago in September 2011 with an engagement at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. Roth will be the producer of the Chicago production. The Chicago cast includes Nora Dunn
, Felicia Fields, Roni Geva, Katie O’Brien and Barbara Robertson
as Gingy. Although the show was originally scheduled to run through October 23, 2011, it was extended to December 4 before opening. The show will also play in Paris for a second time in January 2012.
The show is staged in what is described as an "unapologetically low-tech" manner. The play uses clothing as a metaphor for women's experiences. In addition to clothing, accessories such as a purse
are important, and Charles Isherwood
of The New York Times notes that when Ms. Ephron views a purse, "In the chaos of its interior she sees a symbol of herself, as in a dark mirror smudged with old lipstick and smelling of spilled perfume." The show consists of five women's monologues about wardrobe malfunctions, puberty
's relationship with personal wardrobe, first date outfits, lucky underwear, prom
dresses, favorite boots, irreplaceable shirts, the detested, disorganized purse, and experiences in the dressing room. The recollections about the clothing prompt the women's memories about their mothers, boyfriends, husbands, ex-husbands, sisters and grandchildren.
, Marilyn Stasio
called it "a bittersweet meditation on the joys and tribulations of women's lives, reflected through the prism of their clothes". In Bloomberg News, the critics commented that the playwrights were "literary alchemists expert at mixing the sentimental and the satirical and turning out something poignant" and noted that the clothing and accessories dominated the memories while "The men are extras." The Los Angeles Times described the show as a cross between The Vagina Monologues
and What Not to Wear. Helen Shaw, writing for Time Out, also described the Ephrons' style as similar to The Vagina Monologuess' Eve Ensler
. Jay Reiner of The Hollywood Reporter
also notes that from the work "a tapestry of the collective female psyche emerges that is tender and insightful without being sentimental". TheaterMania.com, Inc. describes the show as "So insightful and entertaining is this survey of sartorial preoccupations and the deeper questions underlying them that multiple viewings would be advisable."
A highlight derived from Ephron's book and that was consistently praised was the O'Donnell portrayal of the role of the purse in the scene "I Hate My Purse!". While Reiner says, "There's an amusing 'I hate my purse' segment", Isherwood notes "The smartest and shapeliest piece of writing in the show is that acerbic essay by Nora Ephron about her troublesome relationship with purses...Entrusted to Ms. O’Donnell, who does it proud, the essay is a defiant denunciation of the tyranny of the pocketbook, a 'j’accuse' for the era of the 'it' bag." Shaw described O'Donnell's purse performance as an aria
, and Jerry Tallmer of The Villager
called it "one of the pillars of the show". This scene is sometimes performed alone outside of the theatre.
Isherwood also notes that this serves a female audience. "If there are chick flicks and chick lit — derogatory though some might find those terms to be — Love, Loss, and What I Wore should clearly be classified as chick legit...for the women who can share deeply in the particulars of experience dissected and discussed." The Los Angeles Times notes the light nature of the subject matter: "...isn’t out to reclaim female sexuality from centuries of oppression; it wittily celebrates wardrobe malfunctions..." According to Reiner, the show points out that "...if there is one thing the females of the species have in common, it's a deep and abiding love/hate relationship with their wardrobe...this wonderfully witty show illustrates, what one wears to the party is sometimes more memorable than the party itself." He also notes that the entire performance has meaning as it is "jam-packed and resonant" throughout. Shaw notes that "The cozy humor strikes many women's funny bones with a mighty whack, perhaps because it reaffirms so perfectly their own preoccupations."
Certain monologues on subjects such as weight, status bags and high heels did not achieve their full potential according to The Los Angeles Times reviewer. Time Out magazine describes certain lines as oversalted, but forgivably so.
At the November 2009 Casting Society of America Artios Awards, the Ephrons earned the New York Big Apple Award.
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, playwright, journalist, author, and blogger.She is best known for her romantic comedies and is a triple nominee for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay; for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in...
and Delia Ephron
Delia Ephron
Delia G. Ephron is a screenwriter and producer. She is the sister of Nora Ephron and Amy Ephron and Hallie Ephron; their parents were screenwriters Henry and Phoebe Ephron. She has written several children's books. The girl with the mermaid hair, which deals with body images and what negative...
based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman. It is organized as a series of monologues and uses a rotating cast of five principal women. The subject matter of the monologues includes women's relationships and wardrobes and at times the interaction of the two, using the female wardrobe as a time capsule of a woman's life.
The show was initially presented as a part of the 2008 summer series at Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York
East Hampton (town), New York
The Town of East Hampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, at the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. It is the easternmost town in the state of New York...
, and then as a benefit series at the DR2 Theatre in New York in early 2009. Later the same year, the show was produced Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
as an ongoing commercial theatrical production at the Westside Theatre
Westside Theatre
__notoc__The Westside Theatre is an off-Broadway venue located at 407 West 43rd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The building houses two auditoriums: the Upstairs theater, which seats 299, and the Downstairs theater, which...
in New York, where it continues to run as the second-longest running show in the theatre's history. The production and its cast received positive critical attention. The production won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience
Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience
The Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience was created to honor those Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and legitimate not-for-profit theater productions which, due to their unusual nature, cannot be categorized in the regular musical and play categories...
as well as the 2010 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play.
The show has been produced on six continents and more than eight countries. It began a national tour in the United States in September 2011 in Chicago. It is making an encore performance in Paris in January 2012.
Background and development
Nora EphronNora Ephron
Nora Ephron is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, playwright, journalist, author, and blogger.She is best known for her romantic comedies and is a triple nominee for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay; for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in...
is a writer, director and producer best known for writing the screenplays of romantic comedy
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Comedy can refer to* Romantic Comedy , a 1979 play written by Bernard Slade* Romantic Comedy , a 1983 film adapted from the play and starring Dudley Moore and Mary Steenburgen...
films. She has received three Academy Award nominations for Original Screenplay, for Silkwood
Silkwood
Silkwood is a 1983 American drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen was inspired by the true-life story of Karen Silkwood, who died in a suspicious car accident while investigating alleged wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant where she...
(1983), When Harry Met Sally...
When Harry Met Sally...
When Harry Met Sally... is a 1989 American romantic comedy film written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner. It stars Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally. The story follows the title characters from the time they meet just before sharing a cross-country drive, through twelve years or...
(1989) and Sleepless in Seattle
Sleepless in Seattle
The film was originally to have been scored by John Barry, but when he was given a list of 20 songs he had to put in the film, he quit.#As Time Goes By - Jimmy Durante #A Kiss to Build a Dream on - Louis Armstrong #Stardust - Nat King Cole...
(1993). She has also written five best-selling books, and she wrote the 2002 play Imaginary Friends
Imaginary Friends (play)
Imaginary Friends is a play by Nora Ephron. It includes songs with music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Craig Carnelia.-Plot:The play focuses on writers Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy, who reunite in hell and reflect on their decades-long antagonistic relationship...
, which fictionalizes the antagonistic relationship between Lillian Hellman
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence "Lily" Hellman was an American playwright, linked throughout her life with many left-wing causes...
and Mary McCarthy
Mary McCarthy (author)
Mary Therese McCarthy was an American author, critic and political activist.- Early life :Born in Seattle, Washington, to Roy Winfield McCarthy and his wife, the former Therese Preston, McCarthy was orphaned at the age of six when both her parents died in the great flu epidemic of 1918...
. Ephron sometimes co-authors screenplays with her sister, writer-producer Delia Ephron
Delia Ephron
Delia G. Ephron is a screenwriter and producer. She is the sister of Nora Ephron and Amy Ephron and Hallie Ephron; their parents were screenwriters Henry and Phoebe Ephron. She has written several children's books. The girl with the mermaid hair, which deals with body images and what negative...
, including You've Got Mail
You've Got Mail
You've Got Mail is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Nora Ephron, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It was written by Nora and Delia Ephron based on the play Parfumerie by Miklós László. The film is about two letter-writing lovers who are completely unaware that their sweetheart is in...
(1998), Hanging Up
Hanging Up
Hanging Up is a 2000 American comedy-drama film about a trio of sisters who bond over their ambivalence toward the approaching death of their curmudgeonly father, to whom none of them were particularly close...
(2000) and Bewitched (2005).
Nora Ephron wrote the introduction to Beckerman's eponymous 1995 book, which she immediately thought had dramatic possibilities. She identified with the stories in Love, Loss, and What I Wore because the book "is not about fashion; it is about what clothes really are to us, those moments when we are constantly trying to find our identity through them". Soon after its publication, Ephron gave the book to eight of her friends for Christmas. She became interested in writing her own version of the book. Once she decided to adapt Love, Loss, and What I Wore into a play, she and her sister emailed 100 women for stories.
The show's monologues are sourced largely from Beckerman's book. The Ephrons wove together a collection of stories adapted from the book with recollections of friends, including Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell
Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell is an American stand-up comedian, actress, author and television personality. She has also been a magazine editor and continues to be a celebrity blogger, LGBT rights activist, television producer and collaborative partner in the LGBT family vacation company R Family...
. One of the monologues that became a highlight of the original production was based on Nora Ephron's 2006 best-seller
New York Times Non-Fiction Bestsellers of 2006
This is a list of adult non-fiction books that topped The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller list in 2006....
I Feel Bad About My Neck
I Feel Bad About My Neck
I Feel Bad About My Neck is a book written by Nora Ephron. On September 10, 2006 it was listed at #1 on the The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller list....
.
Plot
A character called Gingy acts as the narrator. The show opens with her sketching various parts of her wardrobe that stir the most poignant memories. She weaves her life story among the other tales, describing her three marriages, "motherhood and the death of a child, each turning point marked by a particular item of clothing". Her life is represented beginning with experiences in a Brownies dress and extending through her full life.In addition to Gingy, one character serves as the vixen, another plays a vulnerable gang member from Chicago, a third portrays a brave cancer patient, and the last serves as a mature woman pierced by vivid memories. One of these characters, named Heather, chooses conservative "think" shoes over high heels in her youth, but at a later stage in life shows a preference for high heels. The gang member likes insignias that are prominent on sweaters and their creator. Among the 28 stories, other notable tales include one about the influence of Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
(with discourse including "Any American woman under 40 who says she's never dressed as Madonna is either lying or Amish
Amish
The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
."); one about dressing room anxiety (a story revolving around the concept that "I’m an 8. I’ve always been an 8"); and one about your mother's tastes in clothes ("I don’t understand, you could look so good if you tried"). Three of the characters sometimes work as a trio and all characters have monologues.
The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
spent a full paragraph on a vignette
Vignette (literature)
In theatrical script writing, sketch stories, and poetry, a vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting and sometimes an object...
about two high school prom dresses. The junior prom dress was a conservative powder blue gown to wear with a nerdy date. The senior prom dress was a sexy black mini dress that was befitting of her more desirable date. The dresses presented an identity crisis to one character: "Here's the thing — I’ve never really known for sure which of those two people I am — the girl who almost doesn’t get asked to the prom at all or the girl who gets to go with the really cute guy. Every time I thought I knew which one I was, I turned out to be the other. Which is one reason I think I got married, to, like, end the confusion."
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
presented three stories that it felt were particularly emotional: the first was about a woman who removed miniskirt
Miniskirt
A miniskirt, sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, is a skirt with a hemline well above the knees – generally no longer than below the buttocks; and a minidress is a dress with a similar meaning...
s from her college wardrobe after being raped, but continued wearing her favorite boots; another was about wedding attire anxieties; and the third was about the choice of adorning a newly-reconstructed breast with a tattoo. In addition to these three stories, the same article also noted a humorous ode to black as a part of a wardrobe or in fact as a wardrobe, when one character notes: "Sometimes I buy something that isn’t black, and I put it on and I am so sorry".
Other stories include recollections about the dress purchased for the date with a guy who subsequently married someone else; the foibles of spandex
Spandex
Spandex or elastane is a synthetic fibre known for its exceptional elasticity. It is strong, but less durable than natural Latex, its major non-synthetic competitor. It is a polyurethane-polyurea copolymer that was co-invented in 1959 by chemists C. L. Sandquist and Joseph Shivers at DuPont's...
bras that result in a look known as the monoboob; issues involving toe cleavage; the Juicy Couture
Juicy Couture
Juicy Couture is a contemporary line of both casual and dressy apparel based in Arleta, Los Angeles, California founded by Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor in 1996...
tracksuit that is a prominent staple of California wardrobes; wardrobe choice on the wrong day of the month; and the story about an incarcerated lover and the strategic hole in a certain pair of pants.
Initial benefit productions
Initially, Love, Loss, and What I Wore was presented on August 2, 2008 at the Bridgehampton Community House as a benefit for the renovation of the John Drew Theatre/Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York. The production, directed by Karen Carpenter, starred Linda LavinLinda Lavin
Linda Lavin is an American singer and actress. She is best known for playing the title character in the sitcom Alice and for her Broadway performances.After acting as a child, Lavin joined the Compass Players in the late 1950s...
, Karyn Quakenbush, Leslie Kritzer
Leslie Kritzer
Leslie Kritzer is an award-winning Broadway actress. She is from Livingston, New Jersey.-Biography:Kritzer, a 1999 graduate of the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music, has also appeared on Broadway in Hairspray and was the character Serena in Legally Blonde The Musical...
, Kathy Najimy
Kathy Najimy
Kathy Ann Najimy is an American actress, most notable as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill. Prior to her film work, she was best known for two Off Broadway shows...
, and Sara Chase
Sara Chase
Sarah Blakesley Chase was born on January 18, 1837 in Clermont County, OH Sarah Chase had been known for the continuous battle with Anthony Comstock for the selling of contraceptive devices over state borders.- Biography :Sarah B...
. Then, Daryl Roth produced the play in the 2008–09 Monday night benefit series of performances for Dress for Success, which is a charity organization that serves low-income women by enabling them to afford work clothing and providing job support, under the direction of Karen Carpenter. The set of six Monday night readings were held from February 2 – March 9, 2009 at the Off-off-Broadway DR2 Theatre. The first cast at DR2 Theatre was Marian Seldes
Marian Seldes
Marian Hall Seldes is an American stage, film, radio, and television actress whose career has spanned six decades and who was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Life and career:...
, Joy Behar
Joy Behar
Josephina Victoria "Joy" Behar is an American comedian, writer, actress, and a co-host of the talk show The View. Behar has a commentary program, entitled The Joy Behar Show, on CNN's sister network, HLN...
, Katie Finneran
Katie Finneran
Katie Finneran is an American actress of film, stage, and television noted for her Tony Award-winning performances in the Broadway play Noises Off in 2002, and the musical Promises, Promises in 2010.-Personal life:...
, Heather Burns
Heather Burns
- Life and career :Burns was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Chicago Bull and U.S. Attorney Jim Burns. She is engaged to fellow actor Ajay Naidu, her high school boyfriend. Heather attended and graduated from Evanston Township High School. She is a graduate of New York University's...
and Lucy DeVito
Lucy DeVito
Lucy Chet DeVito is an American actress and daughter of actors Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. Her first important movie role was in 2009 in the film Leaves of Grass with Ed Norton...
. Other participants in the original readings included Tyne Daly
Tyne Daly
Tyne Daly is an American stage and screen actress, widely known for her work as Detective Mary Beth Lacey in the television series Cagney & Lacey and as Maxine Gray in the television series Judging Amy. She is also known for her role as Alice Henderson in television series Christy...
(who created the narrator character, Gingy, for the New York Production), Rosie O’Donnell, Samantha Bee
Samantha Bee
Samantha Bee is a Canadian comedic actress and author best known as a cast member on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.-Early life:Bee was born in Toronto, Ontario into an unconventional family...
, Rondi Reed
Rondi Reed
Rondi Reed is an American stage actress, singer and performer.-Career:Reed has been a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago, Illinois, for 30 years, appearing in 51 productions with the company....
, America Ferrera
America Ferrera
America Georgina Ferrera is an American actress, best known for playing the lead role in the television comedy series Ugly Betty...
, Debi Mazar
Debi Mazar
Deborah "Debi" Mazar is an American actress, perhaps best known for her Jersey Girl-type roles; as sharp-tongued women in independent films; and for her recurring role as press agent Shauna Roberts on the HBO series Entourage.-Early life:...
, Marlo Thomas
Marlo Thomas
Margaret Julia “Marlo” Thomas is an American actress, producer, and social activist known for her starring role on the TV series That Girl . She also serves as National Outreach Director for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital...
, Blythe Danner
Blythe Danner
Blythe Katherine Danner is an American actress. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Early life:...
, Christine Lahti
Christine Lahti
Christine Lahti is an American actress and film director. Lahti has had a successful career in television and film. Throughout her career she has garnered 2 Golden Globe Awards from 8 Nominations, An Emmy Award from 6 Nominations and 2 Academy Award nominations...
, Parker Posey
Parker Posey
Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....
, Julie White
Julie White
Julie White is an American actress. She is known for her role in Grace Under Fire and for her role as Judy Witwicky in the Transformers film series.-Personal life:...
, Kelly Bishop
Kelly Bishop
Carole "Kelly" Bishop is an American actress and dancer, best-known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series Gilmore Girls, and as the mother of Jennifer Grey's character in the film Dirty Dancing...
, Sarah Jones, Veanne Cox
Veanne Cox
Veanne Cox is an American stage and screen actress and former ballet dancer.Cox was born in Norfolk, Virginia. She studied ballet at the Washington School of Ballet, acting at the Studio Theatre's Conservatory in Washington, D.C., and voice at Catholic University.Her Broadway debut was in the...
and Kristen Wiig
Kristen Wiig
Kristen Carroll Wiig is an American film and television actress who currently appears as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Wiig was a member of improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings, and has appeared in several films and television series, including Bridesmaids, MacGruber, Flight of...
.
Off-Broadway
The play was then performed Off-Broadway, beginning on September 21, 2009, with 3 consecutive runs each lasting 4 weeks and having an entirely new 5-person cast. The production officially opened on October 1, 2009 at the Westside TheatreWestside Theatre
__notoc__The Westside Theatre is an off-Broadway venue located at 407 West 43rd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The building houses two auditoriums: the Upstairs theater, which seats 299, and the Downstairs theater, which...
. The cast originally included Daly, O'Donnell, Bee, Katie Finneran
Katie Finneran
Katie Finneran is an American actress of film, stage, and television noted for her Tony Award-winning performances in the Broadway play Noises Off in 2002, and the musical Promises, Promises in 2010.-Personal life:...
and Natasha Lyonne
Natasha Lyonne
-Early life:Lyonne was born Natasha Braunstein in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Yvette Lyonne, a product licensing consultant, and Aaron Braunstein, a native of Brooklyn who worked as a boxing promoter. Lyonne grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household...
. The rotating cast also included Mary Birdsong
Mary Birdsong
Mary Birdsong is an American actress, comedian, writer, and singer.Birdsong was born on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, one of five sisters. She may be best-known for her role as Deputy Cherisha Kimball on the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. She is a former correspondent on The Daily Show and...
, Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth
Kristin Chenoweth is an American singer and actress, with credits in musical theatre, film and television. She is best known on Broadway for her performance as Sally Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown , for which she won a Tony Award, and for originating the role of Glinda in the musical...
, Lucy DeVito, Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch
Jane Marie Lynch is an American comedian, actress and singer. She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show and is currently best known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the television series Glee...
, Rhea Perlman, Mary Louise Wilson
Mary Louise Wilson
Mary Louise Wilson is an American stage, film and television actress.-Stage:Broadway* Hot Spot — 1963 as Sue Ann* Flora, The Red Menace — 1965 as Comrade Ada* Lovers and Other Strangers — 1968 as Bernice...
and Rita Wilson
Rita Wilson
-Early life:Wilson was born Margarita Ibrahimoff in Los Angeles, California.Her father, a Bulgarian who worked at a racetrack, was born in Greece. Before immigrating to the US, he had lived in Bulgaria and Turkey....
. Chenoweth was replaced in the last of the initial three 4-week runs by Finneran. The production benefited Dress for Success. Karen Carpenter directed, with scenic design
Scenic design
Scenic design is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A...
by Jo Winiarski, costume design
Costume design
Costume design is the fabrication of apparel for the overall appearance of a character or performer. This usually involves researching, designing and building the actual items from conception. Costumes may be for a theater or cinema performance but may not be limited to such...
by Jessica Jahn, lighting design by Jeff Croiter, sound design
Sound design
Sound design is the process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking, television production, theatre, sound recording and reproduction, live performance, sound art, post-production and video game software...
by Walter Trarbach and make-up design by Maria Verel. Daryl Roth was the producer and Alexander Fraser was the co-producer. The production was staged with the five women seated, all dressed in black, at the lip of the stage, consulting scripts on music stand
Music stand
A music stand is a device that holds sheet music in a position that allows the musician to read it while performing.There are various types of music stands. The most common modern type is made of metal and can be folded for ease of transportation...
s as needed. The first seven performances had seven different casts.
The production has continued at the Westside Theatre with an open-ended commercial run with the casting strategy of rotating 4-week casts because it enables the production to pursue higher caliber actors. Nora Ephron stated at one question and answer session: "We keep re-casting it so we can get really great actresses to come for four weeks. It is really hard to get really good people to work Off-Broadway for six months because it does not pay much, but you can get them for four weeks." Other well-known actresses who have performed in the Off-Broadway production include the following: Carol Kane
Carol Kane
Carolyn Laurie "Carol" Kane is an American actress. Kane has worked on the stage, on the screen and in television. She appeared on the television series Taxi in the early 1980s, as the wife of the character played by Andy Kaufman. She received two Emmy Awards for her work...
, Debra Monk
Debra Monk
Debra Monk is an American actress, singer, and writer.Monk was born in Middletown, Ohio. She was voted "best personality" by the graduating class at Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. She graduated from Frostburg State University in 1963...
, Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...
, Fran Drescher
Fran Drescher
Francine Joy "Fran" Drescher is an American film and television actress, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer, author, singer, talk show host, political lobbyist and health activist...
, Melissa Joan Hart
Melissa Joan Hart
Melissa Joan Catherine Hart is an American actress, writer, television director, television producer, singer and businesswoman...
, Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields is an American actress and model. Some of her better-known movies include Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon, as well as TV shows such as Suddenly Susan, That '70s Show and Lipstick Jungle....
, Victoria Clark
Victoria Clark
Victoria Clark is an American musical theatre singer and actress. Clark has performed in many Broadway musicals and in other theatre, film and television work, and her soprano voice can be heard on numerous cast albums and several animated films...
, Tovah Feldshuh
Tovah Feldshuh
Tovah Feldshuh is an American actress, singer and playwright.-Early life:Terri Sue Feldshuh was born to a Jewish family in New York City, the daughter of Lillian and Sidney Feldshuh, who was a lawyer. She was raised in Scarsdale, New York, an affluent community in Westchester County and graduated...
, Loretta Swit
Loretta Swit
Loretta Swit is an American stage and television actress known for her character roles. Swit is best-known for her portrayal of Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan on M*A*S*H.-Early life:...
, Mary Testa
Mary Testa
Mary Testa is an American stage actress. She is a two-time Tony Award nominee, for performances in revivals of Leonard Bernstein's On the Town and 42nd Street ....
, Nikki Blonsky, Donna McKecknie, B. Smith
B. Smith
Barbara Smith , known as B. Smith, is a restaurateur and television host.- Restaurateur :Smith owns three restaurants and was recognized by Elle Décor as one of America’s ten most outstanding non-professional chefs. She opened her first restaurant in 1986...
and Marla Maples
Marla Maples
Marla Maples is an American actress, television personality, and socialite, best known for her marriage to businessman celebrity Donald Trump.- Personal life :...
. , it was the second-longest running show in the history of Westside Theatre.
The show won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience
Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience
The Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience was created to honor those Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and legitimate not-for-profit theater productions which, due to their unusual nature, cannot be categorized in the regular musical and play categories...
as well as the 2010 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play. Daly and O'Donnell were nominated for 2010 Drama League Award
Drama League Award
The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...
s for Distinguished Performance. Tara Rubin, Merri Sugarman, Eric Woodall, and Lauran Schtuzel were nominated for the 2010 Casting Society of America
Casting Society of America
Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1982, the Casting Society of America is a professional society of about 350 casting directors for film, television, and theatre in Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. The society is not to be confused with an industry union. The...
Artios Awards for NY Off-Broadway Comedy/Musical Excellence in Casting. the show had plans to continue its Off-Broadway run through the December 11, 2011, according to the casting schedule on its official website. The ongoing Off-Broadway production continues to sponsor Dress for Success.
Other productions
The play was next produced at the Geffen PlayhouseGeffen Playhouse
The Geffen Playhouse is a not for profit performing arts theater in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Originally named the Westwood Playhouse, UCLA purchased the property in 1993. UCLA's then chancellor, Charles E. Young, appointed Gil Cates Producing Director...
in Los Angeles. The Geffen production ran from May 12, 2010 to November 19, 2010, breaking box office records. The Geffen casts also rotated. Well-known actresses there included Kane, DeVito, Rhea Perlman, Nancy Travis
Nancy Travis
Nancy Ann Travis is an American actress. She is known for her roles in films Three Men and a Baby and its sequel, Three Men and a Little Lady , Married to the Mob , Air America , Internal Affairs , So I Married an Axe Murderer , Greedy , and Fluke...
, Daly, Bonnie Franklin
Bonnie Franklin
Bonnie Gail Franklin is an American actress, best known for her starring role in the television series One Day at a Time.-Personal life:...
, Meredith Baxter
Meredith Baxter
Meredith Baxter , also known for some years as Meredith Baxter-Birney, is an American actress and producer. She is known for her acting roles including three television series: Family , an ABC television-network drama, Family Ties , an NBC television-network situation comedy, and Dan Vs. , a...
, Florence Henderson
Florence Henderson
Florence Agnes Henderson is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her role of Carol Brady on the ABC sitcom The Brady Bunch from 1969 to 1974...
, Marissa Jaret Winokur
Marissa Jaret Winokur
Marissa Jaret Winokur , sometimes credited as Marissa Winokur, is an American actress known for her performance as Tracy Turnblad in the highly successful Broadway musical adaptation of John Waters' film Hairspray, as well as her work on the Pamela Anderson sitcom Stacked...
, María Conchita Alonso
Maria Conchita Alonso
María Conchita Alonso , better known as María Conchita, is a Venezuelan Grammy Award-nominated singer and actress.- Early life :...
, Christine Lahti
Christine Lahti
Christine Lahti is an American actress and film director. Lahti has had a successful career in television and film. Throughout her career she has garnered 2 Golden Globe Awards from 8 Nominations, An Emmy Award from 6 Nominations and 2 Academy Award nominations...
, Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton is an American model and actress. She is best-known for her starring roles in the movies American Gigolo and Lassiter, and also for her fashion modeling career.-Personal life:...
, Teri Garr
Teri Garr
-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
, Mimi Rogers
Mimi Rogers
Mimi Rogers is an American movie actress and competitive poker player.-Early life:Rogers was born Miriam Spickler in Coral Gables, Florida, the daughter of Philip C...
and Sally Struthers
Sally Struthers
Sally Ann Struthers is an American actress and spokeswoman, best-known for her roles as Gloria Stivic on All in the Family, for which she won two Emmy awards, and as Babette on Gilmore Girls.-Personal life:...
. Most of the initial Geffen cast had performed in the Off-Broadway run. At the Geffen Playhouse, the show was directed by Jenny Sullivan
Jenny Sullivan
For the Welsh author see Jennifer Sullivan.Jenny Sullivan is an American actress who has starred in films and on television. She has starred in some made for TV movies, her best known role is in the 1983 NBC hit miniseries V as the reporter Kristine Walsh. In 1984, she reprised her role as...
. Kane played the role of Gingy when it debuted in Los Angeles.
By the end of 2010, the play had been staged in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Buenos Aires, Australia (at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
), France, South Africa, and Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, Philippines and was scheduled to appear in Mexico, Brazil, Germany and Scandinavia. It played in Sydney from January 3 – 30, 2011 with an opening cast of Natalie Bassingthwaighte
Natalie Bassingthwaighte
Natalie Bassingthwaighte is an Australian actress, singer-songwriter and television personality. She began her career as an actress on the television series All Saints. She then starred in the American television movie Counterstrike...
, Judi Farr
Judi Farr
Judi Farr is an Australian theatre, film and television actor best known for several situation comedy roles on Australian television.She first became known for her role of Rita in the situation comedy My Name's McGooley, What's Yours?...
, Amanda Muggleton
Amanda Muggleton
Amanda Lillian Muggleton is a British-born theatre, television and film actress. She is best known for her role on television soap opera Prisoner.-Early life:Muggleton was born in Stepney, London in 1951 and emigrated to Australia in 1974...
, Magda Szubanski
Magda Szubanski
Magda Szubanski is a British-born Australian actress, comedian, television presenter, radio host and author.Szubanski's career began while she was studying at university and she progressed to television sketch comedy, as both a writer and performer...
and Mirrah Foulkes
Mirrah Foulkes
- Film :Foulkes has appeared in several Australian films since 2006, including Spider , Dying Breed , Animal Kingdom and the mysterious drama Sleeping Beauty .- Television :...
under the direction of Wayne Harrison
Wayne Harrison
Wayne Harrison was a child and teenage star performing on stage and television, including performing in J.C. Williamsons' musicals...
with some minor modifications to localize some of the Americanisms. It made its Asian Premier in Manila from July 14 – 17, 2011 at RCBC Plaza
RCBC Plaza
RCBC Plaza is an office skyscraper complex located in Makati City, Philippines. It is home to the offices of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation and is composed of two buildings: the taller RCBC Plaza Yuchengco Tower and the smaller RCBC Plaza Tower 2...
with a cast that included Bituin Escalante
Bituin Escalante
Bituin Escalante , better known as Bituin, is a Filipina singer and host. She is a well-known Philippine Diva and a power-belter....
and was directed by Michael Williams and Azanza-Dy. Carpenter directed the international production, which was produced by Roth. In South Africa, the show was performed from April 8 – June 12, 2011 at Studio Theatre, Montecasino near Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
and at the Theatre on the Bay in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
from from June 15 to July 2 under the direction of Moira Blumenthal.
The Toronto production ran from July 16 to October 2, 2010 at the Panasonic Theater. Carpenter is directing a US national tour that began in Chicago in September 2011 with an engagement at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. Roth will be the producer of the Chicago production. The Chicago cast includes Nora Dunn
Nora Dunn
Nora Eloise Dunn is an American actress and comedian, perhaps best known for her work on NBC's Saturday Night Live.-Early life:...
, Felicia Fields, Roni Geva, Katie O’Brien and Barbara Robertson
Barbara Robertson
Barbara Robertson is an American actress and singer. She is currently playing the role of "Jan the Unnamed" for the American Theatre Company's Pre-Broadway Chicago production of "Yeast Nation". Recently she played the role of Mame at the Drury Lane Theatre....
as Gingy. Although the show was originally scheduled to run through October 23, 2011, it was extended to December 4 before opening. The show will also play in Paris for a second time in January 2012.
Themes
The show, which has a running time of about 1 hour and 30 minutes, is composed of 28 different stories that seek to illuminate the female identity. Generally composed of comic stories, the show often addresses sad, bitter or sentimental issues. Beckerman's memoir takes as its departure the clothing worn at pivotal times of her life and serves as the foundation for the show. The Ephrons augmented this with a collection of similarly themed stories presented by four additional characters.The show is staged in what is described as an "unapologetically low-tech" manner. The play uses clothing as a metaphor for women's experiences. In addition to clothing, accessories such as a purse
Handbag
A handbag, or purse in American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag that is often fashionably designed, typically used by women, to hold personal items such as wallet/coins, keys, cosmetics, a hairbrush, pepper spray, cigarettes, mobile phone etc....
are important, and Charles Isherwood
Charles Isherwood
-External Links:* at The New York Times* at Variety...
of The New York Times notes that when Ms. Ephron views a purse, "In the chaos of its interior she sees a symbol of herself, as in a dark mirror smudged with old lipstick and smelling of spilled perfume." The show consists of five women's monologues about wardrobe malfunctions, puberty
Puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads; the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy...
's relationship with personal wardrobe, first date outfits, lucky underwear, prom
Prom
In the United States and Canada, a prom, short for promenade, is a formal dance, or gathering of high school students. It is typically held near the end of the senior year. It figures greatly in popular culture and is a major event among high school students...
dresses, favorite boots, irreplaceable shirts, the detested, disorganized purse, and experiences in the dressing room. The recollections about the clothing prompt the women's memories about their mothers, boyfriends, husbands, ex-husbands, sisters and grandchildren.
Critical reaction
The original benefit series was described as intimate and starry by Broadway.com. Isherwood described the Off-Broadway play as a "show about matters of the heart and matters of the closet" in The New York Times. In VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, Marilyn Stasio
Marilyn Stasio
Marilyn Stasio is a New York City area author, writer and literary critic. She has been the "Crime Columnist" for The New York Times Book Review since about 1988, having written over 650 reviews as of January 2009. She says she reads "a few" crime books a year professionally and many more for...
called it "a bittersweet meditation on the joys and tribulations of women's lives, reflected through the prism of their clothes". In Bloomberg News, the critics commented that the playwrights were "literary alchemists expert at mixing the sentimental and the satirical and turning out something poignant" and noted that the clothing and accessories dominated the memories while "The men are extras." The Los Angeles Times described the show as a cross between The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues
The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play written by Eve Ensler which ran at the Off Broadway Westside Theatre after a limited run at AFRICA in 1996. Ensler originally starred in the production which was produced by David Stone, Nina Essman, Dan Markley, The Araca Group, Willa Shalit, Mike Skipper...
and What Not to Wear. Helen Shaw, writing for Time Out, also described the Ephrons' style as similar to The Vagina Monologuess' Eve Ensler
Eve Ensler
Eve Ensler is an American playwright, performer, feminist and activist, best known for her play The Vagina Monologues.- Personal life :...
. Jay Reiner of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
also notes that from the work "a tapestry of the collective female psyche emerges that is tender and insightful without being sentimental". TheaterMania.com, Inc. describes the show as "So insightful and entertaining is this survey of sartorial preoccupations and the deeper questions underlying them that multiple viewings would be advisable."
A highlight derived from Ephron's book and that was consistently praised was the O'Donnell portrayal of the role of the purse in the scene "I Hate My Purse!". While Reiner says, "There's an amusing 'I hate my purse' segment", Isherwood notes "The smartest and shapeliest piece of writing in the show is that acerbic essay by Nora Ephron about her troublesome relationship with purses...Entrusted to Ms. O’Donnell, who does it proud, the essay is a defiant denunciation of the tyranny of the pocketbook, a 'j’accuse' for the era of the 'it' bag." Shaw described O'Donnell's purse performance as an aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...
, and Jerry Tallmer of The Villager
The Villager
The Villager is a weekly newspaper serving Downtown Manhattan. It was founded in 1933 by Walter and Isabel Bryan. In 2001, 2004 and 2005, The Villager won the Stuart Dorman Award, honoring New York State's best weekly newspaper, in the New York Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest.The...
called it "one of the pillars of the show". This scene is sometimes performed alone outside of the theatre.
Isherwood also notes that this serves a female audience. "If there are chick flicks and chick lit — derogatory though some might find those terms to be — Love, Loss, and What I Wore should clearly be classified as chick legit...for the women who can share deeply in the particulars of experience dissected and discussed." The Los Angeles Times notes the light nature of the subject matter: "...isn’t out to reclaim female sexuality from centuries of oppression; it wittily celebrates wardrobe malfunctions..." According to Reiner, the show points out that "...if there is one thing the females of the species have in common, it's a deep and abiding love/hate relationship with their wardrobe...this wonderfully witty show illustrates, what one wears to the party is sometimes more memorable than the party itself." He also notes that the entire performance has meaning as it is "jam-packed and resonant" throughout. Shaw notes that "The cozy humor strikes many women's funny bones with a mighty whack, perhaps because it reaffirms so perfectly their own preoccupations."
Certain monologues on subjects such as weight, status bags and high heels did not achieve their full potential according to The Los Angeles Times reviewer. Time Out magazine describes certain lines as oversalted, but forgivably so.
Awards and nominations
The original Off-Broadway production earned several recognitions:| Award | Outcome | |
| 2010 Drama Desk Awards | ||
| Unique Theatrical Experience | ||
| 2010 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards | ||
| Favorite New Off-Broadway Play | ||
| 2010 Drama League Award Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing... s |
||
| Distinguished Performance: Tyne Daly | ||
| Distinguished Performance: Rosie O'Donnell | ||
| 2010 Casting Society of America Casting Society of America Founded in Los Angeles, California in 1982, the Casting Society of America is a professional society of about 350 casting directors for film, television, and theatre in Australia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. The society is not to be confused with an industry union. The... Artios Awards |
||
| NY Off-Broadway Comedy/Musical Excellence in Casting: Tara Rubin, Merri Sugarman, Eric Woodall, Lauran Schtuzel |
||
At the November 2009 Casting Society of America Artios Awards, the Ephrons earned the New York Big Apple Award.
External links
- CBS news video
- search results at TheaterMania.com
- national tour website