Monday, May 17, 2010

Theater Review: The Housewives of Mannheim

Compelling Performance Highlights This One
By Lauren Yarger
Pheonix Vaughn gives a compelling performance as May Black, a Brooklyn housewife trying to keep things running on the home front while her husband is away at war in Alan Brody’s The Housewives of Mannheim Off-Broadway at 59/59 Theaters.

May has a battle of her own, as well, as she fights to come to terms with her sexuality after longtime friend, Billie Friedhoff (an engaging Corey Tazmania), who sells linens to help make ends meet, makes romantic advances. May might never have considered such a relationship before the arrival of the sophisticated and beautiful Sophie Birnbaum (Natalie Mosco), who escapedsthe Nazi terror in her native Austria to relocate in the women’s apartment building.

May idolizes the independent Sophie, who was a concert pianist before the war and who also happens to be a lesbian. May craves knowledge. She wants to visit museums with Sophie, listen to her recordings, and maybe even take some college classes – something she’s never thought much about because she always assumed good looks were all a woman needed to get ahead in life. And though she’s supposed to yearn for the return of her husband, she starts to wonder whether any of those opportunities will be available to her once he’s home again.

Making a fourth at May’s table for coffee and conversation is contest-entering and label-collecting, but emphatically not lesbian Alice Cohen (Wendy Peace), who tries to keep May from coming under the influence of the other two women.

All of the performances, directed by Suzanne Barabas, are solid, but Vaughn’s emotional portrayal really stands out as a woman who wants so much more than keeping house, but who feels trapped in her kitchen by society’s rules and her own fears about what she wants. A very nice metaphor is given in the display of a fictional Vermeer painting titled "The Housewives of Mannheim" that May goes to see (all by herself – a big deal for a woman in 1944 – to the Metropolitan Museum of art) featuring four women around a table, which, in May’s mind, freezes them in their period of history. The scene is recreated with the four Brooklyn women.

This cast reprises their roles from the original New Jersey Rep company production.

The Housewives of Mannheim runs through June 6 at 59/59 theaters, 59 East 59th St., NYC. Tickets are available by calling Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or online at http://www.ticketcentral.com/. For more information visit www.59E59.org.

Christians might also like to know:
• Language
• Lord’s name taken in vain
• Homosexual activity
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Gracewell Prodiuctions

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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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