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Playwright Walt Stepp has, in the last few seasons, established himself as an unquestionable powerhouse of the Off-Off-Broadway scene, with culturally-historical themes ranging from Mark Twain's literary dissatisfactions to the Kennedy assassination as told by its conspirators. Dramaturg Lissa Moira has likewise proven to have the most superb directorial hand at bringing Stepp's creations to life, at Theater for the New City and elsewhere. Together, the two have once again scored a proverbial touchdown in the play-with-music presentation of Siren's Heart: Marilyn in Purgatory, which runs at TNC (155 First Avenue) through October 23rd.
Furthermore, the engagement of actress Louisa Bradshaw (who has proven so breathtaking in such Stepp plays as Only Love Will Do and works by others as Madame Champagne) clearly shows that not only is this ninety-minute piece a veritable tour-de-force for the lady, but that nary another actress in town could embody the role so perfectly and hold an audience's attention for the duration in quite the same way; in point of fact, a show of this type should by all rights have any number of dime-a-dozen wannabe blonde bombshells lining up to play it on tour.
Though so very much has been written of Marilyn Monroe, aka Norma Jean Baker, aka Norma Jean Mortensen and even aka Zelda Zonk (a pseudonym she used while traveling incognito, as is just one of the Monroe-esque facets explored during the evening, and a great example of her personal sense of humor), it was perhaps
the uber-legendary screenwriter/director/producer Nunnally Johnson who (after working with Monroe in oft-excruciating circumstances while filming How to Marry a Millionaire and then later on her last, and subsequently canceled, picture, Something's Got to Give) once described her most perfectly in his legendary letters: "My belief is that Marilyn had the intelligence to appreciate and respect intelligence, but not enough to participate in it, and she knew this and it was a destructive knowledge. She was constantly attaching herself to superior men, and it never lasted. In the end, when the fireworks were over, she simply bored them. She had the stuff to win a man, but not to keep him. Especially the kind of men that attracted her. She always aimed too high. But there was no solution in this for her. Superior men eventually tired of her, and she was never able to summon up any interest in inferior blokes. You can see where that left her." THAT Marilyn, the Marilyn whom Johnson knew so well at both the beginning and end of her short career and life, is wholeheartedly who Bradshaw brings to life through Stepp's script, and it is a joy to watch. As described in the play's title, this is a stripped-down Norma Jean speaking to us from her gorgeously-appointed cell in purgatory, at long last simply laying her poor soul bare for all to see, and for better or worse. From the first moment that we as an audience climb into our seats for the rollercoaster that is this evening, we experience her take on Elvis Presley, Yves Montand, Kim Novak, Billy Wilder, Sidney Skolsky, Joan Crawford, Peter Lawford, her drama coach Natasha Lytess and Groucho Marx, among others, not to mention the Armed Forces and, of course, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. And there's barely a moment that doesn't rivet the crowd to their seats; it becomes a pointless struggle for anything less than to simply love her from the get-go.
As if none of this was enough, the evening is intertwined with vocal renderings in Bradshaw's glorious multi-octave tones, but even more special are the songs constructed from the poetry of William Butler Yeats. These include "And Not My Yellow Hair," "Brown Penny" and "The Mask." In addition, there's Stepp's own prodigious composition "If You Could See Me As I Am," and "Margaret, Are You Grieving?" based on "Spring and Fall: To a Young Child" by Gerard Manley Hopkins, AND renditions of such standards as "Love Me or Leave Me" and Duke Ellington's "Satin Doll," plus a self-written tune by the lady (with additional input from Moira) entitled "Shiksa Strip," which includes such lyrics as "pass him over, he's the boy for me," about Gentile girls who only want to date Jewish boys. And make no mistake, Bradshaw isn't merely embodying Norma Jean through the course of the action, but also Jane Russell, Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn's mother Gladys from the confines of the booby hatch. It all combines into an evening of theatre so scrumptious that not taking a bite would be an insult to the chef. Pianist and musical director, Gregory Nissen, is simply faultless at providing satin-skinned accompaniment throughout, and David "Zen" Mansley has not only done a bang-up job with the set design as always, but in providing the voice-overs of such other key players in Monroe's life as Orson Welles and George Sanders. William Giraldo's lighting design and Donald Garverick's choreography only add to what is already a winner on almost every count.
If there is a caveat to be had, and it must be remembered that the show was mounted with a very minimal rehearsal period, it's that Bradshaw has an occasional tendency to stumble over the words she is to deliver from monologue to monologue, and that she needs to sometimes grab a pair of reading glasses to locate a passage in a book by James Joyce, Hemingway or Faulkner. However, given the conversational nature of the show and requisite disposal of the fourth wall, this only adds to the natural quality of the dialogue and action.
Ergo, in an ideal world, Siren's Heart: Marilyn in Purgartory would settle in for a long and happy run, at TNC or elsewhere. And with or without Louisa Bradshaw in the role, the lady should feel nothing less than abject pride at having created one of the truly great portrayals of the downtown scene in many a moon.
Photo Credit: Henry Joseph
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