Theater Review—

‘Dirty Blonde’ Another Exciting,

Original Treat At TheatreWorks

By Julie Stern

NEW MILFORD — Theatreworks New Milford’s Dirty Blonde got off to a late start due to the winter storm that cancelled the opening weekend’s performances, but fortunately the company has extended the run into January. It’s a good thing because this show is such a funny, exciting, original treat that it’s going to be playing to packed houses.

Playwright Claudia Shear has used the device of a tentative connection between two New Yorkers who meet by chance in a cemetery while each is making a private pilgrimage to the tomb of Mae West.

Charlie is a self-described geek, a Wisconsin transplant who works as an archivist in a Manhattan film library. Jo is a nervous, motor-mouthed Italian-American from Brooklyn who works as an office temp while waiting for bit parts in commercials. But as Jo says, the good thing about obsession is that it gives you the patience to get the details right, and soon these two lonely strangers are deep in a dialogue, swapping lines from their favorite Mae West movies.

“You know, you look like her,” Charlie offers, allowing the chance to segue back and forth between their meetings and a series of biographical scenes from the life of their mutual idol.

In the beginning, Mae’s toughness and blatant sexuality were not appreciated by management, critics or the police. In the early days of her career she blurred the lines between vaudeville and burlesque, challenging audiences and her handlers alike, and was often the subject of police raids for indecent behavior. “When I’m good, I’m very good, but when I’m bad, I’m better” was one of her classic lines.

Refusing to be cowed, she wrote her own material and talked her way into chance after chance until finally success led to a career in the movies with leading men from Cary Grant to W.C. Fields, accompanied by stardom, wealth, and lasting fame as a Hollywood icon.

The dual role of Mae/Jo is a perfect showcase for the enormous gifts of Susan Pettibone, who has the sexy voice and presence to dominate the stage when she is being Mae, and then can fade back into the self-deprecating insecurities of Jo.

Mrs Pettibone is ably supported by Jonathan Ross in an assortment of parts when he isn’t being Charlie, and Steve Oliveri, who plays the various important men in Mae’s life as well as providing background music on the piano.

In contrast to the bio-pic montage of Mae’s rise and decline, the anxieties of Jo and Charlie as they edge toward trust and a relationship that might be more than friendship, is both sensitive and comic at the same time.

In addition to the talents of the three principals, the show benefits from the sure hand of director Jane Farnol, who invariably has the ability to coax superb performances from her actors, and she outdoes herself here. Also terrific are the costumes by Jimmy Johansmeyer and Lesley Neilson-Bowman, which run the gamut from the tacky rags of the teenage vaudeville wannabe to the truly glamorous creations made for the Hollywood star.

Dirty Blonde is the next best thing to seeing Mae West in person, and a great way to warm up a cold winter evening, if you can still manage to get a ticket to this highly professional, extremely enjoyable piece of theater.

(Performances are being offered Friday and Saturday evenings through January 3, with one matinee on Sunday, December 21, and a special New Year’s Eve Gala Performance.

Regular tickets are $15; tickets for the gala are $30, which includes the show, hors d’oeuvres and open bar. Contact the theater by calling 860-350-6863.)