Susan Granger’s review of “Love, Loss and What I Wore” (Westside Theater)
Some people look for the deeper meaning of life in theater; others are more than delighted with a superficial soupcon of laughter. Happily, this play delivers both.
Partly based on Ilene Beckerman’s eponymous 1995 memoir, the expanded concept is by sisters Nora and Delia Ephron, augmented by observations from their friends. What emerges is a beguiling collection of revealing stories about disastrous prom dresses, the humiliation of trying on outfits in the unforgiving light of stores’ dressing rooms, the frustration of mail order shopping from the Spiegel catalogue, short skirts, cowboy boots, and the inevitable conclusion that there’s nothing in your closet to wear. Clothing is the vehicle through which we learn the intimate, often poignant intricacies of women’s lives.
All-in-all, there are 27 stories, some exploring life-defining moments, like what one wore to a parent’s funeral or how a young college co-ed who had been raped by a stranger recovered from the trauma by donating her mini-skirts to Goodwill – but kept her beloved boots. Others vignettes are outrageously funny and some are downright silly,
Perched on chairs with music stands holding their script segments, the ensemble cast is superb with each woman tackling a variety of parts, except for Tyne Daly who plays the narrator-in-chief, Gingy, over a lifetime, as her wardrobe tells her story, beginning with her 1940s Brownie uniform. Among the others, Rosie O’Donnell was most memorable, delivering the comedic “I Hate My Purse” and the serious “My Mother.” But Samantha Bee, Katie Finneran and Natasha Lyonne acquit themselves admirably, evoking happy and painful personal memories as well as a fashion pastiche of the last six decades of the twentieth century, including the dictum, “Never wear velvet before Rosh Hashanah.”
Director Karen Carpenter balances the diversity and cross-cutting dialogue, while Jessica Jahn’s black costumes work to unify the participants. It’s also gratifying to know a portion of the production’s profits will be donated to the Dress for Success charity. With rotating casts, this popular production has been extended through March 28th.