Susan Granger’s review of “Sachi Parker’s LUCKY ME” (Off-Broadway Theater/New Haven)
“You’re Shirley MacLaine’s daughter?” people would exclaim to Sachi Parker. “Lucky you!”
Yes – and no. Sachi Parker’s one-woman show is filled with love – and longing. Shirley MacLaine and Steve Parker had an open marriage. So Steve Parker moved to Japan while Shirley MacLaine pursued her career in Hollywood. Sachi shuttled back and forth, although her formative years were spent with her father and his mistress. A Japanese governess taught her obedience and subservience. Then she was shipped off to boarding schools in London and Switzerland, where her parents forgot to pick her up for summer vacation. Since her mother considered college an unnecessary expense, Sachi worked as a waitress and explored the world as a Quantas stewardess. Marriages and children followed, sometimes eclipsed by Sachi’s incessant struggles to create viable emotional bond with
her elusive mother.
Although it’s astonishingly compassionate in tone, Sachi Parker’s LUCKY ME characterizes Shirley MacLaine as a totally self-absorbed movie star, propelled by delusions about extra-terrestrial conspiracies, and Steve Parker as an unrepentant con-man. Rising above daunting challenges, captivating Sachi Parker explodes with great personal appeal in dramatic scenes and sheer, spirited magic in her MacLaine impersonations.
Based on Parker’s book, co-written with playwright Frederick Stroppel, the fascinating, yet fragmented, anecdotal narrative is astutely directed by Douglas Moser and set on an elegant
Asian-themed set designed by Andrew Rubenoff with costumes by Deighna DeRiu.
With performances Wednesday thru Sunday, LUCKY ME runs through June 9 at New Haven’s Off Broadway Theatre at Yale University, 41 Broadway – entrance on York Street, next to Toad’s Place. For tickets and information, call 203-305-7762 or e-mail: luckymetickets@yahoo.com