PAGE 24 STUDIO CITY SUN APRIL 14-20, 2006
WWW.STUDIOCITYSUN.COMTheater Reviews
The Rabbi and The Cheerleader
is a comic mitzvah to behold
BY AMY LYONS
performer Sandy Wolshin brilliantly plays
the castanet-playing blonde in an engaging
two-hour solo show as she tap-dances,
pom-pom waves, eats, shops, writes
and prays her way through 40-plus years
of living.
As her childhood self, Wolshin spends
on-stage time in a hospital bed surrounded
by overly concerned grandmothers,
a cramped family road-trip vehicle
loaded with siblings in enforced pursuit
of their parents’ nomadic dreams,
and most poignantly, in an orphanage
after one of her father’s many shortlived
but devastating departures of
the household.
Wolshin is at her best when focusing
on exterior characters, rather
than her solo character. Through portrayals
of her heavily accented, guilt-tripping
grandmothers; her unaffectionate,
wisecracking Jewish father, who embarrasses
the kids at every turn; and her
mother, whose use of song and dance
as coping mechanisms inspires the line,
“some would call this denial, mom called
it Broadway,” Wolshin shows us what her
development was like, rather than simply
telling us.
Her forte is imitation and she knows
well the art of ethnic humor. When she
takes us through her high-school Latina
phase, during which she wrote an advice
column for Low Rider magazine, her exaggerated
accent and streetwise ruse
combines with a genuine love for the
Latino culture that makes for a hi- lar ious
but respectful mock-up.
“I fell in love with everything
about the Latino
culture...they were
all about family,” said Wolshin,
who remembers moving toward that
place of warmth and love when her own
family could not provide it.
The show does not, however, rely
on accents and imitations to hold audience
attention. Images of beer-swilling,
raucous NFL fans are projected onto a
screen, which is used sparingly and at
just the right moments. Family photos
and action shots of Wolshin in all of her
sideline, leg-kicking glory allow us passage
into the actual events of her life,
contributing detail to her storytelling in
short segments that do not overshadow
the narrative.
Wolshin engages the audience in a
sing-along, as well as many other moments
of audience interaction that keep
energy high and prevent waning interest
— often the death of a solo show.
With knees and elbows covered
throughout her performance, Wolshin
stays true to her late-in-life conversion to
the Orthodox Jewish faith, while allowing
her comedic spirit to shine. Whether
cheering for the Oakland Raiders or the
Orthodox Jews, Wolshin emerges as a
bona fi de mensch.
The Whitefi re Theatre has struck gold
with this show, which is currently scheduled
to play just one more time (April 30)
as part of the its Sunday Solo Series.
....In The Rabbi and The Cheerleader,✹The Rabbi and The Cheerleader
enjoys its fi nal performance
on Sunday,
April 30 at 7pm.
The Whitefi re
Theatre is
at 13500 Ventura
Blvd.,
Sherman
Oaks.
Call 866.811.4111
for tickets.
No comments:
Post a Comment