RECIPE FOR LIFE

We were disappointed last Sunday night when we walked into the Acorn Theatre on W 42nd Street and learned that Marian Seldes had suffered an accident and was recuperating but would not be in RECIPE FOR LIFE. She was the motivator for us to see the show!

As we entered the theatre, we ran into Nancy Ploeger & Nancy Ryan, who we now really think are stalking us since this is the third time we’ve run into them at a show in the past couple of months. Seriously, it is always a pleasure to see them; we know they enjoy theatre as much as we do. We also ran into Lisa Linden and Lloyd Kaplan, who we haven’t bumped into since WAITING FOR GODOT. New York theatre really is a small universe. Maybe this is why almost everything now is staged as a “limited run”!

Jeffrey was quite surprised when we were seated, opened the Playbill and saw “In Memory of Tina Brozman” on the inside cover. Tina Brozman, who succumbed to ovarian cancer in 2007 was formerly the Chief Judge of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and presided over the Barricade Books/Lyle Stuart cases that consumed many years of Jeffrey’s life. This case led to a long term friendship with Lyle, who died in 2006 and Carole, who continues to run Barricade Books. Judge Brozman’s husband Andrew, who did a Q&A at the end of RECIPE FOR LIFE, founded Tina’s Wish, a foundation whose mission is to fund research for the early detection of ovarian cancer, a terrible killer because it is typically detected too late to effectively treat. RECIPE FOR LIFE was presented by Cause Célèbre and Tina’s Wish and was a beautiful tribute to a wonderful woman.

The first RECIPE FOR LIFE skit (“The Love Course” by A.R. Gurney) was performed by Maria Tucci, Harris Yulin, Miriam Silverman and Jake Robards (son of legendary actor Jason) about the last class of two college professors who are about to each go their own way after teaching a class on Love. The cast is delightful and the simple set is enhanced by the chemistry of the cast. The one act was simply delightful - enjoyable and entertaining.

“The Love Course” was followed by “Tallulah Finds Her Kitchen,” a reading by the incomparable Frances Sternhagen, written by Joseph Stein (of “Fiddler on the Roof” fame and who was in the audience at this performance) together with Danny and Neil Simon. Ms. Sternhagen brought to life the wonderful words written by Messrs. Stein and Simon; the audience never took their eyes off her for a moment and every word was delicious.

Next up was “Menu by Jessie,” a reading by Tandy Cronyn about life with her parents, Jessica Tandy & Hume Cronyn. Having lived through much of what she read about her parents, Ms. Cronyn, an accomplished actress in her own right, gave wonderful insight into what her parents were really like and although it was refreshing to find the child of an acting family describe her parents and family life as normal, her turning of the pages throughout her reading was terribly distracting. This would have been much better with a teleprompter or even memorization.

The final skit was “The Hairdresser,” with Maria Tucci (who we thought was better in “The Love Course”) and Kathleen Chalfant. This one was about an actress having her hair done as she prepares to go to the Tony Awards as a nominee. In the end she can’t get her hair done because her hair is not real, she is undergoing chemotherapy. The drama of this sketch was a perfect lead-in for Andy Brozman to talk about his wife Tina, Tina’s Wish and Cause Célèbre. The Q&A was a bittersweet surprise but the idea of tying in a cause with an evening seeing great theater is a win-win and we look forward to seeing more of this.

Next up: THE MIRACLE WORKER!