Nonnie Griffin's One-Woman Marilyn Monroe Show Plays Tallulah's Cabaret, Now thru Oct 19

Marilyn - After comes to Tallulah's Cabaret at Buddies in Bad Times, 12 Alexander St., Toronto, today, October 10 to 19th. Performances are Tuesday-Saturday at 7.30 p.m., and Sundays at 2.30 p.m. Tickets are $26 plus HST, and may be ordered by calling 416-975-8555.

Tickets and more information on Marilyn - After will be available from http://buddiesinbadtimes.com.

This past May, Nonnie Griffin performed Marilyn - After as part of the SpringWorks Indie Theatre and Arts Festival in Stratford. Her one-woman show depicting Marilyn Monroe as her older self was enthusiastically received, with standing ovations at the two performances. Audiences were full of praise for her portrayal of the iconic actress, with a common response being, "I felt as though I were actually seeing Marilyn herself!"

"Marilyn Monroe continues to fascinate people of all ages, even some 50 years after her death," says Griffin. "No actress has ever held such a place in the affections of the public. To this day, people remain grieved and baffled by her sudden death in 1962. She was just 36 years of age."

Griffin, who bears a striking resemblance to Monroe, brings her effortlessly to life in an evening of shocking truths, mitigated by touches of wit and humour, for which Monroe was famous.

In the play, Marilyn is depicted as an older person, recounting her story, because - as she says - she never got the chance to be her older self. As someone who always loved older people, she names some of the many she was close to and who meant so much to her during her lifetime. Marilyn comes back from beyond to tell her audience the true facts about her life: her lack of any real parenting, the many foster homes, the sexual demands made on young actresses in those days, her famous nude calendar, the men in her life, and much more.

Nonnie Griffin has long empathized with Marilyn Monroe. "I, too, had a voluptuous figure as a young blonde woman, and men were constantly after me. It became very confusing and almost scary to deal with all the constant attention," she says. She recalls a vivid dream, in which she told Monroe, "I want to be your real friend." To which Monroe replied, "Thank you, Nonnie. I need one."

A veteran of Canadian theatre and Andrew Allan's fabled CBC Stage radio series, Nonnie Griffin is indelibly remembered for her appearances in such Toronto productions as Hello, Dolly!, Waiting for the Parade, Tremblay's The Impromptu of Outremont, Ring Round the Moon, and The Sea - for which she was named Best Actress of 1977. She is also the author of Sister Annunciata's Secret, based on an actual incident, in which she plays six characters. Her play brought audiences at the 2012 Edinburgh Festival to their feet and high praise from critics.

She is also the author of SHOWBIZ and other addictions, published by Mosaic Press and endorsed by writer Timothy Findley, who called her "magical".

After extensive research, it took Griffin about eight months to write her new play about Marilyn Monroe. Her sources included Marilyn Monroe Private and Confidential by Michelle Morgan; The Marilyn Encyclopedia by Adam Victor; The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe by Donald Wolfe; and The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by Randy Taraborrelli. The play previewed in Toronto in 2013, inspiring one patron to write that it brought a chill to her, as though Marilyn herself had appeared before them.

 

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