Oh What a Night You'll Have at 'I Am My Own Wife'

Well, it's happened three times. Plays that I saw on Broadway that were critically acclaimed but yet I didn't really enjoy them. Then I saw them at the intimate Everyman Theatre and loved them.  It started with Proof, then Doubt, and now I Am My Own Wife.

In the latter, I was stunned at the wonderful performance by Jefferson Mays (an associate artist at Center Stage), yet I didn't grasp the show as much as I did after seeing the cast at the Everyman. And who makes up the cast?  The incomparable Bruce R. Nelson in a tour de force performance that you will remember forever!

Nelson's biography takes up an entire page in the program. He is a member of the Everyman Theatre Resident Acting Company where I've seen him in at least in six productions, at the Rep Stage (Stones in His Pockets), and at the Signature Theatre (Over and Over). I've always been impressed with his ability but nothing prepared me for this amazing performance. Nelson actually plays 35 characters in all.

First, one has to applaud the choice and challenge of this production by Artistic Director Vincent Lancisi. He obviously knew that Nelson could handle this complex role.

Nelson then approached Director Donald Hicken with the script. Hicken had directed Nelson in three Everyman productions: The Turn of the Screw, The Cripple of Inishmaan, and  Watch on the Rhine.  It is quite obvious they work very well together.

Do not let the subject matter scare you away. True, it deals with a famous German transvestite named Charlotte von Mahlsdorf who was an avid collector of 19^th century artifacts from furniture to various musical recording devices and turned her villa eventually into a museum. Can you imagine her ability to run a bar and nightclub for gays and lesbians in her basement first under the noses of the Nazis and then the watchful eye of the Russian East German Stasi?  You couldn't make this stuff up!!

Playwright Doug Wright was first told about Charlotte by the bureau chief for the U.S. News and World Report in Germany. Wright was intrigued with her story, wrote to Charlotte, told her of his intentions and then spent 10 years compiling interviews with Charlotte and doing research.

The play won both the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2004. (Mays won the Tony for his performance as Charlotte.)

I attended the performance with a theater loving nephew from Boston who is a savvy theater-goer. This was his first experience at the Everyman.  He was so impressed with Nelson, he actually got his autograph.  He inquired how long it took Nelson to learn his lines and Nelson responded he began about a year ago.  When I asked him how he did it, he stated, "I recorded the entire show and played it all the time in my car." 

The show runs two hours including an intermission. There's a post-show chat with the entire cast (that's Nelson) following the 7:30 p.m. performance on Feb. 19 moderated by Education Director, Julia Brandeberry.

See a wonderful article about Nelson in the January 7, 2009 Washington Post (page C4) by Jane Horwitz .

I Am My Own Wife runs through Feb. 22. If you love theater, you can't miss this!

For tickets, 410-752-2208 or visit www.everymantheatre.org.

NEXT AT THE EVERYMAN: The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov running from March 18 - April 26. Artistic Director Vincent Lancisi directs Everyman Resident Company Members Megan Anderson, Deborah Hazlett, Rosemary Knower, Wil Love, Carl Schurr, and Stan Weiman.

SAVE THE DATE:

Everyman's "Cherry Jubilee" takes place April 18, 2009 at the Visionary Art Museum.

For comments, write to cgshubow@broadwayworld.com.

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