Review: Obviously SOMEBODY Cares: LAURA BENANTI: NOBODY CARES, at Baltimore Center Stage

It’s kind of a strange assignment for a drama critic, to review a show like Nobody Cares: A Comedy Show with Original Songs (elsewhere billed as Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares), briefly perched at Baltimore Center Stage. Though Nobody Cares keeps one foot – well, a few toes, anyway – in the world of theater, it is mostly standing in the world of standup, The tools and discipline of drama criticism are thus not a perfect match for Nobody Cares. And yet … nobody cares, certainly not this critic. I wanted to go because, let’s face it, Laura Benanti, the “Creator & Performer” of the show, is Broadway royalty, having starred in eleven Broadway shows and won a Tony in one of them, not to mention having frequently appeared in TV shows and film as well. It is not often that we see performers of quite that stature in this town.

The fact that we see something between standup and revue in the Pearlstone Theatre is also a bit of a departure for Center Stage, which has mostly, over the years, lent the Pearlstone to dramas and comedies and the occasional musical. Based on yesterday’s show, I have to call this show an experiment worth repeating – as indeed Center Stage is about to do, with two shows that look rather similar in the offing. I’d be a little happier if I could see more of the sort of thing subscribers used to look to Center Stage to serve up in a season: something like a half-dozen full-length dramas and comedies drawn largely from the classical repertoire. That seems unlikely for the time being.

Also notable here is that this is clearly a traveling show, with stops scheduled next in Los Angeles, Costa Mesa, Boston and Arlington (and a history going back at least to the Edinburgh Festival in 2025), in other words, a complete touring show that would exist whether or not Center Stage did, as opposed to co-productions, which have been commonplace at Center Stage for years.

Still, while I wish Center Stage would stay closer to its roots, I can’t fault it for bringing Nobody Cares to town. It’s great fun, an hourlong riff on Benanti’s adventures in marriage (thrice) and parenthood, including lactation and perimenopause dramas, and also crutches, plus, of course, some of the showbiz stuff. Early in the monologue, Benanti points out the obvious, which is that the kind of people who get into showbiz are eager to grab your attention, meaning that Benanti can shift rapidly between getting laughs by telling often embarrassing stories in which she sought attention and then getting laughs by tacitly pointing out that she’s getting attention – right now – by telling those stories. It’s not so much that she’s giving us great insights into who she is or the lessons she’s learned from life, but that she’s sufficiently droll as a storyteller that she invariably amuses. The audience, which filled up pretty much all of the Pearlstone’s main floor and possibly more that I couldn’t see, was in the palm of her hand from the first.

Benanti is aided and abetted here by a trio comprised of Todd Almond on piano, who also occasionally sings background (billed as “Songs Co-Writer and Music Director), percussionist Jo Huling and bass player Joanna Smith. And Benanti sings a bit, uncorking tantalizing snippets of a fabulous voice.

As she points out at the outset, these times are sufficiently grim that a certain amount of distracting diversion is a good thing. Nobody Cares delivers.

For those who do care, Benanti’s material probably qualifies as blue (various expletives are undeleted and slang terms are used for body parts, for instance). As comedy (or drama for that matter) goes today, however, it struck me as pretty tame.

It’ll be gone in a flash, so hurry if you want to see it.

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares, starring and created by Laura Benanti, songs co-written by Todd Almond, directed by Annie Tippe, presented through September 26 at Baltimore Center Stage, 700 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202. Tickets available at https://secure.centerstage.org/events or 410-986-4000. Adult language, sexual content.

Photo credit: Show program.

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