I am with you hoping that someone can recommend Renee Taylor's off Broadway play, "My Life on a Diet," before I buy tickets for this Saturday's matinee. I used to love Renee's work on talk shows like "Merv Griffin" and her semi-autobiographical movie, "Made For Each Other," which was so funny and touching when it was released in 1971. But "The Nanny" came along and Renee became a stereotypical Jewish mother with an overeating disorder. I still watched the show; but I didn't approve of many of the scripts which weren't funny or original enough.
So if you see the show before Saturday, be sure to write back with your comments; and I will do the same thing after I see "My Life on a Diet."
Saw this today and I really enjoyed. I was entertained throughout the whole show and had a great time, it’s very funny, the sad parts were pretty moving. It’s pretty much Renée Taylor telling the story of her life so if you are a fan I would recommend it.
We bought TDF tickets to this after seeing Ms. Taylor at Bryant Park on Thursday.
It's ninety minutes of Ms. Taylor sitting at a desk, referring to the script and backed up by photos and projections and a couple of videos. I liked the first half hour of it, when she's talking about her parents, but as time went on, I found myself drifting and by the end I really stopped caring. And I wanted to know what happened to her younger brother, whose birth she mentions early on but then never mentions again. And I found the set very busy and bizarre.
I also saw Renee Taylor's one woman show, "My Life on a Diet," at last Saturday's matinee. From my perspective, it is a very cute show enhanced terrifically by Renee's unique performing style. It reminds me of what made me first become a fan of hers when she was a frequent guest on the syndicated Merv Griffin talk show in the 1960s. She tells stories about her life in show business while putting her own amusing spin on them. I can't say that my attention was riveted to her storyline throughout the 90 minutes because there are too many fictious diets discussed. But I still consider myself an admirer of Renee's work. This show made me realize that Renne is more than the average comedienne. She is a talented actress as well.
I have a new beef. Why haven't any of the newspaper critics published their reviews of Renee Taylor in "My Life on a Diet." I saw a few Internet critics' reviews, and they were all favorable. Did Renee ask for it or was it decided by its esteemed producer Julian Schlossberg? As you know, I saw the show a week ago and enjoyed most of it. My biggest problem was the lack of padding in the seats and lack of leg room which were a pain to both my big tuchas and my long legs. But I still love Renee Taylor after all these years since I first saw her in the afternoons on "Merv Griffin." She tells it like it is and manages to bring humor to humdrum every day living. May someone (hint, hint) turn her and her late husband Joe Bologna's film "Made for Each Other" into a Broadway musical starring Fran Drescher and Steven Pasquale. Are you listening Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman?
joined:1/28/04
joined:
1/28/04
Posted: 7/9/18 at 4:04pm