Review: One More Week To See THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE: REVISITED

The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe: Revisited/written by Jane Wagner/originally played by Lily Tomlin as a one-woman play/directed by Ken Sawyer/LGBT Center/extended through December 11

One thing is perfectly clear. Jane Wagner's perspective of the 80s, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe is a brilliant piece of writing. When Lily Tomlin performed it in the 80s (the film version was released in 1991) as a one-woman play, portraying all twelve characters, the charm of the play was watching Tomlin's ingenious skill. She flawlessly slipped in and out of all the characters, female and male, without changing makeup, hair or clothes. It was a phenomenal performance. Now thirty years later, Wagner and Tomlin have adapted the work for a cast of 12 actors under the direction of Ken Sawyer, which opened in October and has been extended until December 11 only at the LGBT Center on the Ed Gould Plaza at McCadden Place, Hollywood.

This cast is indeed riveting to watch. Charlotte Gulezian plays the central character Trudy, the bag lady who shuffles along Broadway with her cart, talks to aliens and savors fried clams at Howard Johnson's. She is the glue to all the other characters. She sits and observes the others on stage and makes connections as the story moves forward. There is a wide assemblage of people: Brandi (Rachel Sorsa) and Tina (Julanne Chidi Hill), hookers with unrealistic dreams and aspirations, out.of.control teenager Agnus (Sasha Pasternak) passed from her parents to her grandparents Lud (Joe Hart) and Marie (Kimberly Jurgen) who can't control her either, selfish sophisticate Kate (Ann Noble), man chasing single Chrissy (Kimberly Robinson), studly Paul (Mike Bash), who is hardly cut out for fatherhood and ERA disciples Edie (Anny Rosario), Marge (Bellina Logan) and Lyn (Kristinas Johnson), who, as a feminist wants it all, marries, raises two kids, divorces and manages to survive, appreciating the beauty life has provided her, as well as the pain. Some of the people change like Lyn and Kate, and some do not like Agnus, Paul and Marge, but people are who they are. This is what life was...is... all about. Appreciate the mystery of life instead of trying to find the answers! There's much to appreciate. As Wagner concludes, "The play is soup, the audience, art." There is so much beauty in our melting pot culture. Vive la difference!