Review: DOING ALRIGHT at Gateway Theater

Actor and comedienne Nicole Travolta lays her demons to rest in a cathartic monologue that resolves her shame spiral and hopefully provides aid to those in similar positions. Burdened somewhat by her famous name (her uncle is John Travolta), coming from a broken home, a bad marriage, and being a compulsive debt-ridden shopaholic, Travolta flies through the details of her recovery in a brief, brutally honest and very funny whirlwind.

Aided by some cute projections of old commercials, Travolta includes impersonations (Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw, Drew Barrymore, and Jennifer Coolidge), some very raunchy anecdotes involving her fallback career as a spray tanner to the strange Hollywood set and finally, to a path to redemption from the throes of debt and low self-esteem.

Performing is in her blood. With roles in TV sitcoms “Two and a Half Men” (CBS), “The Middle” (ABC) and “Anger Management” (FX), Travolta worked with improv group The Groundlings where she pitched this show’s idea to Lauren Burns who agreed to Direct and Co-Write “Doing Alright.” Travolta’s works have been seen at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Off-Broadway.

Travolta has an engaging kinetic energy and connects easily with her audience. Many can easily relate to the urge to spend money they don’t have through the easy extension of credit. Saddled with enormous debts and legal action, the stories of her crazy tanning clients provide ample comic fodder, if somewhat puerile in nature. But that’s the nature of the spray tanning business and Travolta uses that insanity to help move her forward financially and back into what really motivates her – comedy and the connection to her audiences.