'Viva La Vivienne!! Shub Shines in Historic World Premiere

The Everyman Theatre is presenting the world premiere of Viva La Vivienne for only three more performances and if you love theater, especially the history of Baltimore theater, get your tickets NOW!!! This is a celebration of acclaimed Baltimore actress Vivienne Shub who relates her family history growing up in Baltimore in the early 20^th century as written by her sister, Naomi Greenberg-Slovin who did such a fine job authoring the one-woman show The Cone Sister which also starred her sister at the Everyman last year.

What an honor it was to be in the sold-out audience watching this icon of Baltimore theater relate her story of life. This was quite a week for one-woman shows. The Arena Stage is presenting Carrie Fischer's recitation of her celebrity life in the hilarious and entertaining Wishful Drinking (which hopefully will transfer to Broadway). Shub, while not the daughter of celebrities, has a fascinating and humorous story to tell and young people and those young "at heart" will never forget this tale of a woman fulfilling her dreams to perform.

Shub reads the script while seated at a lectern in front of a montage (cleverly designed by Daniel Ettinger) made up of different versions of a photo of a "younger Shub" in pearls (a la Andy Warhol).  There are short piano interludes during the 75 intermission-less evening to allow Shub to take a break...as if this talented actress needs them.

She is utterly a remarkable actress using her expressions, her hands, her glances, her stares to tell the story of her beloved father Sam Slovin who arrived in Baltimore from Bialystok, Poland (remember Bialostock and Blume from The Producers?) in 1904 when he was 11. There were no English as a second language classes available in those days, so Sam (who spoke Yiddish) was put in a first grade class to learn English (how did he fit in the seats?).

One of the funnier episodes of Sam's early life was him hitting a baseball so hard during a game he broke the cover off of the ball and when he heard everyone yelling "Run home!" he took it literally.

Sam later finished high school in one and a half years and attended Maryland Dental School. Shub was proud that he was one of the few Baltimore dentists who treated Black patients.

Shub was born in 1918 in the middle of a terrible flu epidemic and her parents named her after the Latin word Viva, to live.  While growing up, she would often spend time in her father's dental office and listened attentively to the various accents she overheard.  She was soon copying these accents successively to her family whether it was Russian, Irish, or Yiddish. 

Sam was a poet and Shub relates her dad's work about diversity acclaiming that "children...whether brown, black, yellow, or beige...they're all the same inside"

Her first exposure to culture was violin lessons suggested by her mother. Her first exposure to professional theater was at a children's theater that came to Baltimore and performed Anne of Green Gables. It was after that performance Shub "knew I could do that...it was my first look at the window of my future."

After high school where she was in the drama club, she planned a life of teaching at Towson State Teacher's College. But it was a summer in New York City where she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Art which solidified her dream about the theater.

Sam did not hesitate to tell his daughter to "Follow your dreams...this is your chance...take it."

After she was able to get rid of her Baltimore accent and graduation from Towson, she related there were only two choices for actors at that time -  head to New York or LA.

She chose NYC and thanks to the Federal Theater Project, she was able to get work from 1935 until the funding evaporated in 1939 and then it was back to Baltimore where she taught children's theater and acted in community theater.

You will hear stories about her involvement with Ed Golden at the Jewish Community Center Theater and how she helped Golden organize the first professional theater company in Baltimore that is now known as Center Stage.  I did not realize I saw her perform in Moliere's  Tartuffe in their initial presentation at their current home on N. Calvert St. in 1975.

You will hear about her vast resume which includes performing at Washington, DC's Arena Stage, Folger Shakespeare Theater, the Olney Theatre Center, "American's Most Wanted" and the film "Runaway Bride" with Richard Gere.

She ends the evening talking about her creative home at the Everyman Theatre. "This is my world." Following each performance, you can follow Shub into the lobby to help celebrate her 90^th birthday rapidly approaching in October.  After the audience spontaneously sang "Happy Birthday", the soon-to-be nonagenarian introduced many of her relatives who flew in from the Netherlands.

This performance benefits the Everyman Theatre's campaign to renovate the Town Theatre on Fayette Street. Shub's family announced they are donating $25,000 towards that campaign.

In my very first column I wrote for Broadwayworld.com I mentioned that Baltimore  needs a theater award program similar to the Helen Hayes Awards in Washington, DC.

Is there any doubt, when (not if) this occurs, they should be named "The Vivienne Shub Awards"?

Vivienne, thanks for the memories and your 72 years on stage. I hope the Everyman Theatre records this for posterity.

Performances continue September 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. and September 24 at 2:30 p.m.

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

For comments, write to cgshubow@broadwayworld.com.

 

 

 

 

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