48. SIREN’S HEART: NORMA JEAN AND MARILYN IN PURGATORY
This
one-woman show, whose program offers what might be yet another subtitle (Norma
Jean Sings Songs Marilyn Never Sang), and seems to have been around somewhere or
other since 2011, is not the Marilyn Monroe musical you’ve been waiting for and
that TV’s SMASH failed to deliver. It’s a second-rate enterprise that imagines
Marilyn talking to us about her life and loves from Purgatory, with Louisa
Bradshaw doing an impression of Marilyn that works about 10 per cent of the
time.
Perhaps she was a bit more svelte two years ago (the program photos certainly suggest this), but
the formfitting dresses Ms. Bradshaw wears do not do her any favors, and her
attempt to replicate Marilyn’s vocal and facial idiosyncrasies have been done
better by drag queen Monroe impersonators. Ms. Bradshaw’s acting, sad to say, makes Monroe look like Helen Mirren by comparison, especially with her amateurish tendency to suck in her breath
in phony chuckles on three-quarters of her lines. Wherever director Lissa
Moira has gone, it’s time for her to come back and caffeinate this drearily dull
performance.
The show’s music mixes segments of songs Marilyn sang
in the movies (like “I Want to Be Loved by You") with new songs written by
Walt Steppe, who also wrote the play. It was astonishing to note that three
have lyrics borrowed from William Butler Yeats and one from Gerard Manley
Hopkins. There are also a couple of completely original numbers, such as “The
Shiksa Strip.” (Well, the venue is the Actors Temple Theatre, after all). The
new lyrics don’t challenge the poetry of Yeats and Hopkins, an example being: “I
know it wasn’t your decision, I’m in love with your circumcision.” Ms. Bradshaw,
accompanied on the piano by Gregory Nissen, sings the more familiar material in
a manner reminiscent of Monroe, but uses a full-out personal style for the
others that is often flat and mostly unmemorable.
As with most shows at this theatre, which houses
several at once, the scenery is barebones minimal, consisting of a white
Victorian couch, a coffee table, a wig table, a full-length mirror, and fuzzy
photos of Marilyn entertaining the troops in Korea, Kim Novak, Rita Hayworth,
Marlene Dietrich, Orson Welles, Yves Montand, and Elvis Presley mostly hanging from black drapes. Hand-held
photos show us Peter Lawford and Arthur Miller, but I didn’t catch any of Joe DiMaggio.
Marilyn’s story, familiar from so many books and
documentaries, is told by Ms. Bradshaw as she dons and doffs a
blonde Marilyn wig several times, and at one point puts on a black wig to
briefly portray Jane Russell. For a surprising amount of time the actress either
shows her own blonde hair or simply wears the unattractive stocking cap over which she will
place a wig. Those who know Marilyn Monroe’s story will pick up most of the
references, but others, mostly younger folk, will probably not have a clue
about any of the people and movies mentioned, no matter how enormously famous
or popular they once were.
I looked at my watch too many times
during the performance of this intermissionless hour and a half show. And since
I don’t want to have you looking at yours while reading this, I’ll keep the
rest to myself and hope you make good use of the time I’m saving you.
