THE HANGOVER REPORT – Andrea Burns as Judy Holliday in SMART BLONDE shouldn’t be missed

Andrea Burns and Mark Lotito in Willy Holtzman's "Smart Blonde" at 59E59 Theaters. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

Andrea Burns and Mark Lotito in Willy Holtzman’s “Smart Blonde” at 59E59 Theaters. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

This week at 59E59 Theaters (in a co-presentation with MBL Productions), I had the great opportunity of catching a performance of Smart Blonde, Willy Holtzman’s Off-Broadway play – with lots of music – about the singular and unmistakeable Judy Holliday. The play chronicles Ms. Holliday’s rise to fame in the entertainment industry (including Hollywood, Broadway, and beyond) during the 1950s alongside such showbiz legends as Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Leonard Bernstein, and Marylin Monroe.

In a tightly-plotted 90-minutes, Mr. Holtzman’s memory play skillfully charts Ms. Holliday’s eventful life and times. Each scene efficiently gets to the point, often times quite poignantly, thanks in large part to Peter Flynn’s seamless, well-judged staging. The connective tissue of the play are its tastefully restrained and wonderfully-performed musical interludes, which consistently beguiled me. With Smart Blonde, Mr. Hotzman has written one of the more successful bio-dramas I’ve seen in recent years (and I’ve seen a lot of them).

Andrea Burns as Ms. Holliday is better than I’ve ever seen her, giving one of the strongest performances I’ve seen in recent memory. It shouldn’t be missed. A veteran of such lively musicals as In the Heights and On Your Feet!, she’s always been a charismatic and feisty performer. But with this performance, Ms. Burns has attained an extraordinarily high level of acting that caught me off guard. Her thoughtfully put-together and calibrated performance is both achingly present and impeccably detailed. It’s a treat to see her so thoroughly disappear into the role. As the various people in Ms. Holliday’s life, the trio of Andrea Bianchi, Mark Lotito, and Jonathan Spivey provide masterful support. In almost every respect (including Tony Ferrieri’s pitch-perfect set design), Smart Blonde exceeded expectations.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

 

SMART BLONDE
Off-Broadway, Play (with plenty of music)
59E59 Theaters / Theater B (co-presented by MBL Productions)
1 hour, 30 minutes 
Through April 13

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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