funny about the situation: a Jewish lesbian comedian we hadn’t heard from in awhile, doing a one-woman show. It was just… very textbook.
I sat stoically in my seat as we waited for Judy, trying to remain impartial and not be swept up in the simple magic of having free tickets to a $65 dollar show. However, as soon as Judy took the stage at the DR2 Theatre in Union Square, I couldn’t help wanting to give her a big hug! She is this beaming, giant orb of 6-foot 3-inch earnestness.
For all her warmth, individuality, and unique loveliness, the show itself follows some pretty standard one-woman show tropes. She makes a lot of jokes, then gets real with the audience, bares her soul, shows us how she plays the piano and sings, then does some impressions of people in her life. There are visual components such as painfully adorable photographs of her youth and clever animation that is used to amusing effect. The set supports the framework of her show, her love of ’70s sitcoms and how she longs for her own sitcom: The Judy Show. Much of the evening hinges on the idea that the world, specifically the networks she has pitched to over the years, was not/is not ready to see a gay family.
Which brings me to my central problem with the show. In the 90’s, that would have made a great through-line for a one-woman show: that the world isn’t ready to see a sitcom featuring a gay family. After all, according to Judy, The Ellen Show was cancelled because Ellen Degeneres came out. But… is that topical anymore? Doesn’t Modern Family feature a gay family? Isn’t the world like, totally ready, but just hasn’t given Judy a show? Are the issues related anymore?
Judy’s relationship with her mother makes for powerful material. I enjoyed her loving and nuanced portrayal of the now 89-year-old Mother Gold. Judy was at her best when she was, honestly and without force, relaying a powerful moment in her life, not when she was kind of screaming her way through an impression or a song. I found myself wishing to just watch her do stand-up. It seemed to me that she cracked a little under pressure to tell this big story of her life. I was most at peace as an audience member when she spoke simply about what was moving and what was funny to her.
I would not recommend this show to friends of mine, but the ticket price already un-recommended itself to my (beloved) broke-ass friends. I think for Judy’s friends, though, older Jewish women on the arms of their yarmulked husbands, middle-aged lesbians in button-down shirts, and the rest of the enthusiastic audience that filled the DR2 Theatre, she has made a good show. My review: A thumbs up if you fit the demographic, and a lovingly ironic thumbs up if you do not.
“The Judy Gold Show: My Life as a Sitcom” continues to run through October 22 at the DR2 Theatre in New York. For tickets and showtimes, click here.
