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It's just a matter of tradition that in "musical comedy" the word "musical" comes before the word "comedy" – when, as with anything Rita Rudner is involved in, you can expect the emphasis to be on the comedy. This is a very funny story about a slightly-later-than usual midlife marital crisis in which the songs serve to delineate character and move the story along whereas, in contrast to many shows, the spoken scenes are mainly there to deliver the jokes. Many numbers are performed by an off-stage singer-guitarist (Jason Feddy, who wrote the words and music) which give the scenes the feeling of a contemporary Hollywood rom com in which the feels of the characters are paralleled by the use of some familiar song on the soundtrack. Although some aspects of the plot feel familiar, the story itself is ultimately unpredictable – especially the second act – and, most importantly, we never see the jokes coming. Humor is the main ingredient here, but it's very tuneful and even touching along the way. Ms. Rudner and her husband, Martin Bergman, wrote the book, and Mr. Bergman also directs; Ms. Rudner co-stars with Robert Yacko, Kelly Holden Bashar, and Brian Lohmann.
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Author: Will Friedwald