This humorous revue touches on the power women invariably invest in their clothing, whether it is bras, shoes, wedding gowns or party dresses. These items, sometimes remembered for decades after they were outgrown, still carry strong memories for the women who wore them.
Many of these memories are captured in Love, Loss, and What I Wore, by the late Nora Ephron and her sister, Delia. This occasionally funny show is perfect for a girl’s night out. It would be even better if the girls in question are middle-aged and slightly tipsy.
Talented writer Nora Ephron delighted readers for many years with her sharp, witty observations. She also found success as a screenwriter, penning the scripts for “Silkwood,” “When Harry Met Sally…” and “Sleepless in Seattle.”
In Love, Loss…, however, the script doesn’t stray far from the page. The five women in the cast sit on stools, reading their parts from metal music holders in front of them. This makes for an unnecessarily static environment.
The play began as a long-running Off-Broadway show at the Westside Theater. Some of the nation’s funniest female talent was recruited to participate, and one never knew who was going to be onstage during any given reading. It could be Rosie O’Donnell, Jane Lynch or Marlo Thomas. Or it could be a number of unknowns, as was the case in the tour that played Milwaukee. One guesses that the well-known comics probably made the most of the material, to the point where audiences were laughing until they ran out of breath. By contrast, the tour version lags in energy at certain points and doesn’t seem to have anything resembling a plot.
Among the funnier segments is one titled “Shoes,” which begins with the typical complaints about how difficult it is to feel comfortable while wearing high heels. One woman traces her life in an arc that ranges from sexy heels to Birkenstocks (“which made my mother say that I looked like a troll from Middle Earth”), and then back to somewhat lower heels when her marriage fails and she’s “on the market” once more.
The first item the show mentions is a Brownie uniform, and the audience’s laughter indicated many could relate to this outfit. One actor recalls that her mother was her troop leader. The daughter had an official Brownie dress, but not the mother, because she couldn’t afford one. Funny how that memory stuck in her brain after so many years, the woman muses.
The show touches on many issues particular to women, such as breast cancer (although men also get breast cancer, as we know), purses and wedding gowns. After several women share their opinions about the “perfect” wedding dress, it is revealed that two of them are planning to marry each other—a segment that feels forced. About a dozen theatergoers walked out after that segment, obviously unimpressed by the sly surprise.
Many of the “jokes” are little more than well-trod expressions (such as the discomfort associated with wearing high heels.) In a segment titled, “the closet,” all the women complain about their various wardrobes. Then they shout in unison, “I have nothing to wear.”
Other parts of the show are just plain odd, such as a woman’s confession of an embarrassing incident in the 1960s while she was wearing a paper dress. Was there some rule against wearing underwear with such frocks? Beats me.
Still, the opening-night audience seemed to be sufficiently amused by the truly comical bits, as well as those which resonated with the women’s own experience. The show requires an intimate theater, which Vogel Hall certainly is. This reviewer expected more humor and creativity, especially from someone with Nora Ephron’s talent.
