Love, Loss, and What I Wore

Last week I wrapped up my summer theatre reviews for Stratford and Shaw, and the fall season is quickly approaching, with lots of arts entertainment to be had both here in Niagara and beyond. I will be returning to writing more about music-related topics in the coming weeks, but for now, I have a couple of theatre-related topics to cover before the month is out.

Years ago while living in Toronto, I spent many a pleasant evening in many of the prime downtown Toronto theatres, attending openings on a regular basis, from the Royal Alex to the then-named O'Keefe Centre and just about everything else in between. I was a particular fan of the ballet, and for over twenty years attended performances of the National Ballet of Canada on a regular basis, which I always enjoyed. I became a real fan of the ballet, and have missed the ballet performances the last few years. I also, rather slowly, I admit, became an opera fan and attended many Canadian Opera Company performances over the years. Again, I have not the past several years and I have missed them, but both the National Ballet and the COC were always more than generous in accomodating my ticket requests. Maybe I'm getting older after all, but I rarely make the trek to Toronto these days for live theatre; still, I couldn't resist an invitation to attend the opening night performance of Love, Loss and What I Wore at the Panasonic Theatre on Yonge Street.

This will tell you how long I have been out of the loop on Toronto theatre: I didn't even know the Panasonic Theatre even existed until the invitation came in! It is a nicely compact, reasonably modern facility with high ceilings and a good-sized balcony, with a proscenium stage not too large. One thing I immediately noticed upon taking my seat: the ushers are also wait staff, and take drink requests up until showtime! How's that for service?

Michael Rubinoff and Daryl Roth are the presenters of Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which is described as an intimate collection of stories by Nora and Delia Ephron, directed by Karen Carpenter. The stories are based on Ilene Beckerman's best-selling book of the same name. To be honest, I didn't know if I would get much out of the show going in, as it clearly appeared to be geared to women; mind you, I enjoyed (for the most part) The Vagina Monologues down at Brock Cente for the Arts several years ago, so I figured I was prepared for this show.

I was, as it turned out, prepared, and thankfully not the only male amid a sea of females on opening night. That being said, a lot of the stories are geared towards women, and frankly, most men - this reporter included - shake our heads in amazement when women rhapsodize about such things as shoes and handbags, both of which women apparently can never have enough of.

The set is simple, with five chairs lined up across the stage, each with a small podium for notes read by each respective actor. To the left of the stage resides a rack holding large drawings of particular outfits described by Barbara Budd in her segments, with each successive outfit moved to the front of the rack by a stagehand.

The five actors, Barbara Budd, Jeanne Beker, Sheila McCarthy, Luba Goy and Jane McLean, each present stories about love, life and particular clothing memories ranging from hilariously funny to poignant, in a show that runs just over 90 minutes without intermission. All five bring plenty of theatre credentials to the stage, with Jane McLean being the biggest suprise of the evening, as she held her own next to some very well-known Canadian personalities; Jane lives in Los Angeles and only began her acting career in 2001. Of the others, Sheila McCarthy seemed to garner the biggest laughs with a dissertation on handbags and how they become sort of a 'black hole' for everything a woman needs or wants to have with them. But really, there was not a weak performance in the bunch: each made the stories uniquely their own in convincing fashion.

Do you have to be a slave to fashion to enjoy the show? It might help, but frankly, anyone who has lived life to the fullest for some time will get plenty of enjoyment out of the show, and even if you haven't, you'll still be introduced to some interesting material presented by five very talented women.

Love, Loss and What I Wore rates a strong three out of four stars, and continues at the Panasonic Theatre until October 2nd.

September 18th, 2010.