By Marilyn Lester***As promised, following NLE publisher Scott Barbarino‘s preview review of the musical comedy My Ex-Husband’s Funeral, this “official” review puts a second seal of approval of this work-in-progress. To recap, according to Barbarino: “in its infancy…is already pretty fantastic and funny…a pastiche tour de force.” Over three developmental performances at Don’t Tell Mama, we can now say: th
e verdict is in: this piece has legs—so much so it will be seen again this spring at Christopher Street’s IRT Theater, an incubator for developing works.
Written by Lisa Ellex (based on a true story!), My Ex-Husband’s Funeral is a musical comedy (with a combination of six new songs and a few retooled standards), in the time-honored style of the Friends parody, Murdered by the Mob and Grandma Sylvia’s Funeral, among others. While not immersive (yet?) the action is set in a funeral parlor following the death of Joe Clancy, a man who was a husband, lover, father, cousin, brother and friend to those in attendance—and all of them outrageously singular in varying degrees.
With sharp direction by James Luzar, the cast was so fully immersed in their characterizations, they were having as much fun as the audience members they were entertaining. These characters (in both senses of the word) are the e
x-wife (Lisa Ellex); the widow (Eadie Scott); the grieving daughter (Lulu Rose), whose eulogy opens the piece; and the very eccentric cousins (Warren Schein and Mary Ellen Ryan). And then there’s Sissy a rehab escapee and funeral crasher, played by Goldie Dver, whose impassioned parlando rendition of the Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” was priceless. But “the Oscar goes to:” Sidney Myer as Aunt Baby Marie, a retired Ziegfeld Follies star. In costume and demeanor, Myer brought his artful comedic skills and impeccable sense of timing to this plumb role. As music director, pianist and contributing songwriter, the one-and-only Ricky Ritzel was an anchoring force at the keys. He was als
o the deceased, his framed photo on the piano and the “voice of Joe Clancy.”
Like many parodies, farces and comedic works, there’s a truth lying within, From a solemn memorial at first, with its eulogy by a grieving daughter, to a wacky surprise ending, the play is, in subtext, a study in grief, the complex nature of family dynamics, lapsed relationships, love in its many guises and more. But we’re also directed to”enjoy the chaos because most of life is boring,”a permission to laugh and consider that laughter is indeed the best medicine.
