BWW Reviews: Tony Winner ANDREA MARTIN Debuts New Variety Act in the O.C.

After taking in a performance of Andrea Martin's brand new, laugh-filled, autobiographical one-woman-and-a-pianist show ANDREA MARTIN: FINAL DAYS! EVERYTHING MUST GO!, it's quite clear to see why the ever-so-funny Tony- and Emmy-winning actress has had such a rich and storied career in entertainment. A born chameleon with an endless arsenal of quirky characters and on-point impersonations, Martin provides her audience with a live, gut-busting 90-minute sampling of her impressive genius. Accompanied by Broadway musician and YouTube star Seth Rudetsky behind the keys, her show continues nightly performances at the Samueli Theater in Costa Mesa through Sunday, February 19.

Though most may know her from her groundbreaking, Emmy-winning work on the sketch comedy series SCTV (Canada's answer to Saturday Night Live) as well as her hilarious appearances in feature films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Martin—high-kicking vivaciously at 65—is also an accomplished stage veteran with a body of work that includes Mel Brooks' stage musical version of Young Frankenstein, the revivals of Oklahoma!, Fiddler On The Roof, and Candide, and, of course, her Broadway debut in My Favorite Year—which earned the comedienne the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1992.

Her charming stage show—part stand-up showcase, part video retrospective, and part cabaret act—manages to encapsulate her career in a neat, amusing package filled with hysterical anecdotes and even funnier visual aids. The show's title (and the title song she sings at the top of the program) is her cheeky way of describing 50 years of memories. "It's a comedy garage sale, folks!" she bellows, protesting conformity to what her age bracket usually beckons. "But I'm not retiring!" And, oh my, what a wonderful set of... memories she has.

Archival video footage and pictorial montages interspersed throughout the evening help illustrate a life in show business. She beams in her first guest appearance on The Tonight Show across the desk from legendary host Johnny Carson. She's adorable in her first commercial for Kit Kat bars. And she's undeniably brilliant in vintage clips that show her as an Olive Oil-soaked Sophia Loren, as a touchy-feely Spock opposite Carol Burnett's Kirk, and as heavy-breather Brenda Vaccarro hawking a feminine hygiene product. The actress really knows how to be over-the-top.

Martin not only provides video proof of her uncanny, satirical impersonations of the likes of Anne Murray, Barbra Streisand, Bernadette Peters and Liza Minelli, she also brings to life some of her own outlandish creations live, thanks to a few quick costume changes. We are treated to such characters as English-challenged Pirini, advice-dispensing sex therapist Cheryl Kinsey, feisty Aunt Voula, and her most famous character Edith Prickly—who surprises with a closing rap number.

A sharp, skilled character actor through and through, Martin really has a knack for disappearing into different people. She's also quite a quick-witted improvisor, whether dealing with uncooperative audience members brought up on stage (the show's one minor weak spot) or repeating a running gag about the rather lengthy name of the theater currently housing her show ("...it's wonderful to be here at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts' Samueli Theater Cabaret Space..."). Even her personal musings on dating in the internet age or her role as a very, very involved soccer mom are achingly funny.

But perhaps the true highlight of the evening comes smack-dab in the middle of it, as she recounts her continued love affair with the theater—both in orated recollections and in glorious song. Of all the realms she has dabbled in, she describes Broadway as "the most prestigious...but pays the least." Beginning with a clip of her Tony acceptance speech for My Favorite Year—which shows her being unfairly cut off by the orchestra during the midst of it—she goes into a sweet duet with Rudetsky on "Do You Love Me?" from her stint on Fiddler On The Roof (opposite Harvey Fierstein) followed by a spirited recreation of "He Vas My Boyfriend" from her iconic turn as Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein. My goodness, she's funny.

Overall, Martin's musical variety show is an entertaining comical smorgasbord for Martin's fans and Martin novices alike. While I would have liked to have seen (and heard) more from her also funny sidekick Rudetsky besides his expertise on the piano (seriously, check out his genius "deconstructions" on YouTube), the show itself is a satisfactory program filled with enough of Martin's signature bits for a full evening's worth of divine comedy. The experience is a confident (if slightly zig-zaggy) mixture of lively vignettes and even some lovely musical interludes that's a nice departure from the usual cabaret act normally offered here at the... what's it called again? Oh, yes... the Segerstrom Center for the Arts' Samueli Theater Cabaret Space. Brava, Ms. Martin! Brava!

Follow this reviewer on Twitter: @cre8iveMLQ

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ANDREA MARTIN: FINAL DAYS! EVERYTHING MUST GO! featuring Seth Rudetsky continues at Segerstrom Center for the Arts' Samueli Theater in Costa Mesa through Sunday, February 19.

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.SCFTA.org.

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