Review: THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST'S WIFE Opens at the White Theatre

The Tale of the Allergist's Wife opened Saturday January 10 at the White Theatre located in the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park. Barb Nichols directs the play by Charles Busch, which opened on Broadway in November of 2000 running for 777 performances. The Tale of the Allergist's Wife won the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for Outstanding Playwriting and received one additional Outer Critics Circle Award nomination plus three Tony Award nominations and two Drama Desk Award nomination.

From the moment you enter the theatre the audience knows it is about to be served up a huge helping of quality and entertainment. Nichols, supported by a superb production team, directs a highly talented and experienced cast. Scenic Designer Paige Ahlenius transports the audience to an upper class apartment in New York City complete with a crystal chandelier and marvelous works of art on the walls.

Marjorie Taub is an aspiring intellectual who usually spends her days in museums and theatres pursuing culture and her own intellectual awakening. As scene one opens, we find her on the couch in the middle of what appears to be a nervous breakdown and mid-life crisis. Her intellectual wellbeing is challenged by her mother who constantly complains about her faults and her doctor husband who spends more time helping the homeless than being attentive to his wife. She flies in and out of fits of rage as the doorman completes the installing of the crystal chandelier.

The wonderfully humorous sit-com style melodrama heats up as she opens the door to a stranger looking for another apartment, only to discover it is her childhood friend Lee. Lee has traveled the world, listen carefully as she name-drops everybody and anybody who is somebody, and is currently raising funds for what they have been told is a charitable institution.

When Lee suddenly has nowhere to stay, Marjorie invites her to move in with her and her husband. Things heat up between Lee, Marjorie, and her husband Ira to a point that Marjorie and Ira become uncomfortable with Lee's staying at the residence. After getting Frieda, Marjorie's mother, to donate $5,000 to the organization things come to a head between Lee and her hosts.

Peggy Mall is magnificent as the depression riddled Marjorie. The audience erupts with laughter throughout the production as she brings the character from depression, to admiration, to embarrassment, and finally outrage. Mall returns to the White Theatre where she has appeared in Children of Eden, The Wizard of Oz, and Harry and Eddie.

Elizabeth A. Hillman makes her debut with the White Theatre presenting a wonderful performance as the childhood friend returned, Lee. Her dialogue and movements are so natural you almost forget she is not Lee. She has previously appeared with the Barn Players, Kansas City Fringe Festivals, and She and Her Productions.

Irene Blend, starring as Marjorie's mother Frieda who seems more interested in her bowel movements than the welfare of her daughter, gives the most powerful performance of the evening. She gives such a splendid performance as the angry self-centered mother that before the first act is over you want to put her in a home. She has appeared previously at the White Theatre in Fiddler on the Roof and Brighton Beach Memoirs among others.

Greg Butell and Hunter Hawkins give fine performances as Ira and Mohammad the doorman. Butell has appeared previously at the White Theatre and several theatres, professional and non-equity, in the area. Hawkins appeared in Brighton Beach Memoirs and Fiddler on the Roof at the White Theatre.

The Tale of the Allergist Wife continues at the White Theatre through January 18. However, some of the language may be a little rough for younger audiences, a delightful stage adventure sure to surprise the audience. Purchase tickets at the box office at 913-327-8054 or visit the White Theatre website. Photo by Bob Compton courtesy of the White Theatre.

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