Review: SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN - A Wonderful First-Person Trip Down Celluloid Memory Lane

SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN/by Jen Danby/directed by Austin Pendleton/Lee Strasberg Theatre/thru February 6, 2016

With some judicious editing, this Austin Pendleton-directed 95-minute solo SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN (actually Part One in a trilogy) would make a stunning stand-alone one act. Jen Danby has written this fictional interview of an already deceased Sharon Tate chockfull of very interesting celluloid facts and tidbits. Onstage as Tate, Danby has captured the vocal qualities and essence of Ms. Tate very nicely. Danby's quite charismatic on stage reveling the audience with Tate's accounts of the behind-the-scenes of Valley of the Dolls and Rosemary's Baby amongst other film tales. Ms. Tate, as Danby depicts her, comes off much more intelligent, self-assured, down-to-earth and level-headed than the movie audiences would surmise from her various minimum-dialogued sex symbol characters.

And, as Danby depicts Roman Polanski, he's the most talented, most amazing love of Ms. Tate's life. The only 'flaw' to Polanski happens to be his admission that he can't promise to be monogamous.

A more definitive ending to this piece would cap off Ms. Danby's captivating performance much more complementary. As it is, SHARON TATE IN HEAVEN just ends.

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