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PDF EPUB} the Tale of the Allergists Wife by Charles Busch the Tale of the Allergists Wife by Charles Busch Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Tale of the Allergists Wife by Charles Busch The Tale of the Allergists Wife by Charles Busch. Meet Marjorie Taub (Linda Lavin). A $900,000 condo within walking distance of Zabar's and a devoted doctor husband with a sufficiently remunerative specialty to support a fulfilling early retirement What more could an upper West Side matron of fifty something want? Well for one thing, while Ira (Tony Roberts) has recaptured his youthful do-good spirit with running an allergy clinic for the homeless and mentoring future allergists, Marjorie is running on emotional empty. Her therapist recently died and, as she puts it, cannot be replaced "as easily as a dead Schnauzer." Her mother (Shirl Bernheim) is alive and kicking up a daily storm of complaints about her dysfunctional digestion, not to mention Marjorie's shortcomings. Worst of all, while Marjorie has pursued cultural superiority like a pilgrim in search of the holy grail, she recognizes herself as a mediocrity. After an expensive emotional outburst in a Disney store during which she broke numerous Disney figurines, she has retreated to what threatens to be permanent shivah for her unfulfilled life. Marjorie probably sounds like your classic target for a satire on a very specific slice of life in the Big Apple, with lots of geographically on the mark insider references. She is. Fortunately for actor-writer Charles Busch (himself a terrific and affectionate portrayer of archetypal females), Linda Lavin transcends the caricature image used to promote the show (a cartoon born-to-shop Marjorie popping out of a shopping bag spattered with banners for assorted cultural interests). Lavin sniffles and kvetches, but even as she has us laughing at her every gesture and expression, she reveals the genuine pain of a woman whose window of artistic possibilities has closed. Busch is equally fortunate in the other actors. All are carryovers from the play's original sold out production at Manhattan Theatre Club's Off- Broadway Stage II. Tony Roberts' Ira is the amusingly self-satisfied and patient opposite to Marjorie's manic despair and rages at her mother's complaints and putdowns. Shirl Bernheim has enough comedic skills to mitigate the over-reliance on tiresome scatological humor and the supposed shock appeal of a little old lady using the F word. Rounding out the cast is the attractive Michelle Lee who displays great flair as the flamboyant childhood school friend who mysteriously drops back into Marjorie's life. Under her influence Marjorie picks herself up from her couch and resumes shopping and dreaming. Once entrenched as a houseguest cum Golem of Riverside Drive, Lee also seduces her hosts into a one night m�nage-�-trois, which is less funny in its execution than when discussed after the fact by husband and wife. Anil Kumar in the minor role of an over-educated young Iraqi doorman Mohammed adds a touch of youthful and hunky vigor. Mohammed is a rather typical comedy shtick character and his revelations about Lee's fund raising activities only add to the contrived, mish-mash climax in which the $900, 000 condo becomes "a fortress unconquerable." Like the other MTC play, Proof (Our Review) which recently transferred to Broadway, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife benefits from capable direction and an outstanding design team. No doubt many audience members would be ready to move into Santo Loquasto's tasteful living room with its blend of mahogany and rust-colored wallpaper and upholstery and have Ann Roth fill their walk-in closets with some of her modish outfits. The "Tale" of the title and the use of an enabling but troublesome outsider or golem, points to the fact that this is more fable than full-fledged play. And while Busch's Upper West Side Manhattanites will bring to mind Woody Allen movies (many starring Ira/Tony Roberts!) and Neil Simon, I'm also reminded of Cynthia Ozick's Puttermeser Stories . Ozick might well replace Herman Hesse on Marjorie's book shelf -- and serve as another role model for Busch when he's ready to abandon scatological running gags for more solidly plotted plays. Until that day, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife should find a ready audience among Manhattanites of a certain age -- even those living in apartments across the Park from Marjorie, Ira and Zabar's. USA: Bucks County Playhouse 2013 Summer Season. Your Easy-access (EZA) account allows those in your organization to download content for the following uses: Tests Samples Composites Layouts Rough cuts Preliminary edits. It overrides the standard online composite license for still images and video on the Getty Images website. The EZA account is not a license. In order to finalize your project with the material you downloaded from your EZA account, you need to secure a license. Without a license, no further use can be made, such as: focus group presentations external presentations final materials distributed inside your organization any materials distributed outside your organization any materials distributed to the public (such as advertising, marketing) Because collections are continually updated, Getty Images cannot guarantee that any particular item will be available until time of licensing. Please carefully review any restrictions accompanying the Licensed Material on the Getty Images website, and contact your Getty Images representative if you have a question about them. Your EZA account will remain in place for a year. Your Getty Images representative will discuss a renewal with you. By clicking the Download button, you accept the responsibility for using unreleased content (including obtaining any clearances required for your use) and agree to abide by any restrictions. The Tale of the Allergists Wife by Charles Busch. CARPENTER SQUARE .COM. The Tale of the Allergist's Wife by Charles Busch. September 5-27, 2003 Directed by R honda Clark. Playwright Charles Busch makes mirth out of misery in his comedy THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST'S WIFE, which opens Carpenter Square Theatre's 20th Anniversary Season. The hilarious story of a New York culture vulture on the verge of a nervous breakdown plays September 5 - 27, 2003 in the arena theater at Stage Center, located at 400 W. Sheridan in downtown Oklahoma City. As the play opens, Marjorie Taub is mourning the death of her shrink and nursing her wounds from her violent outburst in the Disney Store. Her husband Ira complains, "Within three minutes, you dropped six porcelain figurines� The Goofy alone was two hundred fifty dollars. They thought you were making some kind of political statement about the Disney Corporation." Her husband, recently retired from his regular allergy practice, is irritatingly fulfilled by his adoring university students and his free clinic for the homeless. Her mother Frieda is hopelessly preoccupied with her digestive tract. Her daughters are grown and scattered around the globe. Not even her confidante, the building doorman, and his shared interest in fine literature brightens her days anymore. Marjorie has given up her dream of being a novelist and feels hopelessly lost. "Perdu!" she cries. Enter Lee Green, a long lost friend from Marjorie's Brooklyn childhood. Lee truly seems an international woman of mystery. She's seductive and exotic. She rattles off outrageous stories about her series of eclectic jobs, various celebrities and Marjorie's cultural heroes. At this point, Lee seems to be a busy fundraiser for a political organization. Marjorie is mesmerized. Lee revives Marjorie's zest for life, and soon moves into the Taub's Upper Westside apartment where she proceeds to play havoc with the family's social and sexual lives. All along she's so charming that who would suspect she has ulterior motives? THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST'S WIFE is playwright Charles Busch's first script to play on Broadway, although he has long held a cult following as an actor and female impersonator in New York's Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway theater scene. In past seasons, Carpenter Square presented his plays THE LADY IN QUESTION (a take-off on WW II espionage movies) and PSYCHO BEACH PARTY (a combination of a 60s surfer movie and a teen slasher pic that opened as a film in 2000). In ALLERGIST, Mr. Busch mined the rich veins of his own eccentric family. He said, "This was one of the few times I'd looked at my own suburban Jewish background and the people I grew up with in Hartsdale and Westchester. I identify with the character of Marjorie whose dilemma is that she wants to be an intellectual." The character of the mother Frieda is a composite of his Aunt Belle and his late Aunt Lillian. "It's wild to hear the audience roaring with laughter at things Aunt Belle said that left us shocked and appalled." Busch took home the 2000 John Gassner Playwright Award given by the Outer Critics Circle for his comedy. The Actors Fund for Everyone in Entertainment - logo. The Actors Fund is proud to present a one night only stage reading of the critically acclaimed The Tale of The Allergist’s Wife . The evening will star Charles Busch in the title role originally played by Linda Lavin , and assembles the entire original all-star Broadway cast including Michele Lee, Tony Roberts, Anil Kumar and Linda Lavin as well as original director Lynne Meadow . The Tale of The Allergist’s Wife was originally produced by Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer), Carole Shorenstein Hays, Daryl Roth, Stuart Thompson and Douglas S. Cramer. Don’t miss what is sure to be an unforgettable evening! Starring. Charles Busch. Michele Lee. Tony Roberts. Anil Kumar.
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