My overall impression
Stan Zimmerman and Christian McLaughlin’s play is packed with nasty laughs and knowing industry jabs, and it all works wonderfully well, as delivered by a game and capable cast. Carolyn Hennesy, a familiar face to fans of True Blood, is a riot as the imperious Margo. Teresa Ganzel sends up her own ‘80s goofy blonde image to a tee, and Vicki Lewis is all exposed nerves as the down-on-her-luck Belinda. Daniele Gaither does a wonderfully vicious parody of those awful “real housewives” (and I’m thinking NeNe in particular, since her character’s cancelled show is called “Cray-Cray for Desiree”). Iocano is also fun as the potentially clichéd, fluttery assistant who’s actually got a trick of his own up his sleeve.
Zimmerman’s direction is fast and furious, ideal for a piece like this, and the one-liners just keep flying, most of them hitting their intended targets. No subject is safe — social media, Netflix series, reality television, the challenges of growing old in Hollywood and the general vapidity of the industry itself. There’s a twist near the end that could have been awkward, but the writers work it in rather well, bringing the show to a satisfying conclusion.
