My overall impression
Sandy Mansson obviously is a fan of Marilyn Monroe and does her best to portray the silver screen legend as a middle-aged bombshell with little prospects for work. Although she wears a copy of the iconic white dress, Ms. Mansson seems to have forgotten the proper posture needed to carry off the look and slumps her way around the stage rather than carrying herself as the star she was.
Most of the bits are funny, especially during auditions where her lack of confidence throws Marilyn into a tizzy. But other bits, such as putting on her make-up while humming some of her famous on-screen songs dragged in tempo.
Ms. Mansson would do well to introduce the concept verbally at the beginning of the show when Marilyn wakes up to discover it’s 2014, or perhaps she notices the year on a wall calendar when she visits her agent at William Morris.
The message of the play is timely given that older women have it much tougher than older men in Hollywood. I think the play would do well to focus on more examples of that rather than just having Marilyn sit and talk about it.
It’s a good start for a show but needs some editing and a lot more finesse to truly bring Marilyn alive onstage. After all, she was a lot more than just the breathy way she said her name.
