My overall impression
I have been a fan of Katie Rubin since 2006, when she played Mayella Violet Ewell in “To Kill A Mockingbird” at Sacramento Theatre Company. Her performance stood out to me because of how she tells a story … with every inch of her body. You believe her… how can you not believe her?
So, when I was in town for my daughter’s fringe show, I took the opportunity to see Katie’s new show, “Why I Died, A Comedy” at Theatre Asylum, the Elephant Space. We saw the Preview Show and the venue was plagued with some technical difficulties which included no sound to play the show’s music and sound effects. No worries… we didn’t notice that anything was missing… Katie became the sound effects and the music… brilliant.
Early in the show, Katie is a character talking to her agent… or was it Katie talking to her agent? She was telling a story… or was she telling us HER story? Gosh, she looks so sad… wait… is it her character that looks so sad? She goes from one character to another, changing her voice and her facial expressions so smoothly and effortlessly that you don’t even notice that there is just one person on stage. She’s quite fabulous.
At the end of this 72 minute journey, I was wondering if I just heard a clever and entertaining piece of fiction, or was this Katie’s journey? Whatever the case, the show came full circle and the woman on stage looked content and happy. I hope it was Katie… she deserves it.
