FringeNYC 2013: Two Women, Two Stories
Two solos exploring transitions women experience as they age with power, dignity (and a little bit of what the f**k?). What's Wrong with a Mouse? and What's My Age Again? reveal life transformations through innovative, humorous, and dramatic story-telling.
Official production websiteShow details/ticketing at FringeNYC
Review by Heather McAllister · August 14, 2013
In Two Women Two Stories, two one woman shows that focus on family, love, and healing, Vicki Dello Joio and Merry Ross illustrate two sides of the California coin: peppy and sunny, spiritual and thoughtful as we meet their families and find out what is important in their life’s journeys.
Merry Ross’s What’s My Age Again?, detailing the perils of entering peri-menopause, and what it means to be approaching “fif…fiff…fifty! Gasp!” is hilarious and touching. Ross is so likeable, so relatable, after the show I wanted to give her a big hug and buy her a drink. In her half of, Two Women Two Stories, she brings a great, goofy energy and poignancy to the stage with her true to life – yet broad – portrayals of the women in her life.
Her glamorous grandmother, cigarette in one hand and martini in the other, who locks herself in her room when her world changes; her adorably raspy voiced and bossy daughter; her gorgeous super active mother (who was in the audience) all are presented with great love and affection, while poking fun simultaneously. Best is her portrayal of a hot tub incident where she tried to show off for “fellow 30 year olds,” because she still feels 30 on the inside, and literally fell on her ass.
The other half of Two Women Two Stories, Vicki Dello Joio, is a wonder. In her half of the show, What’s Wrong With A Mouse, she relates how her famous composer father, a misogynist who rejected her for rejecting him, or so he felt, for not putting men first, for not being a “good Italian daughter, a virgin or a mother,” came to an understanding with her only at the end of his life. Her pain is clear, but more importantly so is her struggle to find connection. To face rejection with compassion and empathy, and keep on keeping on, giving kindness and love, is a great lesson for us all. Her physicality is so fluid, so graceful, Dello Joio reminded me of a cross between Martha Graham – a family friend from among the many luminaries in her childhood – and Marcel Marceau.
Eloquent and gifted at characterizations, she gives a thoughtful performance. Kind beyond words to the people in her life, even the ones who hurt her the most, Dello Joio is inspiring.
I was secretly thrilled to see that both these talents are fellow Bay Area women! Their sunny and spiritual California dispositions are so welcoming, so joyous, it was great to spend an evening getting to know them through this thoughtful and hilarious show.
Preview: Interviews with Artists from Two Women, Two Stories
We're asking artists from each show to answer questions about themselves and their work to help our readers get a detailed advance picture of the festival:
All About My Show · Vicki Dello Joio (Actor)
- Complete this sentence: My show is the only one in FringeNYC that...?
features two solo performances by 2 women who balance comedy and true life-based story-telling with poignancy and humor. One story is a tale of rejection and reconciliation between a father and daughter; the other is a hilarious look at one woman's grappling with trying to understand what the heck the "aging process" is. - Tell us about the character or characters that you portray in this show.
In "what's Wrong with a Mouse?" I play several characters from a rejecting father who radically changes his position in his dying days, a little girl who loves to dance, and a host of extras. In "What's My Age Again?" Merry portrays 4 different generations of women in her family as she tries to figure out their common ground as she deals with the perils of peri menopause - What moment or section in this show do you really love to perform? Without giving away surprises, what happens in that moment and why do you love it?
I absolutely love playing the pivotal moments where my father character discovers new ways to look at old points of view. One of my favorite moments in Merry's show is when she has an embarrassing encounter while with her father in a drugstore in front of the object of her adolescent crush. - Which school or system of acting has been most useful to you in your career, and why (examples: The Method, Uta Hagen, Viewpoints, etc.)?
Although I've studied with some great teachers, Jack Romano, Herbert Berghoff, and others I have to say for me the biggest influence has been working with Playback Theater because there is a particular rapport that gets built with an audience when you are playing true stories with authenticity. - What's your favorite pastime when you’re not working on a play?
Hiking in the redwoods or mountains, playing with my dog, Jambalaya and practicing qigong. Merry loves martinis, her family and working out, working out, working.
Gianfranco Lentini reviews Waiting For Waiting For Godot
“There’s nothing [everything] to be done” about Waiting for Waiting for Godot at the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival. Written by Dave Hanson and directed by...
Julie Congress reviews The Magic Mirror
The Magic Mirror, an opera with 14 singers and a live orchestra of seven (plus a conductor!), has a sound of a magnitude unlike any other FringeNYC show. Yet while an auditory...
Andrew Rothkin reviews The Young Olympians and The Most Amazingly Awesome Adventure Ever
What do you get when you combine ancient Greek mythology with puppetry, pop
culture, a wacky quest, and some fun and catchy new tunes? If you’re the
talented cast and crew of The Maryland...
Jason S. Grossman reviews The Famous Play
Two actors appear on stage and post an enormous sign with the playwright's contact information. A narrator enters and identifies himself as the playwright and describes what the audience is...
Kimberly Wadsworth reviews unbidden
Geneticist Julia Lamb, the woman at the center of Joanne Hudson’s Unbidden, is something of a mess. While researching a study into the human genome, Julia (Chelsea Leigh Barrett)...
David Koteles reviews Marshall's Law
A man and a woman are locked in a basement. A basement where dark secrets seem to be kept, waiting to be revealed. We learn the man and woman used to be best friends, until he “stole”...
Fred Backus reviews Mercedes Benz Awkwardly
Arriving from Australia to help close out the 2013 New YorkInternational Fringe Festival in its final week is Mercedes Benz Awkwardly, a raucous one-woman comedy about a first time...
Bob Stewart reviews The TomKat Project
The TomKat Project by writer Brandon Ogborn is a great example, (by this reviewer) of a perfect FringeNYC Show. It has 7 players, (including the playwright as narrator) 7 chairs, a few...
Pamela Butler reviews The Unfortunates
The late 19th century in London’s East End was not a safe place for young women plying the trade of prostitution. Women who for one reason or another fell into desperate situations, were...
Robert Weinstein reviews Quake: A Love Story
Ain’t Real Theatre Company’s Quake: A Love Story begins in the basement of a sparring couple as they go through their collective possessions after a bitter separation....
Gianfranco Lentini reviews William
1592. The end of the Renaissance is rapidly approaching, and the Baroque period is about to take the stage. Henry VI (Parts I-III) has been publicly performed, and the audience cries for...
Mitchell Conway reviews And It Spins Twice
For those interested in contemplating the implications of string theory, And It Spins Twice is a good introduction to some of the concepts that are radically altering our understanding...
