Full Article Text
ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRITY MEDIA COMEDY MUSIC TV CELEBRITY KIDS MOVIEFONE
Michael Giltz
Freelance writer
GET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Theater , Charles Busch , Olive And The Bitter Herbs , Entertainment News
0
10
0
0React
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: "Olive and the Bitter
Herbs"
OLIVE AND THE BITTER HERBS
** 1/2 out of ****PRIMARY STAGES AT 59E59
Almost any show was certain to be a letdown after The
Divine Sister, one of the best works in playwright/actor
Charles Busch's career. And indeed it is. Yet when aregular theater-going friend asked if they should seeOlive and the Bitter Herbs , I found myself defending it
somewhat. Yes, it's just a boulevard comedy. But there'sa certain pleasure to be had out of watching five prosmake the most of a show. It's thin material but sturdilycrafted nonetheless.
At the heart of the tale is Olive (Marcia Jean Kurtz). She's an elderly actress ensconced in her rent-controlled apartment in the East Thirties, bitching and barking at everyone in sight. Olive's claim to fameis a sausage commercial, but that was years ago. Now maybe a guest spot on a Law & Order type show
(she plays a Holocaust survivor) could be just the thing to reignite interest in her career. Meanwhilethere's her put-upon friend Wendy (Julie Halston) who seems like a paid care-giver but is instead justone of those people who takes on the burdens of others to distract from their own empty life.
Wendy tries to negotiate a truce between Olive and two gay neighbors who are driving her crazy (Dan
Butler and David Garrison), though of course it's more accurate to say she's driving them crazy. In pops
the father of yet another tenant, a sweet-natured elderly man (Richard Masur) and if anything is sure to
set off Olive it's passivity and sweetness. Did I mention the ghost? A ghost keeps appearing in Olive's
FOLLOW USSeptember 15, 2011
9 Signs Your
Husband Is GAY,
According To...PHOTOS: Kirstie
Alley Makes Her
Runway Debut
Christina Ricci At
Alexander Wang:
Hit Or Miss?Keira Knightley:
Sexually Dangerous
EDITION: U.S.
Like 43
Posted: 8/19/11 03:35 PM ET
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this story
Get Entertainment Alerts
Sign UpPHOTO GALLERIES
CONNECT
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORE
Like 40KTelevision Mad Men Jersey Shore Scarlett Johansson BlackBerry 101 More Log in
mirror and the show hinges on the possibility that all of them are connected to the ghost in one way or
another.
This is Neil Simon territory and appropriately the show has two set pieces worthy of Simon at his best.
One is a Passover celebration filled with bitterness and infighting. The other is a second act confrontationin which all the actors are gathered together and Busch cheekily piles on the coincidences one afteranother in linking them all to the ghost. It's amusing but mechanical.
The set by Anna Louizos is pitch-perfect... except for the mirror. Everyone keeps raving about how
unusual and attractive the mirror is so I wish it had more of an air of mystery about it. I know Olive saysshe got it at Sears or some such place, but still. There's a ghost in it, everyone keeps raving about it, so alittle more pizazz would be nice.
As mentioned, the cast is top-notch up and down the line, from Kurtz refusing to sugarcoat Olive down to
Butler's amusingly tart and inferior-feeling illustrator. Masur does the best work here, taking thechallenging role of a nice guy and making him consistently interesting and watchable. Few challenges areharder for an actor than a passive guy and he delivers nicely. Director Mark Brokaw keeps things movingnicely. There just isn't very far for things to move. So Olive and the Bitter Herbs is a lesser effort from
Busch, but one produced with care.
The Theater Season 2011-2012 (on a four star scale)All's Well That Ends Well/Shakespeare in the Park **
Broadway By The Year: 1997 ** 1/2
Hair ***
Master Class w Tyne Daly ** 1/2
Measure For Measure/Shakespeare in the Park ***
Olive and The Bitter Herbs ** 1/2
One Arm ***
Silence! The Musical * 1/2
Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark * 1/2
Unnatural Acts ***
Zarkana **
FRINGEFEST NYC 2011The Bardy Bunch **
Civilian **
Hard Travelin' With Woody ***
Parker & Dizzy's Fabulous Journey To The End Of The Rainbow ** 1/2
Rachel Calof ** 1/2
2 Burn * 1/2
Walls and Bridges **
What The Sparrow Said ** 1/2
MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
'Web Cam 101 For Seniors'
Turns Oregon Oldsters Into
YouTube Celebrities
Scarlett Johansson Nude
Photos Prompt Investigation
SHOCK VIDEO: Debate
Audience Says Uninsured
Patient Should Be Left To Die
Celestrellas: Angola named
Miss Universe 2011 - show
recap (PHOTOS & VIDEOS)
AOL TV: Jon Cryer, Ashton
Kutcher & Angus T. Jones
Talk 'Two and a Half Men'
Season 9 (VIDEO)
Ten Signs Your Marriage is
Headed for Divorce
Mark Blankenship True Blood
Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep.
12
Engadget: Windows 8 for
tablets hands-on preview
(video)
AOL Jobs: Spelling Errors
Send Red Flags To Employers
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Kumi Naidoo
Don’t Make a Wave: Greenpeace at
40
Candy Spelling
iPads and Social Media in the
Classroom?
Like 118K
Like 96
Like 64K
Like 2K
Like 466
Like 2K
Like 111
Like 3K
Like 1K
Missoni For Target
Merchandise FloodseBay
Scarlett Johansson
Contacts FBI AboutHacked Nude Images
Scarlett Johansson
Anna Faris Talks
Women Actresses,
Co-Stars And...
Paul Rudd In
Playboy: Self-
Loathing, Nudity
And...
'Butter' Screening:
Weinstein Takes On
Bachmann,
Garner...
'We Bought A Zoo'
Trailer: Matt
Damon,...Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz was provided with free tickets to these show with the understanding that he would
be writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
Buy a link here Sponsored Links
What is Scientology
Think For Yourself and Find Out for Yourself.
Scientology.org
College - 100% Online
Be more employable! Earn a certificate up to a doctoral degree at Baker Online®.
www.bakercollegeonline.com
eBay® - Official Site
Visit eBay for great deals on a huge selection of items. Shop eBay!
www.ebay.com
10 Best Credit Cards
Compare Multiple Credit Card Offers & Apply Online. As Seen on PBS TV.
www.CardRatings.com
More in Entertainment...
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 12
Halle Berry's Flawless
Bikini Bod
Olsen Sister Flashes HerBra
Scarlett's naked pics, TylerPerry is highest paid
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
More Entertainment News at THR.com
More Celebrity News at People.comBecomes A TwitterTrending Topic
Mark Ballas and PiaToscano Split
READ MORE
America's Got Talent Picksa Winner
READ MORE
Michaele Salahi Was NotKidnapped as Husband
Claimed
READ MORE
Cher Lashes Out On
'Terrified' Chaz Bono
Haters
Madonna Denied Dissing
Hard Working Volunteers
PHOTOS: Johnny Depp
Gets Creepy
Like 2K
Baby Bump Of The Year!
Like 1K
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
TV
Video
Weird Animals
Astronomy
Food
Fashion
Scott Brown
Kanye West
Barack Obama Buy a link here Sponsored Links
What is Scientology
Think For Yourself and Find Out for Yourself.
Scientology.org
College - 100% Online
Be more employable! Earn a certificate up to a doctoral
degree at Baker Online®.
www.bakercollegeonline.com
eBay® - Official Site
Visit eBay for great deals on a huge selection of items.
Shop eBay!
www.ebay.com
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRITY MEDIA COMEDY MUSIC TV CELEBRITY KIDS MOVIEFONE
Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Contact Us
Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of HuffPost News
sarah_ross
RetweetDear Twitter Friends pls check this
out: Have We Overlooked the Most
Effective Way to Prevent Terrorism
& War? http://t.co/YyoQ1EIR
soundcloud
Retweet'Listening for the Sounds ofinnovation.", a great guest post by
our own @Bougie over on
@HuffPostTech http://t.co/aIT65Ox
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORE
Michael Giltz
Freelance writer
GET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Theater , Charles Busch , Olive And The Bitter Herbs , Entertainment News
0
10
0
0React
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyTheater: "Olive and the Bitter
Herbs"
OLIVE AND THE BITTER HERBS
** 1/2 out of ****PRIMARY STAGES AT 59E59
Almost any show was certain to be a letdown after The
Divine Sister, one of the best works in playwright/actor
Charles Busch's career. And indeed it is. Yet when aregular theater-going friend asked if they should seeOlive and the Bitter Herbs , I found myself defending it
somewhat. Yes, it's just a boulevard comedy. But there'sa certain pleasure to be had out of watching five prosmake the most of a show. It's thin material but sturdilycrafted nonetheless.
At the heart of the tale is Olive (Marcia Jean Kurtz). She's an elderly actress ensconced in her rent-controlled apartment in the East Thirties, bitching and barking at everyone in sight. Olive's claim to fameis a sausage commercial, but that was years ago. Now maybe a guest spot on a Law & Order type show
(she plays a Holocaust survivor) could be just the thing to reignite interest in her career. Meanwhilethere's her put-upon friend Wendy (Julie Halston) who seems like a paid care-giver but is instead justone of those people who takes on the burdens of others to distract from their own empty life.
Wendy tries to negotiate a truce between Olive and two gay neighbors who are driving her crazy (Dan
Butler and David Garrison), though of course it's more accurate to say she's driving them crazy. In pops
the father of yet another tenant, a sweet-natured elderly man (Richard Masur) and if anything is sure to
set off Olive it's passivity and sweetness. Did I mention the ghost? A ghost keeps appearing in Olive's
FOLLOW USSeptember 15, 2011
9 Signs Your
Husband Is GAY,
According To...PHOTOS: Kirstie
Alley Makes Her
Runway Debut
Christina Ricci At
Alexander Wang:
Hit Or Miss?Keira Knightley:
Sexually Dangerous
EDITION: U.S.
Like 43
Posted: 8/19/11 03:35 PM ET
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this story
Get Entertainment Alerts
Sign UpPHOTO GALLERIES
CONNECT
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORE
Like 40KTelevision Mad Men Jersey Shore Scarlett Johansson BlackBerry 101 More Log in
mirror and the show hinges on the possibility that all of them are connected to the ghost in one way or
another.
This is Neil Simon territory and appropriately the show has two set pieces worthy of Simon at his best.
One is a Passover celebration filled with bitterness and infighting. The other is a second act confrontationin which all the actors are gathered together and Busch cheekily piles on the coincidences one afteranother in linking them all to the ghost. It's amusing but mechanical.
The set by Anna Louizos is pitch-perfect... except for the mirror. Everyone keeps raving about how
unusual and attractive the mirror is so I wish it had more of an air of mystery about it. I know Olive saysshe got it at Sears or some such place, but still. There's a ghost in it, everyone keeps raving about it, so alittle more pizazz would be nice.
As mentioned, the cast is top-notch up and down the line, from Kurtz refusing to sugarcoat Olive down to
Butler's amusingly tart and inferior-feeling illustrator. Masur does the best work here, taking thechallenging role of a nice guy and making him consistently interesting and watchable. Few challenges areharder for an actor than a passive guy and he delivers nicely. Director Mark Brokaw keeps things movingnicely. There just isn't very far for things to move. So Olive and the Bitter Herbs is a lesser effort from
Busch, but one produced with care.
The Theater Season 2011-2012 (on a four star scale)All's Well That Ends Well/Shakespeare in the Park **
Broadway By The Year: 1997 ** 1/2
Hair ***
Master Class w Tyne Daly ** 1/2
Measure For Measure/Shakespeare in the Park ***
Olive and The Bitter Herbs ** 1/2
One Arm ***
Silence! The Musical * 1/2
Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark * 1/2
Unnatural Acts ***
Zarkana **
FRINGEFEST NYC 2011The Bardy Bunch **
Civilian **
Hard Travelin' With Woody ***
Parker & Dizzy's Fabulous Journey To The End Of The Rainbow ** 1/2
Rachel Calof ** 1/2
2 Burn * 1/2
Walls and Bridges **
What The Sparrow Said ** 1/2
MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
'Web Cam 101 For Seniors'
Turns Oregon Oldsters Into
YouTube Celebrities
Scarlett Johansson Nude
Photos Prompt Investigation
SHOCK VIDEO: Debate
Audience Says Uninsured
Patient Should Be Left To Die
Celestrellas: Angola named
Miss Universe 2011 - show
recap (PHOTOS & VIDEOS)
AOL TV: Jon Cryer, Ashton
Kutcher & Angus T. Jones
Talk 'Two and a Half Men'
Season 9 (VIDEO)
Ten Signs Your Marriage is
Headed for Divorce
Mark Blankenship True Blood
Sucker Punch: Season 4, Ep.
12
Engadget: Windows 8 for
tablets hands-on preview
(video)
AOL Jobs: Spelling Errors
Send Red Flags To Employers
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Kumi Naidoo
Don’t Make a Wave: Greenpeace at
40
Candy Spelling
iPads and Social Media in the
Classroom?
Like 118K
Like 96
Like 64K
Like 2K
Like 466
Like 2K
Like 111
Like 3K
Like 1K
Missoni For Target
Merchandise FloodseBay
Scarlett Johansson
Contacts FBI AboutHacked Nude Images
Scarlett Johansson
Anna Faris Talks
Women Actresses,
Co-Stars And...
Paul Rudd In
Playboy: Self-
Loathing, Nudity
And...
'Butter' Screening:
Weinstein Takes On
Bachmann,
Garner...
'We Bought A Zoo'
Trailer: Matt
Damon,...Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz was provided with free tickets to these show with the understanding that he would
be writing a review.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
Buy a link here Sponsored Links
What is Scientology
Think For Yourself and Find Out for Yourself.
Scientology.org
College - 100% Online
Be more employable! Earn a certificate up to a doctoral degree at Baker Online®.
www.bakercollegeonline.com
eBay® - Official Site
Visit eBay for great deals on a huge selection of items. Shop eBay!
www.ebay.com
10 Best Credit Cards
Compare Multiple Credit Card Offers & Apply Online. As Seen on PBS TV.
www.CardRatings.com
More in Entertainment...
TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 12
Halle Berry's Flawless
Bikini Bod
Olsen Sister Flashes HerBra
Scarlett's naked pics, TylerPerry is highest paid
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1 of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
HOT ON TWITTER 1 of 2
More Entertainment News at THR.com
More Celebrity News at People.comBecomes A TwitterTrending Topic
Mark Ballas and PiaToscano Split
READ MORE
America's Got Talent Picksa Winner
READ MORE
Michaele Salahi Was NotKidnapped as Husband
Claimed
READ MORE
Cher Lashes Out On
'Terrified' Chaz Bono
Haters
Madonna Denied Dissing
Hard Working Volunteers
PHOTOS: Johnny Depp
Gets Creepy
Like 2K
Baby Bump Of The Year!
Like 1K
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
TV
Video
Weird Animals
Astronomy
Food
Fashion
Scott Brown
Kanye West
Barack Obama Buy a link here Sponsored Links
What is Scientology
Think For Yourself and Find Out for Yourself.
Scientology.org
College - 100% Online
Be more employable! Earn a certificate up to a doctoral
degree at Baker Online®.
www.bakercollegeonline.com
eBay® - Official Site
Visit eBay for great deals on a huge selection of items.
Shop eBay!
www.ebay.com
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRITY MEDIA COMEDY MUSIC TV CELEBRITY KIDS MOVIEFONE
Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Contact Us
Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
Part of HuffPost News
sarah_ross
RetweetDear Twitter Friends pls check this
out: Have We Overlooked the Most
Effective Way to Prevent Terrorism
& War? http://t.co/YyoQ1EIR
soundcloud
Retweet'Listening for the Sounds ofinnovation.", a great guest post by
our own @Bougie over on
@HuffPostTech http://t.co/aIT65Ox
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORE