Fringe Festival 2008
One-Woman Band
Hanna LoPatin does it all in solo show -- and it scores with audiences
some of the time.
“The
Sound of One Hanna Clapping,” seen August 23 in the 12th annual Fringe
Festival in New York, was a showcase for Chicago comedic actress Hanna
LoPatin, a 45-minute show directed by Saturday Night Live alum Ana
Gasteyer.
This show succeeded most in its second half, where more SNL-like style
humor came to the fore -- with a few little pieces that were the sort of
thing you would see as little bits by one single performer on Weekend
Update -- like a song, or a solo monologue, within that format.
And the best material within LoPatin’s show, mostly in those formats,
was that which riffed on her Jewish cultural background (or lack of
observance thereof), and woes of being single. The opening parts of the
show, geared mostly to introducing herself as a performer, covered
standard subjects and experiences that were pretty universal and didn’t
do so in any novel way -- like show-business aspirations as a kid, and
an embarrassing experience in college theater.
Where LoPatin really scored though, was in one song (she can accompany
herself with a few basic chords on an acoustic guitar) imagining the
perfect Jewish husband for herself, with a line, “he can read Hebrew
aloud/but not understand what he’s saying.” One video interlude in the
show, a fake ad for “Date Hanna,” riffed on her self-confessed tendency
to be the girl guys date right before they get married to someone else,
with slogans like “and when you’re tired, you can ‘Dump Her!’” and
“Warning: May Want To Talk For Hours To Achieve ‘Closure.’”
Also in the well-packed latter half of LoPatin’s show was another song,
sending up MySpace, and a creative performance piece imagining a
potential relationship and life with Michael Showalter, the “State” and
“Stella” comedic performer LoPatin idolizes -- achieved with Showalter‘s
photo on the top of a coat rack adorned with the sort of clothes he
usually wears.
LoPatin definitely shows potential to do great work in this showcase --
it doesn’t really fit the definition of one-woman show or character
showcase; it’s more like a middle category of solo sketch show. Probably
this show would be enhanced if she collaborated with a co-writer or
included another actor to play off in bringing to life her ideas --
which one might expect from LoPatin, since she comes from that Second
City and ImprovOlympic background that emphasizes improv collaboration. |