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The Lady with all the Answers
By David Rambo
Directed by BJ Jones
At Northlight Theatre
9501 N. Skokie Blvd.
Chicago, IL
Call 847-673-6300, tickets $35 - $55
Tuesdays at 7:30
Wednesdays at 1 & 7:30 pm
Thursdays at 7:30 pm
Fridays at 8 pm
Saturdays at 2:30 & 8 pm
Sundays at 2:30 & 7 pm
Running time is 1 hour, 45 minutes with intermission
Through June 29, 2008
Ann Landers comes to life through Judith Ivey
Eppie Lederer (1918-2002), a.k.a. Ann Landers wrote an advice column for the Chicago Sun Times and hundreds of newspapers from 1954 until her death in 2002 at age 84. Eppie is channeled by two-time Tony Award winning Chicago actress Judith Ivey. This tour de force performance is a one person profile of the quite famous lady who wrote as Ann Landers offering advice through a daily column. While Eppie wasn’t the original advice writer, she revolutionized personal advice by referencing experts when a reader requested help with matters she wasn’t knowledgeable about. She dispensed wit and wisdom to lovelorn teens, confused couples and a wide assortment in need of advice. She used sharp retorts and humor to makes her point. She also took her job seriously as she researched and agonized over the serious help inquiries she received. At her peak, she had 60 million readers.
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Tom Burch’s elegantly opulent set depicting early 20th Century wealth, we see Eppie as she is organizing her past columns for a new book. She is also under deadline for her latest column—one that has her worried since her marriage of 36 years has come to an end. Eppie often spoke against divorce in her columns so writing to her readers to tell them that she is getting a divorce is difficult. Judith Ivey, with full Ann Landers hair style, channels Eppie as she honestly and wittingly tells her personal story. Ivey’s Ann Landers sure knows how to turn a phrase as she reads representative letters she has received with her stinging replies. The sex oriented letters dominated. Ann became the first advice columnist to speak about the pill, premarital sex, spousal abuse, homosexuality and sexual acts. Her advice was laced with modern sensitivities and wholesome honest advice. She was the voice of common sense and mainstream ethics. She did change with the times as she listened to the voice of the thousands of letters she received. She actually started the self-help craze that later became a stream of ‘How to…’ books and TV shows such as Oprah.
Judith Ivey is wonderful as Ann Landers. The show is filled with nostalgia and humorous quips offering a profile of Eppie Lederer. While I wonder if the show is a tad dated for younger audiences (Eppie died in 2002), it is a marvelous look at American society’s interests and problems in the last half of the 20th Century. Judith Ivey comes across with blatant honesty as Eppie Lederer, a.k.a. Ann Landers. I enjoyed my time in Eppie’s world—she was an American original.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: May 30, 2008
Jeff Recommended
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