Nancy Opel           photos by Mathew Murphy

 

 

 

                                                                     by Julia Polinsky

 

Bobby Goldman’s Curvy Widow tells the story of a fifty-ish widow’s search for sex after marriage in an enjoyable, sweetly sexual musical that won’t challenge your attention span, with a cast of seasoned pros, and terrific production values.

 

The story is a simple one: on the advice of her shrink, the fifty-something widow of a famous writer tries online dating as a means to start having sex again (please note: not to find love, but to have sex). The whole show is one long song and dance routine about Bobby’s headlong dive into looking for love online (the show’s title comes from her online handle).

 

You can trace the course of Bobby’s life by song titles, from her total, super control freak marriage (“Under Control”) to her changing the way she’s living (“White Box Loft”) and the way she struts her stuff (“Curvy Widow,” “Log On, Get Off,” “The Rules for Whittling Down,”). Curvy Widow basically maps out familiar territory for anyone who has stuck a toe back into the dating pool after a long absence, and does it with humor and kindness and hope.

 

 Alan Muraoka, Andrea Bianchi, Ken Land, Nancy Opel, Aisha de Has, Christopher Shyer, Elizabeth Ward Land.

 

Her women friends (Andrea Bianchi, Aisha de Haas, Elizabeth Ward Land) do what women friends do – offer advice and tranquilizers to the newly bereaved, help weed out the obvious non-starters, be wingman. And help Bobby to realize she may have found “The One,” when the time comes.

 

As come it does. Or does it? No spoilers, but when all is said and done, there’s a lot to be said for sampling and testing and evaluating everything in life. You learn a lot about yourself, as Bobby does. 

 

Drew Brody’s songs do a creditable job of passing for witty and tuneful; it’s not easy to find a rhyme for Vagifem, but he manages to work it into “Gynecologist Tango”, a highlight of the show, in my opinion. Bobby Goldman’s book is funny enough, poignant enough, and explicit enough to keep an audience engaged throughout.

Christopher Shyer, Nancy Opel, Alan Muaoka

 

Nancy Opel, starring as Bobby – wait, what? The main character has the same name as the author? Oh, you noticed!  Curvy Widow is Bobby Goldman’s own story on the Westside Theatre stage, loud and proud. She’ll meet-and-greet you in the lobby of the show and offers a talkback afterward that promises to deliver herself “with no handlers.” (Stick around. Enjoy.)

 

Back to the enthusiastic, energetic Nancy Opel. She really knows how to work a room, gives a physical and charming performance as Bobby. The supporting cast are all very good, with a particular shoutout to Alan Muraoka, who plays all his roles with utterly charming good humor.

 

Marcos Santana’s choreography works like a charm. Director Peter Flynn does the best he can with the endless quick scene changes, and those scenes are set in Rob Bissinger’s splendid set.

 

If you’re looking for something lighthearted and different, Curvy Widow will do just fine. Enjoy (and stay for the talkback).

 

 

Curvy Widow at Westside Theatre/Upstairs

Book by Bobby Goldman; music and lyrics by Drew Brody

407 W 43^rd St between 9^th and 10^th

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday 8pm; Tuesday at 7pm; Wednesday and Saturday at 2; Sunday at 3

Tickets $79-99; rush, $30.

Telecharge.com