The 1950s doesn’t seem that long ago, most of the time. The play The Best of Everything is based on
Ronna Jaffe’s 1950s book and it looks at the period through a unique lens. This theatrical adaptation is produced with
the permission of The Rona Jaffe Foundation. Ms. Jaffe was quoted as saying, "Back
then, people didn’t talk about not being a virgin. They didn’t talk about
going out with married men. They didn’t talk about abortion. They
didn’t talk about sexual harassment, which had no name in those days. I thought
if I could help one young woman sitting in her tiny apartment thinking she was
all alone and a bad girl, then the book would be worthwhile.”
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| Sarah Wilson & Alicia Sable in The Best of Everything |
The Best of Everything certainly does talk about those
things, in a frank way that shocks even some of the characters who say the
lines. The story follows Caroline
(played to perfection by Sarah Wilson) as she moves from jilted fiancée, to
secretarial pool, to Female Editor (there is only one). Along the way, she and the other secretaries
aim for love or marriage, rarely both.
She is told early that there are only two kinds of women in the office,
the ones looking for husbands or the “ambitious” ones – who are ready to
backstab other women to get ahead.
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Caroline, however, loves her job, editing and being a
reader. She falls into the ambitious
category without the backstabbing; but not without heartache. Caroline slowly explores emotional and then
sexual maturity without a husband in the 1950s.
It is a difficult road, and one without guideposts or mentors. Ms. Wilson pulls the audience along with her as she tests the limits of the time and of herself.
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Two of her friends, innocent April (a perky and believable
Alicia Sable) and sultry Gregg (Hayley Teirder doing good job with the most
dated character) don’t follow the traditional path - dating, marriage, and,
only then, sex. It has bad consequences
for both women. Although, for April at
least, she is able to turn her life back around. The idea that you could be a loose woman, and
then later become respectable was new and groundbreaking.
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Two of the other secretaries, Mary Agnes (a terrific Molly Lloyd)
and Brenda (a hilarious Sas Goldberg) do get married and leave the office. The Best of Everything shows a microcosm of
women’s choices in the 1950s.
Ultimately, you probably couldn’t have the best of Everything, but you
could have the best of some things.
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| Sarah Wilson and Amy Wilson |
Tom O’Keefe plays nearly all the male parts excellently,
bringing to life a couple of key moments. The
other man, the jilting fiancé, is well played by Jordan Geiger. Amy Wilson under plays Miss Farrow nicely. If you only know Miss Farrow from the movie
with Joan Crawford, you will be surprised to see Ms. Wilson doing an excellent
job of being a terror without sucking up all the oxygen in the room.
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The show was adapted from the book and directed by Julie
Kramer. She has done an excellent job,
moving the story along but keeping the audience invested in the
characters. Finally I have to give a
huge credit to Daniel Urlie, whose costumes set the period perfectly. It is a little thing, but when costuming is
done badly it pulls the audience out of the moment, Mr. Urlie did a great job.
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The Best of Everything is one of
the rare shows that is funny, entertaining and still shows you something new.
The Best of Everything
Book: Ronna Jaffe
Adaptation: Julie Kramer
Development: Amy Wilson
Direction: Julie Kramer
Cast: Sarah Wilson, Jordan Geiger, Sas Goldberg, Molly
Lloyd, Tom O’Keefe, Alicia Sable, Hayley Treider, Amy Wilson
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