Theater Review: "My Mother's Italian..." Running at Seven Angels

Waterbury, CT - “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m In Therapy” is an hysterical show that is running at Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury through Sunday. Steve Solomon is the comedian/actor in this comedic solo tour de force .

The first matinee performance of “My Mother’s Italian…” was packed with 272 audience members who heartily enjoyed the performance, as did the smaller audience for the evening show that I attended.

Solomon is the author and Broadway star of the show, which has now become one of the longest running one-man comedies in history. The show just celebrated its four thousandth performance.

Press materials invite audiences to “Prepare to laugh, prepare to cry, prepare to join Steve Solomon on stage in his new, updated and funnier than ever show.” Solomon brings this story to engaging life in this one-man performance.

“My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy” includes more than twenty wacky characters that are brought to life by Solomon’s impressive talent with accents, dialects and hilarious story-telling. The audience gets to meet the whole gang including members of the Italian/Jewish family, Steve’s ex-wife, his therapist, the kids, the grandkids, and even the TSA, (the "guys have no sense of humor”)... you get the picture.

Solomon has truly taken the art of impersonation, mimicry and honed it into a science. He masterfully weaves different dialects and crazy characters into his stories. These tales take on a life of their own as Steve recounts memorable moments from his past and makes hysterical observations of the things we all relate to happening around us today. His explanation of wearing a CPAP machine to combat sleep apnea is a riot.

A native of Brooklyn, Solomon grew up in the multi-ethnic neighborhood of Sheepshead Bay and this was the perfect training ground for a dialectician. As the class clown and as a very authentic sounding Chinese restaurant delivery boy, Steve learned at an early age how to use his gift for imitating accents to his advantage. He also realized that he was a prolific writer of jokes, real jokes.

He shares in his monologue that he followed his Italian mother’s less than gentle advice to attend college to become a teacher, so that he would “have something to fall back on.” He went on to become a physics teacher and eventually administrator. What a special opportunity for his faculty members to work with an administrator with a strong sense of humor.

Solomon’s other hit shows include: "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm In Still Therapy" , "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm Home for the Holidays" , "CANNOLI, LATKES & GUILT ... the therapy continues", and his new "From Brooklyn To Broadway In ONLY 50 Years." All these shows highlight the very best of his talents as a comedy writer and performer.

There is a set that suggests the waiting room of the office of the character’s therapist mentioned in the title, with the suggestion of a window. There is also a piano that the actor uses towards the end of the second act.

The script contains a bit a foul language and lots of sexual inuendo, so it probably best for adults. The performance is presented with one intermission about 40 minutes into the show. You can enjoy some great food before the Friday night show from Cavallo's Deli, the sponsor for this hilarious show.

There's still time to get tickets to "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish and I'm In Therapy,” a very funny string of comedy delivered with spot-on comic timing. Remaining performances are Friday & Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm.

Whether you are Italian, Jewish or in therapy (or none of the above), you don't want to miss this hilarious show! Tickets: SevenAngelsTheatre.org

Next up at Seven Angels will be Coconuts, “the Boomer Humor Comedy Rock Party Band” on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 8:00pm. and Remembering John Denver on two shows on Saturday, Nov. 19.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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