‘Luna Tart Died (of a Broken Heart)’
A failed actress and cabaret entertainer, Luna Tart, as played by Laura Freeman, has descended to the depths of bag-ladydom. After a funny introduction by Lovey & Lovey, two tippling Brits (Michael Jastroch and Tami Nelson of ColdTowne Theater), the aptly named Tart enters pushing a red shopping cart filled, most noticeably, with two apparently identical ukuleles. She’s been around the block – in more ways than one. Mostly, she sings original songs while strumming her ukes, but she also tells us about her past lives as an actress and singer and, especially, about all the men she’s had. One of the most entertaining songs she assays is, in fact, about how much she likes to spend Johnny’s money.
I wish all the songs had been like that one. While Freeman writes clever lyrics and has a great voice – whenever she sings tremolo, you want to fall at her feet and worship her – too many of the tunes had a slow, lilting tempo that tended to enervate. In addition, the “book” by Freeman and director Rudy Ramirez was so disjointed and rambling as to be almost nonsensical. But while I didn’t have a great time, I was in the vast minority, as all but three in the packed house stood and cheered at the end. – Barry Pineo
Saturday, Feb. 2, 4:15pm.
This article appears in February 1 • 2008.
