Rosie O’Donnell and Tyne Daly; Samantha Bee, Natasha Lyonne and Katie Finneran
photo by Carol Rosegg

If you are bored by your wardrobe, then drop by the Westside Theatre and sit for a spell. Love, Loss, and What I Wore , an intimate collection of stories by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, uses clothing as a starting point for a journey through our personal lives. Based on Ilene Beckerman’s book as well as recollections of the Ephrons’ friends, this is compelling theater, made more compelling by the talents of Tyne Daly, Rosie O’Donnell, Samantha Bee, Katie Finneran and Natasha Lyonne.

If you think this is just female fluff, think again. It is a real piece of theater aimed for all theatergoers, regardless of their gender or fashion sense. The authors have sneaked in a lot of poignant tales here, and the emphasis is not really on the labels sewn into any garments’ lining, but the memories If you think this is just female fluff, think again. It is a real piece of theater aimed for all theatergoers, regardless of their gender or fashion sense. The authors have sneaked in a lot of poignant tales here, and the emphasis is not really on the labels sewn into any garments’ lining, but the memories (many humiliating) that outlast the wardrobe item. Without any disrespect to past and present department stores in town, the authors have littered the vignettes with the iconic names of B. Altman, Eileen Fisher, Bloomingdale’s, and even tossed in a scene on the joys and frustrations of mail order shopping from the Spiegel catalogue. In fact, a lot of the irresistible charm of the evening is that it whisks us back to those awkward and wonderful times growing up when we just had to find the right garment at the right time. True, clothes always play second fiddle to the real-life situation at hand. But this show reminds us that clothes often become silent witnesses to our ordinary and not-so-ordinary memories.

To be sure, the fashion content is always mere camouflage for the deeper emotional currents that course through the show. The 27 stories told here will not really tell you anything you didn’t know about clothes, but some tales can pack a powerful punch, largely because they deal with life-defining moments. In fact, this show will remind you that some of our most profound memories—like the death of a parent—are often inextricably linked to a dress, or a suit, that helped hold us together through the traumatic occasion.

Not all the stories, of course, are designed to be tear-jerkers. Some are outrageously funny; others downright silly. Notwithstanding, all of these tales will give you a fresh perspective on how clothes are important masks, and often figure into the larger human equation.
Everyone here is terrific, but I must single out Rosie O’Donnell for nailing all her parts, both the comic (“I Hate My Purse”) and serious ones (“My Mother”). In her passel of roles, she smoothly shifts personas and injects each character with brio. Her quick-change artistry in portraying funny, sad, and serious persons is superb. Though more modest in delivery than O’Donnell, all the other actors had their shining moments as well. The reliable Tyne Daly is the only actor who plays one character (Gingy) over a lifetime. The other actors—Samantha Bee, Katie Finneran, and Natasha Lyonne—all morph into a plethora of roles, from a hyper-critical Mom (“You’re not wearing that!) to perky cheerleaders, gals who wear Birkenstocks, nervous brides, anorexic teens, and plump females who wish that The Forgotten Woman (the store that met big middle-age demands) was still in existence.

Interestingly, the show reminds us that clothing has the double function of concealing and revealing our physiques. And one of the most moving stories of the evening is the recounting of a rape experience by a young woman, who walked around campus in short mini-skirts and boots. Raped one evening by a stranger, she recovered from the trauma by donating her mini-skirts to Goodwill (but keeping her boots).

Like The Vagina Monologues (another Westside Theatre production), this piece covers a wide spectrum of female experience. Karen Carpenter, who directs the show, smartly balances the evening with a diverse mix of episodes, but the comic tales are the show’s real forte. The unified black costumes (costume design by Jessica Jahn) for the cast aren’t fussy, but they work in an understated way.

Eighty minutes of sheer delight, this show has something for everybody--and a portion of the production’s profits will go to the Dress for Success charity. The opening cast (September 21-October 18) will be rotated with other all-star actors during the 12-week run.

The show, alas, has one flaw. Theatergoers will be hard-pressed to catch all the stars appearing in the show. But here’s the line-up of coming actors for the record: Mary Birdsong, Tyne Daly, Lisa Joyce, Jane Lynch and Mary Louise Wilson (October 21-November 15); Kristin Chenoweth, Lucy DeVito, Capathia Jenkins, Rhea Perlman and Rita Wilson (November 18-December 13).

Though one would never reduce this show down to that simple-minded dictum—Dress for success!—it does remind us that clothes are a necessity and subtly index our memories: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Westside Theatre at 407 West 43^rd Street. Tickets are $75 via Telecharge.com (212-239-6200) and in-person at the Westside Theatre Box Office.

Love, Loss, and What I Wore has been extended by popular demand. The show, which opened Thursday night to rave reviews at New York’s Westside Theatre, was originally scheduled to run through December 13. It will now continue into 2010 (a new block of tickets is on sale today). Love, Loss, and What I Wore also opened to the largest box office advance in the colorful history of The Westside Theatre, setting a house record. (The Westside Theatre has been home to such long-running successes as The Vagina Monologues, and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.)