Gwyneth Goes Skiing

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Without knowing anything about Gwyneth Goes Skiing, one might reasonably conclude that the play has something to do with the award-winning, “Hollywood Superstar and nepo baby” actress Gwyneth Paltrow, due to her being the singularly most famous person with that name in popular culture today.

Paltrow is known not just for her many notable film appearances but also for her regular eccentricities (when I spoke the word ‘eccentricities’ about her out loud just now, someone in the room shouted “she’s a nut job!”), eccentricities which range from the controversial products sold from her wellness and lifestyle brand, Goop (think jade eggs and candles, both of a vaginal nature), the fact that she named her daughter Apple (son Moses got off easy by comparison).

More pertinent to this show is the fact that apparently, for a 2016 skiing accident where retired optometrist Terry Sanderson claimed she ran into him on the slopes and sued her for $300,000 (she countersued for $1 and won). It is this lawsuit which inspires the creators, directors, and actors of this downtown entertainment, Linus Karp and Joseph Martin, who portray Paltrow and Sanderson, respectively, to much glee of the appreciative and boisterous audience.

Following productions in London, at the Edinburgh Fringe, and in Park City, Utah (where the accident happened), Gwyneth Goes Skiing returns to the SoHo Playhouse, intent on delighting New York City audiences.

This play (with occasional music by Golden Globe-nominated songwriter and composer Leland) spends most of its first half setting up the two main characters, embellishing on their personalities in and around other key people in their lives. Karp bursts onto the stage as Gwyneth, blowing up every mannerism and resulting in many laughs throughout the show. Karp’s comic timing is finely honed, as is his caricature of Paltrow.

Martin’s portrayal as the crotchety, sad sack Sanderson (forced and distracting gravely voice aside) is extremely funny, and a credit to him since Sanderson, unlike Paltrow, has no ubiquitous public persona to study. Martin’s superlative contribution to the show is his raucously hysterical turn as Sanderson’s outlandish lawyer, Kristin VanOrman, in puppet form. Martin is in top form with the puppet, and really shines in this capacity.

Both Karp and Martin are as creative on stage as they are on paper, ad-libbing and bantering with each other throughout. They revel in mercilessly stumping the audience members that they’ve targeted, only moments before the show started, to stand in for other characters in the play. These audience members are fed lines on a prompter (or, worse for them, not given any lines at all), and their responses are deliciously enjoyable to watch. Imagine watching the face of the man who is targeted to stand in as producer Brad Falchuk, Paltrow’s boyfriend/husband, when Karp asks to kiss him, with tongue; the man’s teleprompted response is “Yes.” Now imagine his relief, which is quite palatable, when Karp says “Later.” The continued employment of these audience stand-ins is an extremely clever gag which continues to pay off from start to finish.

The physical humor in this show is very satisfying, almost vaudevillian; hand puppets and cardboard cutouts wielded by ASM Clara Pidgeon and thrown physical objects from the audience all produce numerous giggles. Whether real or scripted, the ASM greatly adds to the humor with her deadpan face and wide eye rolls. Audience participation is one of this show’s key assets, all the way up to the QR code voting by the audience as “jury” at the conclusion of the trial.

The singing voice of Darren Criss as the Terry and a pre-recorded video appearance by drag personal Trixie Mattel as Paltrow’s mother actress Blythe Danner serve as publicity hooks to increase attendance. Leland’s music and lyrics provide sufficient fodder for Karp and Martin’s zany exchanges, and the script’s clever lines consistently please.

It is certain that if one were to watch the press and video footage of this skiing accident trial beforehand, they’d enjoy this show even more, as much fun is poked at words which were actually spoken and moments which actually took place. The entire piece could be trimmed; at times it seems like a comedy sketch gone on too long, with more “gword” jokes and Goop references than necessary, but on the whole a good time is had by all, both on stage and by the audience.

Gwyneth Goes Skiing is a silly, fluffy remedy for the winter doldrums; come down to the SoHo Playhouse and throw a snowball, it’ll be great fun!

Gwyneth Goes Skiing (through November 16, 2025)

Awkward Productions

SoHo Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street, in Manhattan

For tickets visit https://www.sohoplayhouse.com/see-a-show/gwyneth-goes-skiing

Running time: one hour and, 50 minutes including one intermission