Maegan Mandarino describes her new solo show “Big Hair: A Rad and Wild Love Affair” as “a musical dramedy about the short-lived love affair of two comedic legends,” namely GIlda Radner and Gene Wilder.
The show loosely follows the ups and downs of the comedy power-couple, partially through video clips of Radner and Wilder in interviews or memorable moments in their careers. In between clips, Mandarino performs alternating monologues as Radner’s “Roseanne Roseanna Danna” of Saturday Night Live fame and Wilder’s “Dr. Frankenstein.”
It is obvious that Mandarino has a passionate affinity for both of these amazing comedic performers, and she entices us with a look behind the curtain at a complicated human relationship.
When “Roseanne” is on stage, Mandarino is at her best. She not only resembls Gilda Radner’s iconic character in appearance, she does an impersonation with her entire body. Roseanne does a few musical numbers and monologues, reports from the desk of “Weekend Update” and dances to ragtime.
“Dr. Frankenstein” receives a similarly energized performance, but the character is a bit less successful. Gene Wilder proves to be a persona that Mandarino struggles to embody in the way that she does Radner.
In a show that manically moves from one thing to the next, Dr. Frankenstein is especially frantic and sometimes confusing, which is a shame because of Madarino’s enthusiasm in the role. In an especially interesting scene, she plays both characters at once with a split costume and clever lighting.
Perhaps the most entertaining bits come from Radner and Wilder themselves. The video clips take up a considerable amount of time in the show and are a structured reprieve from the free-form chaos of the live performance. Even when Roseanne is on stage, it is bits from Radner’s real act that gets the biggest laughs.
On the one hand, “Big Hair” feels lesser than the sum of its parts. Despite so many elements for one performer to accomplish on stage in an hour, the show relies heavily on the subject rather than the performance.
On the other hand, though, it successfully honors two great artists and their relationship to each other. Thankfully, Maegan Mandarino is taking her show on the road, where “Big Hair” has an opportunity to be refined into the success it has all the ingredients to become.
“Big Hair” performed on March 13 at the The Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. For future performances, visit BigHairMusical.com.
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