I just saw the Roundabout’s current production of The People in the Picture and I still have tears flowing down my cheeks 2 hours after the finale. It’s a powerful musical, full of talented performers and a meaningful story.
I have to admit that I feel very disappointed by all the negative reviews I’ve read about the show and couldn’t disagree more. Yes, it’s about the Holocaust, which isn’t an easy topic to address in a musical. But in my mind, it’s done with grace and consideration for this difficult topic. Plus, I’m always impressed when a writer can bring such a heavy topic to a mainstream audience, and do it creatively with sensitivity. Iris Rainer Dart, the writer best known for Beaches, wrote a script with so many layers that takes us back in time. The story takes place before, during and after World War II. Donna Murphy, who I adore and have seen in various plays such as Wonderful Town, plays a Polish immigrant and Jewish grandmother who, in her last days, feels compelled to pass on the truth of what happened to her during the Holocaust to her daughter and granddaughter.
The play starts with a group of people standing inside a picture frame. It’s not immediately clear who they are, until Murphy’s character, Raisel, tells her granddaughter that they were part of a Yiddish theater group in Warsaw called the Warsaw Gang, and that they meant a lot to her. She was basically the troop’s star singer and actress. Much of the first half of the play revolves around these people. We see them put on theater sketches and films, including a scene from Dybbuk which brought a big smile to my face (I saw the original film many years ago). Murphy alternates between her younger self who is a part of this group to a grandmother who is telling the story of her life to her 10-year-old granddaughter, who is very interested in her bubbe and everything that she has to say. Raisel basically takes care of her granddaughter while her own daughter is at work all day and the two of them are very close, far closer than she ever was to her own daughter. But there are reasons for that, which we find out later in the play.
The first act is musically entertaining and we are introduced to this unique group of performers who clearly had an impact on Raisel’s life. She talks to their ghosts throughout the play as her character heads to the end of her life. We know that they are all important to her story, but the pieces come together much more in the second act as her character enters a concentration camp when she is forced to make a decision about her child which will effect her entire life.
Donna Murphy is impeccable as the lead. The way she hops from various phases of her character’s life is just extraordinary. Nicole Parker, who plays her daughter, has a beautiful voice. Her portrayal of a daughter of a Holocaust survivor who has to deal with her mother’s ghosts and imminent death is heart-breaking. We don’t see one smile on her face during the entire show. The rest of the cast is impressive, although some of the younger children are not as up to par.
There is a secret that comes out in the second half of the play, which I won’t reveal, but it is a really powerful scene. It had me standing up in applause at the play’s end. For some reason, I was the only audience member who got out of my seat. It made me wonder if other audience members agreed with the bad reviews I’ve read. If you are reading this, you should give this play a chance.
If you are looking for information or tickets to The People in the Picture, please visit the Roundabout Theatre.
Disclosure: I was not given any tickets to this play, nor was I compensated for this review. All opinions reflected are my own.
I am so glad you liked it. Being am Irish-American “goy”
who has nearly 90% Jewish friends (including my business partner, a very devout Sephardic Jew who attended the show with me), I was apprehensive about reviewing the show because I was not certain that I would get or understand all the cultural references to Judaism and Yiddish, even though I have lived in New York for two decades and know so many Jewish people. Most of my Jewish friends did not care for the show. However, much as I loved Donna Murphy’s superb performance, I had a lot of problems with Iris Rainer Dart’s book. I just thought it was too complex and serious and, therefore, didn’t lend itself to a musical, but I’m pleased you enjoyed the show. It is always interesting to see what others think. That is the beauty of theater criticism; not everyone has the same opinion. No one is right or wrong when it comes to theater reviews. We all see things from a different perspective.