Gary Waldman & Jamison Troutman presented SOPHIE, TOTIE & BELLE, a musical by Joanne Koch & Sarah Blacher Cohen at the Atlantis Playhouse, W. Palm Beach, FL (2003) ... the following is a review published in The Sun-Sentinel ...

Three Old Gals Get Another Run
Sophie, Totie & Belle Still Funny After All These Years.

July 22, 2003 | By Jack Zink Theater Writer

The best R-rated act at the Friar's Club, Heaven branch, is still Sophie, Totie & Belle, though the old gals need a bigger push to get rolling than in the past.

Director Gary Waldman and producing partner Jamison Troutman have revived the show for its fifth local outing at their new Atlantis Playhouse in south-central Palm Beach County. The musical revue that puts Sophie Tucker, Totie Fields and Belle Barth together in heaven's waiting room is now more than a decade past its world premiere here in South Florida (and had its off-Broadway certification in New York in '02). (Note: the off-Broadway production was actually in 2000)

STB is among a few celebrity musical tributes that's a little more than a revue but still less than a full-blown musical -- dubbed a revuesical by some marketing types. Joanne Koch and Sarah Blacher Cohen bring the three late comedians together at heaven's doorstep to audition for a show that the Almighty is putting together. He only needs one act, so the girls are forced to compete for a place in the upper kingdom.

The conceit allows the show to roll out each character's original jokes and routines, including some of Barth's purpler prose. Whole sections of the original stars' acts are reprised. If the material seems dated and corny at first, it's because the performers don't warm up fast enough. By the end of the show, the suburban mall playhouse is rollicking like the old Miami Beach clubs that Fields and Barth frequented, and Tucker was known to visit.

SOPHIE, TOTIE & BELLE at the Atlantis Playhouse
Pictured: Sharyn Bingham as Totie Fields

Angela Thomas is in her best voice to date as Tucker. She peels off Some of These Days, My Yiddishe Mommeh, Red Hot Mama and others with elan. Sharyn Bingham is the relentlessly cheery Totie Fields, and Raquel Marmor the relentlessly relentless Barth. Bingham also is an accomplished singer, and Marmor has more than enough chutzpah to deliver Barth's blue material. Just don't expect them to be celebrity look-alikes; the actresses are in character, not impersonators.

The downside is that their voices tend to be light and bell-toned, becoming shrill when going for broke (which is often) in the Atlantis Playhouse's acoustically lively environment. Another disappointment is Floyd Nash in the multiple roles of the men in the ladies' lives; he never rises above the level of a doormat.

Accompaniment is provided by Phil Hinton, a top-notch musical arranger and director, on keyboards, with Tom Hinton on percussion. Sets and lighting are by David Sherman and John Wade, respectively, but the show's eye-appeal is in Floyd Nash's cabaret-garish costumes.

Jack Zink can be reached at jzink@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4706.

THEATER REVIEW

Sophie, Totie & Belle

Musical revue, through Aug. 17 at Atlantis Playhouse, 5893 S. Congress Ave., Boynton Beach. Shows 8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 2, 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $26.50-$29. Call 561-304-3212 or toll free 800-690-1863.