Sun. March 19, 2006
By John Olson
The magic of Dame Edna is the way she delivers her put-downs with such kindness, as when she empathetically reminds an older woman in the audience that the woman’s name, Gloria, is “not a name we hear much any more, is it dear?” Or when she confesses to the audience that at the beginning of the show, she didn’t really like us very much. Though clearly, we have not been blessed with her grace, taste and intelligence (or her elegant sets by Brian Thomson and costumes by Steven Adnitt and Will Goodwin), it’s clear she loves us just the same. Her ability to be both an exemplar of Australian egalitarianism (she values and feels superior to all, regardless of supposed class or station) and a caricature of those she satires are what make her so outrageous and lovable at the same time.
Dame Edna: Back With A Vengeance plays the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph, Chicago, through March 19, 2006. Ticket information is available at www.BroadwayinChicago.com.
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