Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same.  Back in 2004 Odalys Nanin presented the first version of this play at the Stella Adler and we reviewed it then (click here for previous review).

Lina Hall - Odalys Nanin

 

The story of Mercedes de Acosta, a marginally successful Hollywood writer who was more famous for her same sex affairs than her writing is replete with clever lines, sometimes comic situations and often somber times when the true feeling of heartbreak is powerfully described. Odalys Nanin's performance as Mercedes de Acosta is spot on.   Nanin offers a feisty, assertive and borderline needy person who desperately clings to the concept of love even when it means that she has to accept on the terms of her current paramour.  She is used and abused by her long time lover Greta Garbo,  and also manipulated and betrayed by Salka Vertiel, a writer and former lover. Vertiel is played with excellent duplicity by Lisa Merkin.  Nanin's broad imagination creates a scenario that brings de Acosta together with some of the most famous women of her time, and places her in the glamorous and demanding Hollywood where the ultimate goal was to make motion pictures that made money.  John Nagle who brings the great Irving Thalberg to life makes that point abundantly clear. 

Six years ago we wrote that the beautiful Lydie Denier who played Garbo then did not quite make the fit.  Who knew we would say almost the same about Lina Hall years later who is accompanying Nanin in this odyssey as Greta Garbo. Lina Hall seems a little stiff, her voice too forced, her stoicism too illusory and we found it difficult to imagine that this woman had such passion and love for de Acosta or that she would have been so enigmatic on film.  She kept saying she wanted to be left alone, the famous Garbo line.  We didn't quite buy into that either.

On the other hand Erin Holt is wonderfully impish as Isadora Duncan, who floats in and out of scenes as de Acosta's alter ego.  Holt wears a flimsy little nothing that keeps most people focused on her no matter what else is going on stage. Lithe, sexy Vera Petrychenka is very effective as Marlene Dietrich as she exudes all the glamour and assertiveness that made Dietrich famous. Also great in her role is Ginger Pennington as Poppy Kirk, de Acosta's lusty lover after breaking up with Garbo.  These three women really round out some of the characters that were involved n de Acosta's turbulent love life.

The stage setting is simple with effective lighting and the story moves at a fast clip.  The bottom line of this play is that in spite of a tumultuous and flamboyant life, Mercedes de Acosta was never fully happy, never really famous and never totally fulfilled. 

As with the previous offering, Odalys Nanin not only wrote and produced but also co-directed, and her co-director Laura Butler sat in the front row making sure to laugh at the right times and clap in the right places to encourage the audience.  Not really necessary, as this play has enough going for it to stand on it's own without any inside help.

The production runs through October 30, 2011.  Tickets at: www.plays411.com/garbo