'Put It In The Piggy'

Do you have a niece or nephew that is feral?  Do you have a coterie of friends that you consider slightly uncouth?  Do you wonder what happened to “please and thank-you” from anyone of any age?  When you drive, do you wish you had a flame-thrower to deal with the inconsiderate drivers?  Oops — if you have, that’s going a little too far.

The new off-Broadway show, Dear Edwina, is a musical comedy for all ages using a slightly skewed contemporary point of view that will enlighten or reaffirm the concept that, with good manners mixed with common sense, you can get through just about any situation — comfortable or uncomfortable.  Not unlike that timeless, still running, off-Broadway classic The Fantasticks,  Dear Edwina has the same charmingly sophisticated broad spectrum of music and lyrics that are touching without being cloying.  The long-time writing team of Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler once again capture the audience’s attention with gentle, contemporary didacticism combined with various musical forms, including the operetta, salsa, rhythm & blues, tango, Zorba the Greek-type syrtaki, Belafonte calypso/reggae, Mozartian riffs, even a “Valley Girl” singspiel song that is like totally awesomely obnoxious but deals with real concerns, and all of this with “show tune plucky” sensibilities.

In the classic tradition of “Let’s put on a show,” Dear Edwina‘s heroine, Edwina Spoonapple, decides that she and her pals will do just that, when she hears that a talent scout plans to visit their hometown of Paw-Paw, Michigan looking for talent for the Kalamazoo Advice-A-Palooza Festival.  Edwina’s special talent is — guess what — giving advice. Edwina and her host of quirky friends and neighbors set the stage for this “show within a show” by describing what’s so fabulous about Paw-Paw as they prepare for the audition.  While “her people” and the others are assembling the show, including cookies and lemonade for afterwards provided by parents, Edwina shares with us her own personal angst which is finding her own special place in the spotlight, since “telling people what to do” doesn’t get her work displayed on the fridge.  In “Up on the Fridge,” Edwina tells us that she wants her own “atta boy” for what she does.  Personal recognition and appreciation is her own personal quest throughout the show -– sort of like A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf, but that’s another article. And no, it’s not hokey, so move over Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney! 

Together, Edwina and her chums put on this show in the Spoonapple garage that tackles a plethora of problems that are presented as “write-ins” from the audience.  It starts with a letter asking what to do about a brother who’s a picky eater.  Edwina responds with ”Just Say ‘No Thank You’ (sha-la-la)” – a simple solution that many of us could learn rather than beating someone over the head with an explanation of why we’re saying “no.”  This is explained even further with “Frankenguest” and appropriate boogey man music.  Yup, that offensive guest who shows up with his pet snake and shares every thought and request that goes through his pea brain that you really don’t need to know.

Now that that solution is offered, it’s time to move on to more complex problems that arise when trying to survive in the sometimes archaic adult world. What to do when asked to set the table for dinner by Great Aunt Fanny and you don’t know where to begin?  ”Salad Fork, Fork, Plate, Knife, and Spoon” will reveal it all to you in a piece de resistance done in the style of an Offenbach operetta parodying the style of German Grand Opera that gains such speed that one can’t wait to be seated at a table and knowingly admire the proper utensils to use, besides the usual fingers. Adults can definitely identify with these quandaries, since some of them never seem to go away or at least be solved.

Next, what to do when you have to move or even just go to something and not know a soul?  Loneliness, isolation, shyness?  Not a problem just for the young, and the answer is so simple –- just say hi!  ”Hola Lola!” tackles just this.  With a melody and Latin beat that you’ll carry with you, the story of Lola from Lima who visits her cousin in Hawaii is a song with a beginning, middle, and end lyrically and musically, with the melody modulating enthusiastically as the solution is successful – just say hi!  

Next we meet “Ziggy Montego” of Belafonte Street from the Steel Drum section of Paw Paw Marching Band who explains that the marching band can only go to this upcoming event in Jamaica if they raise the money.  Well, they’ve raised the money and now they’ve spent it.

Edwina’s advice is “Put It in the Piggy” – a ’40s Andrew Sisters-type tune advising kids how to save money, reminiscent of the feel-good tunes of WWII and their down-home positive humorous advice for times of stress.

Finally, there is an adolescent love letter from Scott to…Edwina! Done on stage! Oh yuck!  In a ’50s-type song, Scott declares his love for Edwina as everyone looks on and teases him.  Edwina sings a heartfelt response with “Sing Your Own Song” – be true to yourself and “don’t think about prizes, just do what you love and that’s the best prize of all!”

For every problem sent in to Edwina, there’s a song of some musical genre giving the solution. With titles like “Up on the Fridge,” “Just Say ‘No Thank You’,” “Hola, Lola!,” “Frankenguest!,” “Fork, Knife, Spoon,” and “Put It In The Piggy,” there’s a message and a melody for everyone, and Edwina’s timeless advice at the end: dreams can come true and appreciate who you are. Not bad advice from a little kid, and sound advice for all of us that we sometimes forget, even as adults. 

Isn’t it nice to feel good without someone telling you what you’re supposed to be feeling?