For Those Who Can’t Get Enough of Joy Behar on ‘The View,’ the Comedian Now Has a Play, ‘My First Ex-Husband’

Even if you don’t watch the celebrity coffee klatch broadcast weekday mornings on ABC, “The View,” chances are you’ve heard about the socio-political musings of its hosts, who embarrass thoughtful liberals and progressives on a regular basis. Just recently, Joy Behar, who has been with the show since its inception, lit up social media with the characteristically incisive observation that the new White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, had likely been hired “because, according to Donald Trump, she’s a 10.”Ms. Behar’s latest venture, fortunately, finds the veteran comedian a little less out of her depth. Titled “My First Ex-Husband,” it consists of eight monologues she crafted after interviewing a diverse group of divorcées. The roughly 90-minute production, directed by Randal Myler, is set to feature a rotating lineup of stars; the first casts Ms. Behar alongside a fellow funny lady, Susie Essman, of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame; an “Orange is the New Black” alumna, Adrienne C. Moore; and a stage and screen veteran, Tovah Feldshuh. The result is something along the lines of Nora and Delia Ephron’s “Love, Loss, and What I Wore,” but with less sartorial detail and more whining. We meet Jessica, played by Ms. Essman — reading from a script, as the other actresses do — who dreamed of living in a high-rise apartment on the Upper East Side but ended up stuck with her spouse on a farm. “All because he wanted land. He was like Scarlett O’Hara,” Jessica quips; it’s one of numerous hokey wisecracks and cultural references scattered throughout the script. One senses that vanity played a role in Jessica’s fate. “I married a guy with a lot of education who was intelligent and we were suited in that way,” she declares. “But, fundamentally, we were opposites.” Shocking, I know.Susie Essman in ‘My First Ex-Husband.’ Joan MarcusThe other characters are generally more sympathetic; I was ready to write off Serena — also portrayed by Ms. Essman, who like Ms. Behar retains her pronounced New Yawk accent — when she made her boyfriend get rid of his Saint Bernard, but the couple’s story takes a sweet turn after they marry, and he reveals a fondness for women’s clothes. They parted amicably in the end, Serena reports: “I guess it’s sad that I lost a husband. But the good news is that I gained a girlfriend.”Ms. Moore brings warmth and wit to Laila, an actress whose husband had a whopper of a midlife crisis, and Karen, who unlike Serena enjoys the company of canines, and in fact chose one over the dog she married. While both women have endured infidelity, Laila’s account is more colorful, involving raunchy photos and a surprising phone conversation with the ditzy mistress.But it’s Ms. Feldshuh who delivers the sharpest comic timing. Her first character, June, is a slightly irritating widow, describing at length how her husband, dead for a decade, tormented her, but stressing how charming he was. “I feel more at home being with a mean, critical person who’s smart rather than a dumb one who loves me unconditionally,” she admits, as if those were the only options.Ms. Feldshuh also performs the most poignant segment of “Ex-Husband,” playing Rebecca, a sweet, spirited woman who dreamed of life beyond the rigid confines of her Orthodox Jewish community. She didn’t “need to fall in love” with the man she was assigned to marry, Rebecca insists early on: “I just needed him to be workable … I wanted a non-controlling person. It was my only chance to really live.”As for Ms. Behar, she’s engaging enough, in her fashion, as Monica, who married a good-looking loser, impressed by his flashy lifestyle; and Gloria, not yet divorced but exhausted by an aging husband who still can’t keep his hands off her. “At the rate he’s going,” Gloria laments, “I’ll be faking orgasms into my golden years.” Happily, “My First Ex-Husband” requires far less of our time, and it will be catnip for certain fans — say, anyone who finds that last line hilarious.

For Those Who Can’t Get Enough of Joy Behar on ‘The View,’ the Comedian Now Has a Play, ‘My First Ex-Husband’

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