Everyday Rapture

Just before the lights went down, my friend and theater buddy, Ginger, asked: With "rapture" in the title, do you think the play is about religion?

That's what happens when you are a theater subscriber to 2econd Stage, Playwrights' Horizon, Signature Theater, New York Theater Workshop, New Theater, Public Theater, and Atlantic Theater Company. We know which theater to attend but rarely know too much about the play, its actors, or director, unless there is a lot of buzz. And we often see plays before they open, which decreases the likelihood of buzz.

So it was last night. In the afternoon we had seen a dreadful, amateurish play with a memorable cast not performing memorably. It will remain unnamed.

Jordan, my husband, is far less patient with live theater. He doesn't enjoy picking out a few lines of a specific performance, a soliloquy, a portion of a scene, or the dynamic between two characters. He wants holistic, satisfying entertainment. He was nudgy after the afternoon disaster.

The lights go down and what unfolds in "Everyday Rapture"? A musical comedy which isn't supposed to be called a musical comedy, but a comedic play with music, about a Mennonite!

A terrifically talented and engaging actress Sherie Rene Scott, sings, dances, and with wry comedic timing tells the story of her life, growing up in Topeka, Kansas as a half-Mennonite and leaving Topeka on a "rumspringa." Like the Amish, Mennonite children at 16, are encouraged to experiment and explore. Before committing to a life within the community, teens are given an opportunity to taste the outside life. For most, this means a tentative foray -- a trip to the local movie theater, or driving lessons. But for some, like our heroine Sherie Rene Scott, the experience is all about sex, magic, and New York City.

The play opens with a cleverly constructed, recurring joke about a rabbi who handed Sherie Rene two pieces of paper: one says--You are a piece of dust. The other reads: The world was created for you.

That's the tension for a Mennonite, a religion that requires humble quiet living among god's other creatures without machines or even buttons. What happens if a young woman is not satisfied just singing to Jesus, but wants to live her life inside a song, more likely one made famous by Judy Garland. At times, because the play was co-written with Dick Scanlan, Sherie Rene seems like a gay man caught in a woman's body. But that just adds to the fun.

Do not expect a coherent story. This is episodic theater. Just sit back and relax. This is entertainment based upon a personal struggle that has been enhanced with two fabulous back up singers, a live band, and meticulous direction that moves this 90 minute musical theater quickly and with lots of laughs.

It's running at 2econd Stage, through May 31st, and with type A H1N1 influenza, bank stress tests (going public on May 7th), the bankruptcy of Chrysler, the impending bankruptcy of GM, and the unpredictable stock market and the dimming hopes of retirement for my generation, you deserve to have 90 minutes of delight.