Soul-searching through Holocaust survivors and a torch singer

Nobody knows the troubles they’ve seen. Actually — too many did — but attention is currently being paid, in a pair of exquisite, haunting plays, to the residues of discrimination and horrific times. Equally wrenching in their own right, the new revival of Donald Margulies 1995 exploration of the fallout from the Holocaust on a still dysfunctional family decades later, and Stephen Stahl’s heartbreaking — but also musically magical tale of the tragically troubled life of legendary singer Billie Holiday are memorable must-see theater.
“A Model Apartment” tells the soul-searing story of holocaust survivors Max (Mark Blum) and Lola (a moving, memorable Kathryn Grody) who flee their long-time Brooklyn apartment for the freedom of retirement. Arriving in Florida, and finding their “new home” not quite ready, the elderly couple are housed in a glowing model apartment—where they soon discover it’s only a shell where nothing works — and no bed, a blank TV, not even toilet paper.
Having “made do” in their former lives — and survived — the couple are determined to make the best of this momentary setback. Until the real reason for their hasty departure from home comes bursting through their condo door in the overwhelming (truly!) shape of their emotionally troubled, morbidly obese cusp-of-middle-aged daughter. Debby (an unforgettable breakout performance by the brilliant young actress Diane Davis) has been left behind in a mental institution — but somehow found her way South to momma and poppa; bearing with her the demand that they be the ones to take care of her; and bringing along, for moral support, her teenage African-American boyfriend, Neil (perfectly cast Hubert Pount Du Jour).
Almost 20 years ago this incredibly insightful black comedy found no New York audience for its provocative subject — the effect of the Holocaust experience on the children of its survivors — sometimes forced to live with their parents fraught memories. As Margulies has recalled to current director Evan Cabner “she became a receptacle for the horror of her parent’s experience.” In 2013, our world now jammed with examples of atrocities, the courage of Debby to hunt down her parents and demand the care she deserves for the unwitting blows and scars inflicted on their sole offspring leads to an ending that will touch the heart of your soul. That Margulies’ dark comedy is revelatory — asking only for understanding that parents must re-examine their roles in raising their offspring is a theater marvel. We all live with memories from our young lives — both enriched (hopefully) and laden with our parents’ own personal histories.
Even as we ache for Debby — and her parents — we’re left with the truth that what shines to the eye — like the very model of a model apartment — may be as empty as the life of a daughter grown gross trying to digest her childhood. Special final kudos of Lauren Halpern’s glistening set and Jenny Mannes costumes — especially that inspired “fat suit!” (Currently through Nov. 1, Primary Stages at 59E.59 Theaters. Tickets at 212-279-4200 or www.primarystages.org)

‘Lady Day’ sings with soul
Stephen Stahl’s magnificent, mesmerizing musical tribute to the great, tragic icon Bilie Holliday is so rich in its thrilling rendition of 25 of Lady Day’s standards —heartbreakingly performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater — one might tend to overlook the equal richness of the latter’s performance in bringing to aching life a tragic figure born into desperate circumstances: A child fraught by attempted rape and chilling abandonment. While Holiday’s musical talents eventually thrust her to the pinnacle of her profession, her personal life remained an ongoing disaster of drugs, offstage tribulations, and the curse of a feisty, demanding, drug/alcohol driven will.
Her story is told through the rehearsals for and attempt of a final concert with a First Act that focuses on reconstructing her past while she’s thrust into her present. With the care of her personal manager (movingly captured by David Ayers) and a terrific award-winning ensemble onstage to give even further glowing heart to Bridgewater’s searing channeling of Lady Day, post-intermission the Little Shubert Theater becomes a virtual temple where we give homage to the gutsy talent born Eleanor Fagan (1915-1959), who endured early separation from her hard-luck mother — a sometimes prostitute to make meager ends meet; and Holiday’s brutal experiences touring in a racist South.
How blessed we feel by the musical’s end to have shared in understanding what caused the demons that followed Lady Day down an escape into the booze and drugs that enabled her to share the gift of her awesome talent. Humming along as Bridgewater sings soaring renditions that mirrored Holiday’s world — from the classic ”My Man” to “All of Me,” “Them There Eyes” and “Good Morning, Heartache”— it might have been “A Foggy Day — but we were dazzled through a long standing ovation by this revealing, passionate, bio-musical. Lady Day was her music — and with Bridgewater’s soaring assistance — who could ask for anything more! (422 West 42nd Street, ladydaythemusical.com or 212-239-6200)