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photo by Christopher Drukker
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Erica Bradshaw
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Erica Bradshaw is a woman of a thousand voices all vying for your attention. Well, you’ll get to see dozens of them in a mere 90 minutes as Bradshaw conjures the beloved denizens of Bedford Falls right before your very eyes in Steve Murray’s “This Wonderful Life” at Luna Stage in West Orange, New Jersey.
A one-person show is both a dream and a nightmare for a performer. For one thing, you finally get to show off everything you’ve got for 90 minutes! You’d better know the through-line, because there’s no one there to help when you go up on your lines! There are few with the panache of Bradshaw, as she shifts from shape to shape, ranging ages and genders, races and classes. In each moment, she gives us the flavor of a beloved Christmas canard, while adding her own modern flair. Her tart and funny string of mordant comments limns each part of the vignette like wee warm white lights that feel like candles in the wilderness that our outside world has become. Yet before we consider the solution from which Clarence rescues George, this charming clear-eyed look at an iconic Holiday is just what the doctor ordered, after the chilling Autumn we all endured.
This is a very brief run so stop reading and start browsing. “This Wonderful Life” only runs through December 18. Give an early Holiday gift by visiting www.lunastage.org right now and be sure to arrive early for best parking.
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