What are among the greatest love stories ever? Sure, Samson and Delilah, Romeo and Juliet and Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. One of the greatest that you haven’t known until now is Gilda Radner and Gene Wilder. George Street Playhouse’s “Gene and Gilda” is an inside view of great love, tinged with tragedy that has laughter and love soaked in, like raisins in rum at the Holidays.
Gene Wilder was a well known quantity as comic gold in film. From his earliest work, including his collaborations with Mel Brooks, through to 1981 when he was signed to “Hanky Panky”, directed by Sidney Poitier. It was on this set that he met wunderkind Gilda Radner who created a myriad of characters in the early days of Saturday Night Live. The world may have shifted on it’s axis and their lives, and ours, would never be the same.
This time of year, the memories and the chocolate are bittersweet. We meet Gene (Jonathan Randell Silver) as he is beginning the first interview after Gilda (Jordan Kai Burnett) has passed. However, all true love remains with us as Gene is about to withdraw and not speak about her, and Gilda enters to chide him and guide him through the shoals of their magnetic attraction and the pain of loss of a deep, deep love.
Burnett and Silver are expert in the mannerisms and affect of their respective subjects. Silver captures the manic swings, the intellect and the hilarity of Gene Wilder along with portraying the pain and shine of love and loss when one of your closest hearts passes away. Burnett brings back the lushness, wise-assery and outspoken brilliance of Gilda Radner. So much so that you almost feel you can see the comic genius that Gilda might have continued had her run on Earth been just a little longer. It is pure delight from beginning to end – physical comedy, aethereal love and something that will linger with you long after the actual performance is done.
They have enough “stuff”, give your loved ones a lasting experience! This show closes December 22, 2024, so give experiences as holiday gifts. Your tickets are waiting. Visit https://www.georgestreetplayhouse.org/events/detail/gene-gilda for tickets and more.