« "Cemetery Club" is bittersweet Jewish fun »

Rating:  3 out of Fordyce  (Good)

Right now at the Riverwalk Theatre in downtown Lansing is The Cemetery Club. This Ivan Menchell play contains Jewish humor, guilt, and drama. It is the story of three widows who are as close as sisters. They do all the things they are expected to do: play canasta, cook, and go to the cemetery to visit their husbands.

One day at the cemetery they meet a widower, and the resulting competition and jealousy sets the stage for lots of laughs and some tears. Susan Chmurynsky is wonderful as Ida and you will just love Kris Pecora as Doris, but the scene stealer is Kerry Waters as Lucille. She is so good I did not recognize her at first as the loudest and most flamboyant of the three. Garrett Clinard does a great job as Sam and Maureen Quelly adds to the show in her brief appearance as Mildred.

This show is worth the price of admission just to see the old gals get drunk in a scene that was made funnier on opening night by a wig problem. Everyone stayed in (inebriated) character and helped out. They should leave the mishap in for the rest of the run of this show. It was truly funny. Ah, the joys of live theater.

Cemetery Club runs until February 28. I give it a good 3 out of Fordyce. Call 517-482-5700 for your tickets.