“Mom’s The Word” Says the Post

Mother’s Day comes early this year at Theater J and the first gift is the review of 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother from Peter Marks who writes in the Washington Post this morning:

Gold — who’s extravagantly tall (6-foot-3), boisterously gay and unabashedly opinionated — alternates in this piece at Theater J between portions of her stand-up routines and a series of impersonations of Jewish women of varying ages and attitudes toward religious observance…

But comedy of this nature can’t survive for long in the thin, throat-closing air of sentimentality; thankfully, Gold spends more time twisting the knife than prospecting for tears. She gets right, for example, a hair-trigger sense of outrage — guffaw-inducing in its explosiveness — that’s ignitable in a woman of Ruth’s seemingly impatient temperament.

Those seeking an extra dose of Judy Gold should also check out the Screening Room’s presentation of Making Trouble on Tuesday, February 5th. In this documentary, Gold serves as one of four modern Jewish comediennes gathered together to comment on the careers and legacies of the groundbreaking women who came before them. Judy plans to be at the post-screening discussion along with Lauren Antler of the Jewish Women’s Archive, the producers of the film.

Updated: The Examiner and DC Theater Scene loved it even more than Marks.