I hate Lucy!

...well, not exactly.

But, I did see the play last night at Water Tower Place in Chicago, and I can't believe I sat through the whole thing.

 

Based on the TV series, I Love Lucy, this play takes you through a few episodes, sort of a studio audience view of the show, with live commercials from the show. 

 

To be blunt, it sucked.  It sucked so bad I wanted to leave in the first 20 minutes.    I didn't put a stopwatch on it, but the Lucy character wasn't on stage as much as the stage host, who wasn't very good either. 

 

The real pity here is that Lucy, being this iconic character, offered so many over-the-top performances, that adapting her to the stage seemed natural, with the opportunity for grand gestures and even grander farce.  It felt like somebody took a great piece of filet mignon and put it in the hands of a line cook.  Too bad, because a real Lucy could have been spectacular.