Review: Actress channels Ann Landers' wit and wisdom

Come on in. Pull up a chair at the periphery of advice columnist Ann Landers' high-rise condo in Chicago. Kick off your shoes.

As she did in her newspaper column for 47 years, Ann is ready to welcome you with warmth, humor and plenty of straight talk as she discusses her career and her life one evening in 1975. Ann is up late, trying to write a particularly difficult column, and you're an excuse to procrastinate a little.

That's the basic premise of “The Lady With All the Answers,” a one-woman play about the remarkable career of Landers (aka Esther “Eppie” Friedman Lederer) that opened a monthlong run Friday night at the Omaha Community Playhouse.

The wit, wisdom and compassion of Landers are plenty to entertain a crowd for two hours, proved at a warmly received Thursday night preview. David Rambo's rich script combines laughs, poignant moments of deep feeling and even a flash of anger.

The bonus here is that the woman playing Landers, Kathy Wheeldon, gives a phenomenal performance.

If you're familiar with Landers' voice, speech patterns and mannerisms, you'll know Wheeldon not only studied the essence of this real-life character — she's got it down cold. The wry grin, the sparkle in the eyes, the energy and humor that radiated from Landers in personal appearances are all there.

So confident and unflappable is Wheeldon in this role, she was unfazed by a loud sound-system squawk, pretending it was the stereo acting up. She didn't miss a beat.

Costumer Lynne Ridge has done her job, too: the bouffant hairdo with a flip, the bright red nails and lipstick, the sparkling chunks of jewelry, an elegant dressing gown and pajamas, a full-length mink.

The illusion is complete: Ann is in the room.

Nice room, too. Jim Othuse's set design features cream-colored wooden pillars with crown molding set in a black void, an alcove with the skyline of Chicago peeking out, a couple of Impressionist paintings, Ann's desk and typewriter, a cabinet hi-fi on which crooners and light jazz give Ann something to dance to. Even a collection of owl statuary.

Director Susan Baer Collins has carefully choreographed Ann's movements and mannerisms to keep things visually interesting, a real challenge for this talky show. But Rambo's script is clever in how it draws in the audience, changing up moods as Ann seamlessly transitions from one topic to the next.

There's twin sister Dear Abby, who worked for Ann and then surreptitiously started up a rival column; there's Margo, a confidante as well as her precious only child; there are the celebrities and politicians and experts Ann knew through her column, which lead to amusing stories about Hubert Humphrey, Linda Lovelace (!) and more.

There are the letters about everything from toilet paper to marriage, suicide to sexuality, nude housecleaning to post-marital love lives.

And there's Jules, Landers' husband of 36 years, who's the subject of the difficult column. Ann, who has always advised her readers to find a way to save their marriages, now must face the end of hers. In print. For 60 million readers.

Wheeldon can take a moment like that and bring tears to your eyes. Five minutes later, you're laughing loud and long as she threatens to poll the audience on who was a virgin when they got married.

What Wheeldon can express with a simple hand prop like a pair of half-lens glasses is a lot. Add that distinctive voice, body language, smart staging, an incredibly expressive face and voila — the lady with all the answers is nudging us once again to be our best selves.

Wheeldon is a knockout, and the playhouse's 86th season is off to a strong start.

Contact the writer:

444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com

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