Joe Fox

Don’t Cry for Me My Yeshiva

Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, July 25, 2024

Reviewed by Bart Greenberg

Joe Fox had a story to tell. Actually, he had several stories to tell, and he told all of them in his show Don’t Cry for Me My Yeshiva, which resulted in an overstuffed and overlong cabaret show. It certainly had its high spots, but too much was not enough. He told of being the adopted son of an Orthodox rabbi and his doting over-mothering wife, of finding his frivolous and self-destructive birth mother, of his slow coming-out process, and of his meeting his future husband. All of this was framed by his making a documentary about the Vermont state ballot vote blocking marriage equality and his unlikely relationship with one older woman who approved of it.

Much of this was conveyed with parodies of famous theater songs, from “Ring Them Bells” (John Kander/Fred Ebb) to “That Old Black Magic” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer). Fox is not a natural singer, and his effort was noticeable, especially because a decision was made not to use microphones, which caused some obvious strain. Given his limited vocal range, choices such as “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” (Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice) and “As If We Never Said Goodbye” (Lloyd Webber/Christopher Hampton & Don Black) might have overestimated his musical abilities. Music director Dan Furman provided as much support as possible and occasionally doubling on backup vocals.

Fox did play the old woman and himself in conversation, and he did a nice job of bringing her to life. However, he also included two actresses in the cast to enact his adoptive mother (Karen Steinberg doing what she could with a clichéd part) and his birth mother (the charismatic Camille Diamond who had the best voice on the stage), which seemed a bit contradictory. Under director Lennie Watts’ guidance, Fox made good use of the entire stage, using clearly defined spaces for each part of the story. Video clips from his actual documentary also helped to frame the story, though they did leave us wanting to see some videos of his actual adversary. Like so much of the evening, that seemed like a missed opportunity.