Marilu Henner
Memory Girl
The Green Room 42, NYC, November 15, 2025
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
Photo courtesy of The Green Room 42
Bright, enthusiastic Marilu Henner, a Broadway veteran who dates back to the original production of Grease and became an established television star with Taxi, took the stage at The Green Room 42 for a look back at her life and achievements in Memory Girl. Whether she was recreating some of her past roles or teasing her husband and her adult son seated in the audience, she was in total control. Then came demonstrations of her rare neurological condition, Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory (HSAM). This allows her to remember every day of her life in detail, including what project she was working and what was the most popular song of the moment (she sang bits and pieces of them).
This gimmick made for a slightly choppy show that was already somewhat disorganized given Henner’s desire to cover so many aspects of her life. Still, there were many pleasures to be found, from a very sexy “Let’s Misbehave” (Cole Porter) to a rewritten “I’m a Woman” (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller), which made a reference to her memory quirk. There was great charm in her stories of the original, low-rent version of Grease, complete with a sample of some truly terrible songs dropped when the show moved from Chicago to Broadway. But her solo, “Freddy My Love” (Jim Jacobs/Warren Casey), stayed intact, and her rendition proved why. She also recreated some radio commercials that were her financial salvation during the lean years, such as an ad for Ponderosa Steakhouse and a revised version of “I Love Paris” (Porter) that promoted Samsonite luggage.
Her version of “My Guy[s]” (Smokey Robinson) paid tribute to the cast of Taxi and included a slide show, and her interest in women’s health was celebrated with an interpretation of “Tradition” (Sheldon Harnick/Jerry Bock). Both songs benefitted from clever parody lyrics written by her brother Lorin Henner. More personal tributes went to her two sons, Nick: “Love in the Nick of Time” (Bonnie Raitt) and Joe (“Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe” (Harold Arlen/E.Y. Harburg). She delivered both with a warm maternal glow.
Henner’s confidence was exposed when she invited Tony winner Bonnie Milligan to the stage to recreate her show-stopping number from Kimberly Akimbo, “Better” (David Lindsay-Abaire/Jeanine Tesori). Expectedly, Milligan stopped the show. But Henner easily won it back with her delivery of “Roxie” (John Kander/Fred Ebb) from her own huge success in the revival of Chicago. If this show was an over-stuffed banquet, at least each serving was tasty.
