You’d be out of your mind to miss ‘TOVAH: Out of Her Mind!’ Legendary Theater, Cabaret, and Stand-Up Dynamo TOVAH FELDSHUH Tells All as She Sings and Shticks through Dozens of Characters in her Incredible Life Story

There are popular, stand-up comedy acts, and there are musical-theater revues by Broadway-caliber vocalists. And then there’s TOVAH FELDSHUH. I could say, with this multi-award-winning actress/singer/comedienne’s one woman show you get a twofer: a beautifully sung musical theater revue plus non-stop original comedy sketches, all perfectly interspersed. But then there’s more … SOOO much more! Because Tovah doesn’t just tell jokes, she quickly switches attire to become her comedic characters – in looks, speech, and mannerisms that span all ages, ethnic groups and nationalities. In addition to various American accents, she’ll talk like an Italian, Russian, or Turkish/Sephardic Jew. And she sings in pitch-perfect Yiddish, Hebrew, and Spanish. 

One minute, Tovah’s a young hip-hop hustler; the next a quivering but feisty Jewish Bubbe (Grandma). When it comes to songs, we get her special take on famous Broadway musical numbers (and we can see why she starred in so many –what an incredible voice and range!), accompanied by critically acclaimed music director James Bassi on grand piano. The piano’s expansive flat top also functions as Tovah’s costume-changing station (yes, this multi-tasking performer is also her own dresser). Well into her seventies (and I won’t say how far), she takes pride in still being able to portray so many characters onstage and credits the rejection of Botox for her “natural, lined face that can still move with expression!”

And there’s more. We aren’t simply entertained by a random collection of beautifully sung, popular showtunes through the ages (she’s been in the biz for five decades), personalized variations, or even encounters with so many hilarious characters that people both her, and our, collective past and present. There’s a definite theme and throughline to all the madness, and it’s the true story of Tovah Feldshuh’s (born Terri Sue) life.

I felt honored to be part of an audience that she so intimately addressed with personal revelations. (For her single day of two shows at Pompano Beach, Tovah also made sure to include bespoke “Pompano” allusions in songs and comments, invited us to stretch out and wave our hands in time to the music, join a chorus, and thanked us for coming to the show!) My God! Tovah made us feel like family while she put her whole heart and soul into this latest iteration of a long-running series of knockout cabaret-style, one-woman performances (running time about 80 nonstop, high-energy minutes). 

I’ll let you in on a little secret. This might be a rare opportunity to meet the Broadway legend and enjoy a one-of-kind review of Tovah’s life. I saw the ACM presentation of TOVAH: Out of Her Mind! hosted by the Pompano Beach Cultural Center on Saturday. But fear not, you can still catch the same Arts Center Management-produced show at Delray Beach Playhouse from Jan. 5 – 9. (And I’m sure it will include tailor-made references to “Delray” as its new host city.) I highly recommend you take the opportunity to enjoy the live vibes exuded by this fabulous entertainer in person, while you can. 

Based on her multitudes of fans through the years (both of her Broadway and off-Broadway performances and one-woman shows), I’m not alone in being inordinately impressed by her life story; I just discovered she’s also the subject of a new David Serero documentary that will soon be playing locally. “TOVAH: 50 Years on Broadway, The Life of Tovah Feldshuh,” is a feature film of the Boca International Jewish Film Festival and its world premiere will be held at The Wick Theatre in Boca on Monday, January 26 at 7:30 pm. 

But you can see popular Tovah now, live, as she opens her “Out of Her Mind” show with an explosion of songs from Styne and Sondheim’s “Gypsy.” Sprinkled with lyrics co-opted for her current venue, as in “I had a dream about you, Pompano!” “Clear the decks … everything’s coming up Pompano!” You get the gist. She also pokes light fun at quirky South Florida staples, like our annual Garlic Fest. From the get-go, she has her audience eating out of her hands.

My personal favorite was the song that came next, an original, Tovah-specific, music-and-lyrics creation by James Bassi called “Tovah’s Lament.” As a composer, pianist and longtime friend, Tovah’s music director of 11 years certainly knows his subject well. In this wonderfully humorous and comprehensive litany of complaints, he manages to chronicle many of the actress’s notable musical theater performances. Along with a hilarious take on her lifelong objection to being typecast as “Bubbes and Yentas by the score … I’m always the go-to-Jew.” Tovah starts her lament with “Oy, how I’d love to play a shiksa (female gentile)” and then goes through a roster of iconic, non-Jewish female roles from Lady Macbeth to Agnes of God. 

We also learn that after many years playing Golda Meir in “Golda’s Balcony” (for which she won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance in 2003 – just one of numerous commendations in her lengthy stage, screen, and TV career), Tovah admits to having internalized the prime minister’s passionate Zionism and continues to be a staunch supporter of Israel.

I especially loved the outrageous Tovah spin on sketches I’d never seen before. Like the chronically depressed radio talk show host in “Sylvia Chronic: WYOY” by Larry Amoros where she opens with, “Welcome to Kaddish (a Hebrew prayer for the dead) and Coffee.” Who knew downers could be so funny … like a Jewish “Adams Family” on steroids. Looking forward to the upcoming holidays? Well, there’s “Easter and Passover – when the Christians get jellybeans and the Jews get bitter herbs.” 

The “Oy” of WYOY forms the perfect segue to Tova’s playing a confused, pigtailed eight-year-old in the musical number, “Molly: Shalom Santa.” Poor Molly is forever stuck between competing religious practices because “mommy is a lapsed Catholic, and daddy is a cultural Jew.” (Music & Lyrics by Douglas J. Cohen and Tom Toce.)

In accolades for early feminists, Tovah singles out Sophie Tucker as “one of the first” and we enjoy a powerful “Sophie Tucker” number by Larry Amoros with excerpts from her original performance. Followed by (ladies, ya gotta love it) “I Don’t Want to Get Thin” (music by Milton Ager and lyrics by Jack Yellen). It took some chutzpah for fashionably slim Tovah to pull this one off! 

And while you’re enjoying the fantastic vocals and laughing at all the zany characters, this very Jewish show won’t let you go without also providing a little education for your edification. Here it takes the form of 1920s iconoclastic poetry and a fascinating look at the origins of some of Ira and George Gershwin’s most memorable musical numbers. Trust me, if school were like this – we’d all get stars for perfect attendance. And I can’t help saying: This, too, was my favorite part of the show. (I give up. Let’s just say I loved it all!)  

If high school English teachers emotionally enacted poems the way Tovah Feldshuh performed e. e. cummings’ “May I Feel, Said He,” students would be racing down the halls to get to poetry class. Then Tovah deftly illustrates how the basis of many a popular song by Broadway musical titans – Jewish composer and lyricist brothers, George and Ira Gershwin – originated from old Russian lullabies translated to Yiddish, and from cantorial prayers. It’s a wonder to behold Tovah singing ancient tunes in Yiddish, Hebrew, and then keeping that melody going to reappear in “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” from the Gershwins’ landmark 1935 opera, “Porgy & Bess.”

I hope I’ve whet your appetite for a show like no other, though I’ve barely scratched the surface. Be ready to be dazzled by additional music by Judy Collins with special lyrics by David Friedman, a Hershey Felder arrangement, a number by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, and lots, lots more. Including, in the middle of everything, everywhere, original, zany Tovah Feldshuh “Patter” that will keep you in stitches.

Standing ovations should also go to show writers Larry Amaros, Rick Mitz & Tovah Feldshuh, with musical direction & additional arrangements by James Bassi, and contributions by creative consultant Jeff Harnar. 

TOVAH: Out of Her Mind! is now playing only from Monday, January 5, through Friday, January 9, at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 NW 9th Street, Delray Beach 33444. For tickets go to Tickets & Events – Delray Beach Playhouse or call 561-272-1281. Better hurry, last I checked, two show times were already sold out!