The Cemetery Club
OnStage Atlanta
through November 26, 2022

We’re in the Forest Hills section of Queens, and we meet three Jewish widows, who are trying to find their way through those not so golden years. Each month they go to visit their husbands’ graves, which are all in the same cemetery.

Doris (Shelley Barnett), Lucille (Bobby Elzey) and Ida (Lory Cox) are ladies that everyone in the audience knows. One of them is impressed with her own appearance, another with buying at the lowest price, and one with suspicion of any man who looks at any of them, etc.

The man who starts the action is Sam (Rod Lindsey) the butcher, who shows up at the cemetery to visit his wife’s grave and starts to get into it with Ida. The other two BFFs put the anchor on that one, though. Then there is a woman we never meet, who is about to be married for the Nth time, and the three ladies are to be her Maids of Honor. She claims to always ask three different women each time she weds.

The agent provocateur shows up as Mildred (Bernice Cohen) who they all know; but didn’t expect to be sharing a car ride or an evening with her as Sam’s eye-candy and date.

There used to be huge posters in the NYC subways promoting Levy’s bagels which said You Don’t Have to be Jewish to Enjoy Levy’s.   I recall one of them with a picture of a Native American Indian munching out. Well, the same is true about Ivan Menchell’s play. There may be a few Yiddish words, but you know where they’re going. It’s kind of the Golden Girls on stage.

The show is directed by Abra Thurmond on an easily workable stage, and everybody enjoys the show; especially if they are AARP members. OnStage Atlanta, has free parking, and you can download more info and tickets at OnStageAtlanta.com