Review: Life is a Celebration... Potholes and All

NoHo Studios, 5215 Lankershim Blvd., NoHo, 818-990-2324

by Jeff Nelson

Life is a Celebration . . . Potholes and All is a more entertaining evening, mainly because of the talents of Mona Marshall, the show’s creator and performer. This production is a showcase for Marshall, and she takes full advantage of the opportunity to show us what she’s got. On a stage bare except for a few potted palms, a stool, and a piano (played skillfully by Darrin Degenhard), Marshall, in a simple black dress, sings a number of her original songs and chats amiably about life’s “potholes” in between numbers. Part lounge act, part audition, this show offers the usual observations about life, love, and relationships, but the emphasis is on the bitter, not the bittersweet, and I was never sure if Marshall was smiling or merely gritting her teeth. Marshall earns her living doing voiceover for such children’s shows as Fraggle Rock and Rainbow Brite, and perhaps this is why much of her act has the false feeling of a school marm telling us how much fun arithmetic is going to be. As a change of pace, Marshall demonstrates her character voices in the latter half of the show. ♦