The title Boy Crazy Psycho Slut did give me the wrong impression, but maybe that was me. Images of some rebellious woman trapped in her teen image and growing into adulthood long after her being able to vote or legally drink came to mind, shades of Joan Jett, P!nk, Wendy Williams, etc. What I got was different, and I am not complaining even a tiny bit.
Instead we follow Jo Dellapina's (fictionalized) life from childhood on in series of utterly charming vignettes, theatrical and moving and often drawing out laughter, sometimes tears. It is a poignant journey, albeit less gothic than I'd expected. Hers is a story we can all feel might be our own, which is not always the case of those who've gone through traumas involving addiction or physical self harm or outright persecution (this is intended as a criticism of audiences, btw, including yours truly). Her story unfolds and we see her life up until now, shaped by her own desires for love and companionship, by the bitterness of her parents' divorce, by her own feelings of inadequacy as well as raw enthusiasm, even love (and far from only the romantic kind).
At the end, we share her looking to the future. A very human, ordinary in the way we are all extraordinary, odyssey of the human spirit. Yes, I wish it were longer or dug in a little more when it came to her issues and pain. But that seems more like personal taste. We took this journey with her. Felt much if not all of what she felt. Saw her, not a stereotype or pre-conceived archetype, but the fully rounded person who has joys and disappointments in plenty to remember--and, like all of us, to look forward to.
It made for a powerful show. A moving one.
Boy Crazy Psycho Slut has ended its run at the Hudson Theatre Guild on Santa Monica Blvd, but I have hopes it shall be revived. So should you.
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