![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/org_img_1519850073_L-DSC_9787.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo by Kevin Parry, as is the big one of Saffron Burrows at the top of the page.<\/p><\/div>\n
Other than that one spark, though, I\u2019m pretty comme\u00a0ci,\u00a0comme \u00e7a about this one; it\u2019s not awful<\/em>, but it\u2019s far from wonderful.<\/p>\n The only thing that is<\/em> wonderful about this presentation at The Wallis\u2019 Lovelace Theatre is Fran\u00e7ois-Pierre Couture’s\u00a0set. This was my third visit to the Wallis\u2019 smaller intimate theatre space on the ground level of the edifice, and it\u2019s the third configuration I\u2019ve seen it in! This time, the audience is on three sides of the gorgeous set, which is so brightly-lit (in a good way) that we can see every little nuance of the beauty of it. (But, conversely, it means that we can also see all the sleeping members of the audience, which on the night I<\/em> was there, were quite a few!)<\/p>\n I love this picture from the program. Please notice that it’s made-up of tons of tiny pix of history!!! Photo courtesy of The Wallis.<\/p><\/div>\n So here\u2019s a quick history of why I feel the way I do regarding any<\/em> entertainment that portrays historical figures. When I was very young, I saw an old movie about Jesse James. I assumed I was watching a moving history book, and that I now knew the true story. But the very next week, I saw another<\/em> version of the saga of the James brothers, (I\u2019ve been a fan of old movies my entire life,) and…it was totally different! That\u2019s when I realized that you just can\u2019t trust these \u201cbased on a true story\u201d tales. (But I would love it if, when I\u2019m<\/em> gone, someone portrays me<\/em> as a classy Grace Kelly type! Trust me, there will be no hard feelings about that<\/em> little liberty!)<\/p>\n So, I\u2019m not a fan of theatrical speculations on real<\/em> people; they just confuse me.\u00a0 (I had been thinking that maybe that’s just me<\/em>, but then the very intelligent and worldly pal with whom I saw Jackie Unveiled<\/em> started sending me her<\/em> post-show research tidbits, as well, so I realized that I\u2019m not alone.)<\/p>\n In this<\/em> case, though, the program note from the playwright, Tom Dugan, tells us that what he was going for, basically, is an imagined<\/em> version of what Jacqueline Kennedy might<\/em> have to say about her uber-interesting life, after he did many years of extensive research on the subject.\u00a0 Still, imagined scenarios are just never my cup of tea with historical figures.<\/p>\n Saffron Burrows as the post-JFK Jackie Kennedy. Photo by Kevin Parry.<\/p><\/div>\n So, we had a tie\u2014great set, weak premise. I needed a tie-breaker as to my positives and negatives. And that came in the form of Saffron Burrows, the actress the narrative relied on to get the story across. As much as I hate to say it, her performance must go in the \u201cweakness\u201d category.<\/p>\n Even though Ms. Burrows is a zillion times prettier than Jackie Kennedy was, (I never got why people back then considered Jackie to be a beauty,) and I\u2019d kill to have her gorgeous nose, I\u2019m sad to say that that\u2019s about where my admiration ends.<\/p>\n She tries hard to affect Jackie’s weird and baffling speech patterns, (which I’ve never understood my whole life,) to varying degrees of success, so I\u2019m left scratching my head as to why she doesn’t also try to emulate Kennedy’s soft voice<\/em>.\u00a0 She sounds more like full-throated, husky-voiced Marlene Dietrich than almost-whispering Jackie Kennedy.\u00a0 And the few other characters she portrays over the two hours all sound like the Jamaican taxi driver in the second act.<\/p>\n Saffron Burrows as the grown-up Jackie Kennedy. Photo by Kevin Parry.<\/p><\/div>\n Even worse than that is that she puts periods…after…every…sentence she utters! That\u2019s one of the biggest no-nos they teach in Acting 101! No one talks like that in real life! That delivery of hers was making me want to tear my hair out! (Then I could have borrowed her Jackie wig because it looks a tad strange\u00a0on Saffron’s\u00a0<\/em>head–\u2014it sort-of takes over her whole being. You know a show is going wrong when you keep focusing on the semi-ill-fitting wig. Which makes it sort-of a relief when the second half features senior citizen, cancer-ravaged Jackie, so instead of the wig, Saffron rocks a headscarf.)<\/p>\n Saffron Burrows has always worked a lot, so I\u2019m assuming this performance is an anomaly. Or the product of strange directing. But you know that I always tell it like it is.<\/p>\n And it’s never an easy task to be the only person on stage, with all eyes on you at all times. \u00a0I have to give her props for not fumbling over even one line of the very wordy script, especially so early in the run. So\u00a0props to her for that.<\/p>\n Okay, that\u2019s all I have to say on the subject. I could get nit-picky, but I\u2019m in a generous mood on Oscars week. You all get my gist.<\/p>\n So, if you\u2019re a fan of what maybe<\/em> went on in the mind of the former first lady, and of slow acting with strange speech, this is the show for you. Or even if you have a couple of hours to kill in Beverly Hills and want to see if you agree with my observations, (which I assure you, you will!)<\/p>\n Jackie Unveiled<\/em>\u00a0running through March 18, 2018<\/strong> JACKIE UNVEILED The best thing about this one-woman show portraying Jackie Kennedy is that it inspired me to immediately watch videos of the icon the second I got home that night. And they were indeed eye-opening. So, I thank Jackie Unveiled for that. Other than that one spark, though, I\u2019m pretty comme\u00a0ci,\u00a0comme \u00e7a about this<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>
\n Wallis Annenberg Theater For The Performing Arts\u2014Lovelace Studio Theatre<\/strong>
\n 9390 N. Santa Monica Boulevard \u00a0Beverly Hills \u00a0310-746-4000\u00a0\u00a0www.thewallis.org<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"