That Girl!

Get out your kites, kids. Marlo Thomas is coming to San Francisco.

Yes, erstwhile Ann Marie, TV’s first (semi) liberated lady with the keenest fashion sense in all Manhattan is coming to the Magic Theatre.

What’s even better is that Thomas headlines an already exciting show: Moving Right Along is a collection of three short plays by Elaine May and Jan Mirochek and directed by May and her daughter, Jeannie Berlin.

Even though May’s brilliant partnership with Mike Nichols on their Nichols and May comedy team ended decades ago, their work together remains some of the freshest and funniest comedy ever recorded. If you don’t know their routines, go out and and find anything you can get your hands on (you can start here). Of May’s bumpy movie career, we’ll commend her writer/director efforts on The Heartbreak Kid and A New Leaf and not even mention Ishtar. May was also fantastic as an actor in Woody Allen’s Small Time Crooks.

May’s distinctive voice should be a good match for Thomas (Mrs. Phil Donahue, in case you forgot), who was terrific in the national tour of Six Degrees of Separation. The two are old friends, and if audiences are really good, maybe Thomas will perform something from Free to Be…You and Me after the curtain call.

Moving Right Along opens in October. Visit the Magic’s Web site here.

2 thoughts on “That Girl!

  1. It may not count as part of Elaine May’s “bumpy” movie career, but my favorite is “Mikey & Nicky” – a dark tale of mob friendship, starring Peter Falk and the inimitable John Cassavetes.

    Speaking of minor classics, whatever happened to That Girl’s oddly charming, even more oddly sexy boyfriend, Donald Hollinger? I depend on you to know these kind of things, Chad!

  2. Thanks for your question, Jim.
    Ted Bessell, who played Donald on “That Girl,” went on to appear in other sitcoms (including a couple guest spots on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” He directed sitcoms as well and frequently directed episodes of “The Tracey Ullman Show” on Fox.
    He died in 1996 at age 61.

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