When the Friedmans of Sioux City, Iowa, had twin girls on July 4, 1918, they didn't do the kids many favors, naming them Esther Pauline and Pauline Esther, and adding the respective nicknames of Eppie and Popo. No wonder the girls grew up to become advice columnists, with Eppie adopting the Chicago Sun-Times' name, Ann Landers, and Popo creating Abigail Van Buren .
And one more genealogical note: Ann Landers' successor was Margo Howard, Eppie's daughter, and Dear Abby is written by Popo's daughter, Jeanne Phillips.
"The Lady With All the Answers," a lightweight look at Ann, her life and letters, is on stage now at the COCA Black Box, running through Sunday as a Max & Louie production (sounds more like a delicatessen than a theatrical company). Stellie Siteman does as much with the role as can be exected, but the David Rambo script is thin gruel.
A one-person show is difficult for an actor. There's no one to play off, no chance for physical confrontation. Director Sydnie Grosberg Ronga does all she can: Siteman does a lot of putting glasses on and taking them off, fiddling with the papers in front of her, moving from sofa to desk to window seat in the apartment study nicely designed by Christopher M. Waller. She even does some silly calisthenics and has a couple of telephone conversations. On occasion she polls the audience, seeking advice ranging from toilet-paper positioning to virginity.
She wears a great-looking red suit in the first act, a more subdued black number in the second. Tossing her hair might offer a slight distraction, but Siteman's bouffant style is the most solid, non-moving hair seen on a St. Louis stage since the late Ann Miller worked the Muny in 1972.
The occasion for our visit with Ann Landers is to witness the column she wrote in 1975 to announce her divorce. It was, as she said, the most difficult column she wrote; she and Jules Lederer had been married since 1939, and the fact that he was leaving her for a woman younger than their daughter was a difficult blow to absorb.
Siteman offers a fine performance; her fondness for chocolate is nicely shown, and she sounds right, too, with a touch of ego displayed in several references to her 60 million readers. It isn't all sweetness and light, as she speaks of her dislike for the National Rifle Association and other pressure groups, but her readers (and she had 60 million of them) have heard this before over the nearly half-century of advice she provided. Attendance by gender was interesting; the house was full last night, with women comprising about 95 percent of the audience.
The Lady With All the Answers is at the COCA Black Box Theatre through Sunday.
—Joe