Six Dance Lessons: Broadway

Karen M's "SDLISW in a Nutshell"

November 2003

Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks is without a doubt the funniest play I've ever seen. It's a comic exploration of the way that two people with a lot of neuroses can connect with each other. It's also extremely touching (bring tissues), especially in the second half. The first half is pretty much pure comedy loaded with outrageously funny one-liners, as the characters meet, get on each other's nerves, argue and make up, and gradually discover that they're developing the most neurotic friendship since "The Odd Couple". Mark Hamill and Polly Bergen both give excellent performances. There were a few changes in the staging and dialogue since the play was staged at the Coconut Grove in Florida with Mark Hamill and Rue McClanahan; some of the changes are improvements and a couple of them are not. But overall, the pairing of Hamill and Bergen works very well, and the audience I saw it with responded very enthusiastically to their performance.

The plot is not complex, and there are a couple of plot developments that you can see coming a mile off, but that doesn't spoil the fun. The point of the play is not so much the events as the sparkling dialogue and high-energy performances, which are absolutely loaded with surprises, and the joy of seeing the characters gradually emerge from the walls of BS that each one has thrown up to defend him or herself from the world.

Mark Hamill plays Michael Minetti, a dance instructor with a truckload of issues who uses manic behavior, a hair-trigger temper and an over-the-top sense of humor to defend himself against genuinely connecting with people. His student, the retired schoolteacher Lily Harrison (played by Polly Bergen), is hiding behind a slew of falsehoods and fantasies. The story is about the journey the two of them take to meet in the middle and form a genuine and tender friendship.

It's strange that some critics have mischaracterized this as a play meant only for older people; friends of mine as young as 22 have seen it and think it's hysterical, and anyway the play isn't really about issues of old age. It's true that most of Lily's excuses for retreating from life are based on her age, but you can just tell that if she didn't have that as an excuse, she'd find something else. The play is about friendship, and about how people who are far from perfect can nevertheless connect with each other and help each other reconnect with life (like the old song that goes "I'm Not Perfect, But I'm Perfect For You"). The story is all the more touching because Michael and Lily connect not through the usual sex-and-romance route but through pure friendship. Sure, we know what the end destination is -- surely Lily will quit making excuses and re-engage with life, and surely Michael will find his way out of his shell, become less abrasive and let himself show genuine caring for Lily -- but getting there is all the fun.

The play is written and performed with an emphasis on high-energy comedy, especially in the first half. The second half is also very funny, but with tender moments and deeper meaning slipped in amidst the laughs, building up to the very moving ending. The final scene stayed in my mind long after I'd left the theater. If you're looking for a heavy psychological play loaded with hyper-intellectual symbolism, this definitely isn't it. But if you want to laugh till your sides hurt, cry a little bit, and come away feeling wonderful, you really shouldn't miss Six Dance Lessons.