Most women, and not a few men, can readily identify with My Life on a Diet. Been trying to shed that weight since age eleven? Check! Remember the Scarsdale Diet, made famous by the fact that author Herman Tarnower was shot and killed by a jealous ex-mistress? Sure! And what about the myriad other diets Renee Taylor mentions? Yep, been there, done that. But once Renée Taylor starts dropping names, that’s where our shared experiences part company. Most poignant and effecting is her remembrance of her good friend, Marilyn Monroe. They met in Lee Strasberg’s acclaimed acting class at the Actors Studio. Renée recognized that Marilyn was fragile and refused to critique her work for fear of hurting her sensitive friend. When she asked the glamorous star how she got such beautiful skin, Marilyn told her that she rubbed her entire body with Vaseline, and then took a three-hour bath. When Renee tried the trick, she just slid around in the tub. This is typical of her mixture of self-deprecating humor coupled with attention grabbing tales of her encounters with luminaries. When she worked as a singer at a cabaret, Taylor befriended another up-and-comer named Barbra Streisand, who used to ask for advice about what to sing. Years later, when megastar Streisand asked her from the stage to suggest what song should come next, Taylor shouted that she wouldn’t, “because you didn’t listen to me years ago, and look what happened.” Through a boyfriend, who looked better in one of her outfits than Renee did, she met Grace Kelly, who advised her to diet by eating yogurt. When Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco, Renée sent as a gift “a top-of-the-line yogurt maker.” Flashed on the screen on the back wall is the thank you note she received from the new Princess. Taylor befriended Sue Mengers before she became a powerhouse agent, appeared for 23 weeks with Jack Paar, was a favorite of Elaine May…the list of notables goes on and on. But the one who really counted was Joseph Bologna, the love of her life. They were introduced as potential writing partners; the spark was immediate. When Bologna told her he was used to being the beloved in a relationship, and not loving as much in return, she told him that if he weren’t serious, she didn’t want to see him again. This was on their first date; they were married six months later. When Joe’s Italian father told her he didn’t know many Jewish women, but he’d heard that they don’t cook, Renée informed him that she did—which wasn’t true. Joe’s concerned mother wanted to know what it was that her daughter-in-law would be making for her son. Renee answered “gefilte fish.” Mrs. Bologna pressed on, asking how that’s cooked. “You take a big fish, and you gefilte it” was the answer. Joe doubled over with laughter. Renée and Joe were married 52 years, until his death in 2017; they collaborated on 22 plays, four films, and nine TV projects. In addition, she became known for her Emmy-nominated turn as Fran Drescher’s constantly ravenous mom, Sylvia Fine, in the sitcom “The Nanny.” Taylor has presented this one-woman show in other venues, but it’s hard to believe any audience could appreciate her more than the fans she has here. From the beginning of the show, the stage is literally set for laughs; animal prints are everywhere, and when she appears in a bespangled gown, sparkly sneakers, and eye-catching jewelry, the good times start immediately. The audience doesn’t just laugh; they howl. It’s fair to say that what 85-year-old Renee Taylor dishes out to the crowd is the equivalent of an utterly delicious chocolate cake, complete with scoops of ice cream and plenty of whipped cream.
