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Review: Everybody Go See Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares
May 20, 2024, 6:27.23 pm ET

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Photo: Avery Brunkus

By Brian Scott Lipton

The title of Laura Benanti’s hilarious and touching new solo show, “Nobody Cares,” now at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theatre, is the ultimate in self-deprecation, which is also a good way to describe this ultra-enjoyable 80-minute outing. Of course, Benanti has people who care: her husband, Patrick, their two adorable daughters, her parents, and her legions of fans who have followed her 20+ years in theater, including her Tony Award-winning turn in “Gypsy,” or watched her imitate Melania Trump on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” And if for some reason, you didn’t care about Benanti before seeing this show, you will now!

Benanti’s brilliant musical collaborator, Todd Almond, is on hand and on stage throughout the show, but “Nobody Cares” is nobody’s idea of a cabaret act: in fact, Benanti – a brilliant vocalist – only sings a few original songs, which are humorous. But they don’t measure up to Benanti’s verbal and physical comedy (the latter of which won’t be visible to those who hear this show once it’s released on Audible), both of which result in non-stop laughter and a few lumps in the throat.

Brutally honest about herself and other people, Benanti explains about how being a lifelong people-pleaser resulted in ill-considered relationships and previous marriages, physical risks on Broadway (one of which resulted in a broken neck) and a questionable career choice or two. She claims the show is a major step in her recovery, and, indeed, she goes as far to use the f-bomb repeatedly (a first on stage), even with her mother in the audience.

She’s also quick with a quip: “I am a fully accredited Broadway star,” she says, before pausing. “We use the term ‘star’ loosely in the theater. Sort of how people in Hollywood use the term ‘good friend.’”

Well, to my mind Laura Benanti is a star, no matter where she appears, and we’d all be lucky enough to call her our “good friend.”

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