The Rosie O’Donnell Renaissance is in full swing.
Going to Ireland for a bit seems to have been the right move. A year and a half later she’s performing her one woman show, “Common Knowledge,” at the off Broadway Daryl Roth Theater on Union Square.
I didn’t know what to expect, so it was more than a pleasant surprise to discover the 75 minute show is charming, delightful, and beautifully written. It’s also deftly performed by Rosie, who is so disarming and funny that even the dramatic parts — there are a couple — are smooth sailing.
“Common Knowledge” is a refrain throughout the show, a phrase she learned from her wise gender fluid autistic child, Clay — who by the way has an amazing vocabulary and memory. Don’t think that Rosie is unlike a regular mother whose daughter told her first she was changing her name from Dakota, then declaring herself gender free. What made O’Donnell so relatable in her TV talk show is the same here: she can’t believe it, but she’ll go with it. It could be worse. She still has trouble with pronouns, so she had the word “They” tattooed on wrist. Even that hasn’t kept her from flubbing sometimes.
Rosie — now with a mane of plush gray at age 64, and slim from Mounjaro — tells the story of losing her mother to cancer in 1973, when she was just 10 years old. That’s the sad part of the story, which she assures us passes quickly. Then it’s on to her family’s move to Ireland during The Troubles, of all things, and their return to a changed New York. We learn about her family and friends, her own coming out, and her decision to adopt — eventually — five children. (Note: four of the five are flourishing, and Rosie has recently become a grandmother!)
Family is key to “Common Knowledge,” which becomes clearer and clearer as the laughs come. O’Donnell’s monologue is not short on heart, or incisive observation about creating a family all over again.
Eventually, the show must turn to Donald Trump, who started attacking her 20 years ago, long before his campaign. He’s been obsessed with her all this time, even declaring he’d revoke her US citizenship (something he can’t do). O’Donnell, who is a very good artist, has made so many paintings Trump — two hundred and eleven — that her therapist called her (not the other way around) to make sure she was okay.
How will she handle Trump this month when she guest hosts “Jimmy Kommel”? I told you earlier that ABC already put the kibosh on her hilarious parody of “If I Only Had a Brain.” (She sings it in the show, and the audience– not an empty seat in the house — sings along with the delicious lyrics.) Rosie has a plan: she debuted a new parody last night, called “Hello, Donny!” sung to “Hello, Dolly!” She’s got some of the lyrics done, and they are sly. ABC had better let her go for it.
“Common Knowledge” is very savvy in that it is not a bromide, nor is it angry. It’s incredibly sweet, and disarming. O’Donnell has been working on it for 18 months, trying it out in Australia and Scotland to rapturous crowds. It would be a shame if it’s filmed for posterity before the run ends on Saturday night. We can only hope she comes back and does it again, soon.
PS Yes, plenty of celebs come every night. Last night, it was Natasha Lyonne, with Jeff Garlin, and Ian Armitage from “Young Sheldon.” I didn’t know that his father is Euan Morton, the Broadway actor who played Boy George in Rosie’s musical, “Tattoo.” O’Donnell introduced Ian’s parents to each other! Small world!
The Rosie O’Donnell Renaissance is in full swing, and it couldn’t be better timing. By the way, she and Clay are returning to Ireland for the school year. If there’s ever another talk show, it will be after Trump is long gone.
Also, I hope the critics groups that cover off Broadway have come by to see this show. It deserves special citations next spring.
