OCT. 13th, 2010 "THEATERMANIA" REVIEW of PANDORA'S BOX at NYMF

... Pandora's Box, at the Theatre at St. Clement's. Glen Roven bases his music and lyrics fairly faithfully on the 1995 French film Gazon Maudit (French Twist)...

Pandora (Kerry Butler) is a bored housewife neglected by her philandering husband, Oliver (played with convincing sleaze by James Patrick Stuart). One evening, while he's out clubbing, a stranded motorist knocks on Pandora's door. While awaiting a tow, Mona (Deidre Goodwin), manages to unclog Pandora's drain...

Both actresses are authentic enough to make the speed-seduction credible.

That she succeeds is partly due to the intercession of a whore with a heart of gold -- played by Luba Mason, who seizes the stage at the top of Act 2 and gives a knockout performance of the show's one memorable song, "One Great Love." With this cliché cameo, Mason manages to convey a fully rounded character deserving of our invested concern...

-- Sandy MacDonald