Forced cheer in 'Divorce' becomes tiring

What's worse? Being traded in after 34 years by your Broadway producer husband for his decades-younger producing partner, or writing a musical revue about it? I'm going to go with writing the revue, Til Divorce Do Us Part, because getting dumped is painful, and while Ruthe Ponturo's ex seems like a real cad, at least without this show she still had her dignity.

Ponturo attempts broad appeal, with tunes aping Cabaret or Oklahoma, but all that forced cheer becomes relentless, and after 26 songs, including "The Divorce Dirge," "The Other Woman," and "Holidays Suck," this empathy cocktail gets a very bitter taste. It's much to Donna Dougherty, Michelle Pauls, and Cassandra Nary's credit that a finale, "He Was So Much Cuter When I Loved Him," still holds residual upbeat energy.

Ponturo, with composer John Thomas Fischer, is free to process it all onstage, and an audience of drunken divorcees might enjoy wallowing in it with her. But there's something sad about watching these three reasonably talented actresses onstage with two carelessly decorated cafe tables and a hardworking pianist (uncredited), all dolled up in their big-night-out getups - two cheap-looking blue cocktail dresses and a black pantsuit - working their tails off while singing tunes with lyrics such as "She was 5 years old when we walked down the aisle / If you'd met her then, would you be a pedophile?"

Director Dann Dunn seems to have left the work up to his cast, which, in the case of the women, is fine. However, in the case of Trevor Cahill, a gay best friend/divorce advice columnist, it's a major issue, as Cahill isn't much of an actor, and he's even less of a singer. Dougherty in particular, deserves better. Long and lean, with a jet-black pixie cut and plenty of character in her character lines, she's the voice of confidence in a production that's lacking almost everything else.

Til Divorce Do Us Part

Through Dec. 7 at Society Hill Playhouse, 507 S. Eighth St.

Tickets: $45.

Information: 215-923-0210 or www.SocietyHillPlayhouse.org.

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