Betsy Wolfe doesn’t thoughts if audiences who catch her efficiency in “Joy: A New True Musical” predict to see a present a couple of mop ― as long as they take time to ponder the candy message of self-empowerment at its core, too.
“Joy,” which opened Sunday on the Laura Pels Theatre on the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Heart for Theatre in New York, chronicles the life of Pleasure Mangano (Wolfe), who rose to prominence within the early Nineteen Nineties as the inventor of the Miracle Mop.
A Lengthy Island native, Mangano endeared herself to legions of shoppers with common look on tv community QVC, and by 2000, was promoting $10 million price of Miracle Mops yearly.
“There’s very few, if any, musicals written about modern women whose complete journey is that of entrepreneurship while also changing their family’s life,” Wolfe, whose credit embrace Broadway’s “Falsettos” and “Waitress,” informed HuffPost in an interview. “A lot of people refer to theater as an escape from their lives. This show is a beautiful examination of where you are, where you’ve been, and where you could go.”
Because the musical exhibits, Mangano’s success was hard-fought. Not solely is she elevating her daughter Christie (Honor Blue Savage) as a single mother, however she’s additionally a supply of monetary and ethical help for her personal mom Toots (Jill Abramovitz) and father Rudy (Adam Grupper), in addition to her ex-husband, Tony (Brandon Espinoza), who’s dreaming of music stardom whereas dwelling in her basement. Whereas her newfound profession progresses, she faces additional obstacles, many imposed by male enterprise honchos who query her drive.
Mangano’s life and work had been additionally the inspiration for the 2015 movie, “Joy,” for which Jennifer Lawrence nabbed an Oscar nomination and gained a Golden Globe; the entrepreneur printed a memoir, “Inventing Joy: Dare to Build a Brave & Creative Life,” two years later.
Composer-lyricist AnnMarie Milazzo and ebook author Ken Davenport unveiled an early model of the musical in 2018, at which level Wolfe was invited to participate in a studying. The present’s improvement got here to a halt in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and by the point theaters started a phased reopening 17 months later, Wolfe was starring within the musical “& Juliet,” for which she obtained a Tony Award nomination.
Quickly, the prospect of portraying Mangano beckoned as soon as extra. To arrange for the function, Wolfe met often with the real-life Mangano, now 69. In the meantime, latest modifications in Wolfe’s personal life ― which embrace welcoming daughter Poppy, now 5, with husband Adam Krauthamer ― have deepened her understanding of Mangano’s experiences.
“I’m grateful this show didn’t happen six years ago, because I don’t think I would’ve brought an ounce of sincerity to it. I can’t even imagine the 2019 version of my Joy,” she mentioned. “My performance can be nuanced in a way only time and experience allow for.”
Concerning Mangano, she added, “I asked her point-blank, ‘Why did you make your life harder? Your parents were split up and you supported them. You let your ex-husband live in the basement.’ And she said, ‘I believe there’s good in everyone, and it was more important to me to give them chances to find that good.’ That’s such an exceptional quality.”
Bruce Glikas through Getty Photos
“Joy” is directed by Lorin Latarro, who choreographed acclaimed revivals of “Once Upon a Mattress” and “Into the Woods,” amongst different exhibits. At current, the musical is slated to run off-Broadway via Aug. 17. Although evaluations have been combined, it’s protected to imagine its inventive staff is hoping for a Broadway switch down the road.
Wolfe would, after all, like to painting Mangano in a future iteration of “Joy.” The function, she mentioned, has already given her recent perception into her personal endeavors, most notably her work with BroadwayEvolved, the musical theater coaching program for college students she co-founded with fellow actor Cynthia Rose.
“I started my business the same year I did my first ‘Joy’ reading, and I think about how much harder it would’ve been to do that without her and so many others,” she mentioned. “To be able to say I’m a working actor in a show that makes people want to make a change in their own lives is icing on the cake. That’s what fuels me.”
