When Your Mom Is a Sex Therapist

Last night, I saw Lola Maltz's show My Mom Is a Sex Therapist at The Duplex. I first saw the piece back in 2013 (also at The Duplex), but it has grown and deepened considerably since then.

Maltz (who previously went by Cara Maltz) tells about her life in story and song, accompanied by pianist Garrit Guadan, and in this version by two other instrumentalists as well, giving the musical a full band.

Calling it a one-woman show would be somewhat inaccurate, as Maltz and Guadan engage in plenty of scripted banter on stage, including in the song "He Likes Me." Maltz also gets the audience to join in during the chorus of the song "Love Yourself" which provides some hysterical double entendres.

Songwriter Joshua H. Cohen has added a few new numbers for the piece, and fortunately his music fits Maltz's voice perfectly. If you get a chance to see it in a future incarnation, don't miss out!

Your Mom!

If you haven't seen Cara Maltz's new show My Mom Is a Sex Therapist, get down to The Duplex today by 3:30 for the last performance. The songs (mostly by Joshua H. Cohen, with a title song by Keith Varney) are quite lovely, and some of Maltz's stories are hysterical.

The opening number, "My Mommy is a Therapist," sets the tone for the piece perfectly, and Maltz does a wonderful job portraying a little kid as she explains to her classmates what her mom does for a living. Maltz also portrays the titular mother in the show, most memorably in the song "Love Yourself," naively explaining some of the facts of life to her daughter in a way no child wants to hear a parent speak--ever.

Though the play is billed as a one-woman musical, Maltz interacts quite a bit with her accompanist, Garrit Guadan. During my favorite song in the piece, "He Likes Me," Guadan interrupts several times, pointing out the warning signs as Maltz's character dates progressively worse and worse men.

Some of the show's success should also be attributed to director Stephan Varnier and to costume designer Nicholas Hartmann, who both give the audience a few surprises.

So see it now! (You know your mom would want you to....)