Berkshire Bright Focus - Peter Bergman

So you pit rich weekenders against locals against landed gentry going back four centuries; divorcees against married women; dainty bitches against one another and also against the mostly macho maiden who cleans your house, serves your drinks and even so isn' t Mexican. What have you got? Why, it ’ s a reality TV show about real women from Columbia County, New York. In the hands of clever wordsmith Carl Ritchie you also have a blast.

          In his new musical at The Lighthouse Marina Dinner Theater in Craryville, New York (on Copake Lake) five women, one piano player, a lighting man and a dresser are out to prove "Country Life ’ s a Bitch." Through September 3 the Taconic Stage Company is presenting this latest in a series of new reviews by Ritchie that explore aspects of life we might not be thinking about on our own.

          Thankfully, for the most part, country life may be something to bitch about but that’s the musical extent of it. Ritchie’s songs are clever, funny, occasionally touching - I could have used a bit more of that - and speed by like a night train to Georgia. They touch on clothing, shopping, sex, class distinction, husbands, boyfriends, husband’s boyfriends, or girlfriends, stockbrokers, facebook friends, drinking, cidiots (that’s idiots from the city), menopause, cougars and many other topics as well. Clever, as noted, and with an occasional rhyme that keys the song into your brain...

EXCERPTED - READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE:

http://berkshirebrightfocus.com/specialattractions/realdesperatehousewives.html