Naomi Jacobson as Dr. Ruth Westheimer in Becoming Dr. Ruth, the inaugural production in The Island Theatre at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre // Photo courtesy of the Village Theatre/Auston James
By Britin Haller
Reinvention is the theme as The Island Theatre, the brand-new black box space at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, opens with Becoming Dr. Ruth, a production detailing the life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a woman who shed her skin more times than one can count in her 96 years.
As Florida Theater on Stage’s recent article on the opening of The Island Theatre, “Magic that has been brewing 10 years will transform that featureless vacuum into a witty woman’s Washington Heights apartment crammed with memorabilia being packed to move.”
Unless one is of a certain age, the name Dr. Ruth Westheimer may mean little. But during her height of popularity in the 1980s, the adorably diminutive (she clocked in at only 4’7”) sexual advice therapist with the German accent was a household name. She had the nation’s number one radio program, her own television broadcast, regularly made the late night talk show circuit. She appeared on the cover of People, and created dozens of bestselling manuals on such previously forbidden conversation topics such as foreplay, masturbation, and orgasm.
She even had a “Good Sex” game with her name on it where players went around the board collecting arousal points. Literally an overnight sensation, for a while it felt as if Dr. Ruth was everywhere. Her catchphrase “Get Some!” was widely quoted and part of the human vernacular of the time.
Becoming Dr. Ruth was created with Dr. Ruth’s blessing, and from the time it first opened in 2012, she attended almost every performance, even sometimes traveling to different cities.
This one-woman event was written by Mark St. Germain (Freud’s Last Session and Camping With Henry and Tom, and first performed in 2012. The clever premise: It’s 1997, and Dr. Ruth is moving from her New York City apartment. Boxes (lots of boxes!) are strewn about and piled up everywhere. In between fielding phone calls from people like Mike, her mover who has a question about his penis, we learn about the girl, Karola Ruth Siegel, who became the legendary Dr. Ruth Westheimer.
Anyone who does a quick online search of Dr. Ruth will learn she fled Nazi Germany as a young Jewish girl, became a sniper with the Israeli military (“They used me as a messenger because there was less of me to shoot at!”), and obtained her schooling against all odds, ironically made possible in part by the worst tragedy of her life, her parents and beloved grandmother dying in the Holocaust.
But what’s between the lines?
A lot it seems, because contained inside those many packages are the memories of a lifetime. As she tells us, “We do not know who we are, if we do not remember who we were.”
But she wasn’t always the sexually aware Dr. Ruth we knew and loved. There is a lovely detail that she was so naive as a young woman she didn’t know what a prostitute was when she first saw one, thinking her to be only a sophisticated woman with beautiful clothes and wanting to be just like her. Dr. Ruth might not have always practiced what she preached either since her husband Fred told Diane Sawyer, when asked about their love life, that “The shoemaker’s children don’t get any shoes.” That got a big laugh, of course.
Becoming Dr. Ruth at The Island Theatre is a touring show. As the story goes, theater namesake Milton Maltz saw it in his hometown of Cleveland and told Andrew Kato, the Maltz’s producing artistic director/chief executive, to set it up. And the rest is Maltz history.
Like the sniper Ruth once was, Naomi Jacobson has a rapid-fire delivery as Dr. Westheimer’s thinking is very scattered, changing the subject on a dime when she finds another goodie, and it sends her off another tangent.
It’s obvious Jacobson did her homework because she has Dr. Ruth’s laugh and accent, especially when she is in the higher range, down to a science. The only thing missing is Dr. Ruth’s trademark, her extended first finger she would wag in a non-threatening endearing way.
Physically, there is a resemblance too, except in the height department. In real life, Jacobson would tower a full foot over the tiny doctor, but no matter, that’s a non-issue here because the stacked items fool the eye into thinking Jacobson is smaller. She is dressed casually with comfortable shoes, (good for climbing!) and hair by Kevin S. Foster II, the Maltz’s go-to wig designer.
The set is lovely, and clever, thanks to the scenic, lighting, and projection designers — Paige Hathaway, Colin K. Bills, and Sarah Tundermann, respectively. Cardboard is everywhere. White boxes of all different sizes are stacked on top of each other, most of the piles standing taller than Dr. Ruth herself who must do some calisthenics to reach the ones she’s looking for. Stage Manager Melissa Katherine Collins has a big job to ensure their proper placement, not only for finding props when needed, but to make sure Jacobson stays safe while ascending them.
To complete the effect, boxes are even strung from the ceiling with lighting behind that changes color periodically. As Dr. Ruth tells her stories, corresponding images and dates are projected on the front of the cartons. Most touching is the moment when she’s explaining the timeline of the Holocaust with specific regard to her parents. Sound is very important here, and designer Kenny Neal doesn’t disappoint. Be prepared for two very loud explosions during her reminiscences of the war.
Sadly, Dr. Ruth Westheimer died in July of this year, but her legacy endures here. Becoming Dr. Ruth is a time to embrace nostalgia and celebrate a woman who was, at one time, America’s favorite sex therapist, a national treasure, a cultural icon, and a funny, kind, and brave stick of dynamite who came in a small package, but whose perseverance is a lesson for us all. She loved turtles because “If they stay in their shell, they go nowhere, but when they stick their neck out, they go forward.”
The ending of Becoming Dr. Ruth is surprising, even though foreshadowed if one is paying attention. It should go without saying that this is one for the adults, so leave the kiddos at home.
Like Dr. Ruth Westheimer, long may The Island Theatre endure and prosper. So, grab your sexual partner, or any partner really, and get some tickets to Becoming Dr. Ruth.
Britin Haller is a mystery author and an editor for Turner Publishing. Her latest short story “So Many Shores in Crookland” can be read in the 150th issue of Black Cat Weekly. Britin’s latest edit, a cozy mystery novel called Dumpster Dying is by Michelle Bennington and available where books are sold. Find Britin across social media.
Becoming Dr. Ruth plays through October 20th at The Island Theatre at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 East Indiantown Road, Jupiter (immediately east of A1A); Performances are various times through Oct. 20. nightly Tues-Fri and Sunday the 13th @ 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays @ 8 p.m. Wed, Sat and Sun matinees at 2 p.m. Running time approximately 85 minutes with no intermission. Tickets starting at $65. Call 561-575-2223, or visit jupitertheatre.org.
