There’s no business like show business

Published 9:31 am Thursday, October 2, 2008

Glittering with showbiz sequins, a little bit of Broadway comes to the Valley this weekend at Unity Theater. Singer-actor-writer-director Penny Orloff brings her nationally-acclaimed, one-woman show titled “Jewish Thighs on Broadway” to the small North Bend theater Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21-22.

The performance is the first since the show closed its successful off-Broadway run at the Clurman Theater in New York and the death of Orloff’s parents in March, 2005. The loss of her parents within five days of each other emphasized for Orloff the importance of appreciating each moment as precious. She spent the time earning a bachelor’s degree in human behavior and working on a master’s degree while doing book tours and readings – her play is based on her book “Jewish Thighs on Broadway- Misadventures of a Little Trouper” – before the theater dragged her back.

“Breaking into show business is like breaking into Fort Knox,” she said. “Breaking out, we’re talking Alcatraz.”

Getting back on stage is exactly where Orloff said she wants to be.