"Author and actress Rochelle Newman left audience members stunned in their seats Sunday st the Santa Monica Playhouse after the close of her one act show, "Hip Bones and Cool Whip," an inside look at her own life threatening relationship with anorexia nervosa." ...
"In her solo show, playwright Rochelle Newman draws humor from anorexia and her dangerous obsession with being thin." ...
Rochelle Newman's tale of her youthful struggle with anorexia is gripping stuff, delivered with precise Proustian recall that is at times appallingly specific.
Developed in collaboration with Mark Travis, Newman's detailed etiology of anorexia, told from a fiercely personal perspective, eclipses most other dramatic treatments of the disorder, without manipulation or scare tactics.
Unquestionably, for sufferers themselves, or for those whose loved ones have battled anorexia, Newman's tale of adversity and triumph will prove inspirational.
Whatever your interest level, you will almost certainly be touched by Newman's emotional candor and her fresh insights into a mysterious and deadly disease.
- F. Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times
HIP BONES AND COOL WHIP, Rochelle Newman's autobiographical solo show opens with the bold declaration, "I was a fat kid."
From her neurotic, over weight Jewish mother, Newman learned to mask the smell of pork in Chinese food by eating ice cream - lots of it. She was a size 14 at age 14, exactly when the family moved to California, land of "Exercise, beaches and malls." Retreating to the relative safety of the Beverly Hills High School Theater Department, Newman remained overweight until a doctor put her on a 600-calorrie-a-day diet right before college. Away from home for the first time, she became a full-blown anorexic, obsessed with the idea of not eating.
Under Carlos Carrasco's thoughtful, well modulated direction, Newman steers clear of After School Special mawkishness. She speed-shifts between characters with distinct voices, and she's particularly amusing when depicting her mother's New Yawkese. Arguments with her raspy-voiced food demon also make for vivid exchanges.
- Sandra Ross, LA WEEKLY
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© 2002 HB&CW
