The Bedwetter is Sarah Silverman’s autobiographical musical based on her own 2010 memoir, “The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee.”
Her friend Adam Schlesinger — most famous as the bassist for ’90s rock band Fountains of Wayne — cowrote the songs for the musical in 2020 before his untimely death due to COVID-19. Comedian and playwright Joshua Harmon cowrote the script with her.
In 2022, “The Bedwetter — A New Musical” had a short off-Broadway run. Now, it’s running at D.C.’s Arena Stage through March 16, with some noteworthy changes.
“Two thirds of the cast is different,” Goldstein said. “New choreography, new set, and an overall new structure — particularly the second half the show. We made some nips and tucks. I think it’s a stronger, better storytelling.”
“We turned it into a one-act show … which, I think, serves the journey of the play better,” said actor Darren Goldstein, who has played Sarah’s father, Donald, since 2022. “The lack of intermission keeps people on the ride.”
As the lights dimmed at the final preview of the show at the Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage, Reggie White, senior director of artistic strategy, addressed the audience and set the tone for the rest of the night: “The show runs 100 minutes without an intermission. So, if you have to pee, you’re fu**ed.”
Flawed, realistic characters
The first few songs are heavy on exposition, which makes sense. This show isn’t about Olympic-level vocals or acrobatic choreography, despite having Grammy-award winning singer Shoshana Bean (Hairspray, 2002) and Broadway vet Ashley Blanchet in the cast. It’s about realistic and flawed characters based on real people.
The Silvermans are a family with great intentions, but debilitating flaws.
In the opening number, Sarah (Aria Kane) tells us who she is — a foulmouthed girl with a knack for fart noises and cracking the dirtiest jokes you can think of.
Within the first few songs, the audience learns about Sarah’s family.
Her parents, Beth Anne (Bean) and Donald, a.k.a. “Crazy Donny,” (Goldstein) are divorced. Beth Anne has PTSD that keeps her bedridden, and Donald is a jeans salesman who brings his work home and has lots of “suitors.”
Her grandmother, Nana (Susan Rome), babysits — but is a textbook alcoholic. And Laura (Avery Harris), Sarah’s big sister, knows Sarah more than most, despite not wanting to be seen at school with her weird little sister.
Walking a tightrope
While the family is the focus, the supporting cast helps make this play, including Mrs. Dembo (Alysha Umphress), Miss New Hampshire (Ashley Blanchet) and Dr. Grimm/Dr. Riley (Rick Crom).
“Crom, he has a long history in standup comedy and has done some Broadway shows as well,” Goldstein told WTOP. “He’s just phenomenal, everyone is just so strong. Ashley Blanchet, me, and Rick Crom are the three holdovers from the show at the Atlantic (Theater Company).”
The whole play walks a tightrope between the emotional and the hilarious. Crazy Donny gets whiplash — going from a song where he describes his romantic conquests to a tearjerker about missing youthful ignorance.
“That’s the actor’s dream, right?” Goldstein said. “Getting two songs that are so completely different, not to mention one wildly, kind of silly and comedic, and then one wildly serious and like a ballad.”
Not entirely family-friendly
“You might be apprehensive to expose [children] to some of the language and situations that are going on,” Goldstein said. “But you’re also getting back a real, authentic experience of what it’s like to grow up with some major insecurities and some major child hang-ups. So, it’s a trade off.”
Goldstein recounted how Silverman’s real-life father — the real Crazy Donny — got in touch with him after seeing the initial run of “The Bedwetter” before his death.
“There’s that scene where in the doctor’s office, right before they give her Xanax,” Goldstein said.
“He texted me — he said that was exactly how that scene went. ‘I was so confused on what to do, but this doctor is telling me I have to give her all these kind of depressive, deadening drugs, and I didn’t know what to do.’ So it was nice to get some affirmation from him that what we were doing was real,” Goldstein said.
One thing heard from the audience during curtain call was, “That was very Sarah Silverman.”
“There’s no deviating in this show from her sensibility and who she is,” Goldstein said.
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