''The Tale of the Allergist's Wife'' is a play by Charles Busch. In his first play written for a mainstream audience, Busch explores the Upper West Side

milieu The social environment, social context, sociocultural context or milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educated ...

of aspiring intellectual and middle-aged

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

matron Marjorie Taub, who lives comfortably with her doctor husband Ira in an expensively furnished condo near Zabar's and spends her days and evenings pursuing culture at various

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

s and the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

. Her ongoing effort to improve her mind and soul has brought Marjorie to the conclusion she never will be more than mediocre, a feeling enhanced by her elderly mother's constant complaints about her shortcomings and her husband's altruistic dedication to serving the needs of the

homeless Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

. Following an emotional outburst in a Disney Store resulting in considerable breakage, Marjorie retires to the safety of her home to wallow in a mid-life crisis. Unexpectedly invading her depression is flamboyant childhood friend Lee who, much like '' The Man Who Came to Dinner'', becomes entrenched in the Taub household as a seemingly permanent guest, not only drawing Marjorie out of her dark mood, but affecting her marriage as well. The original Manhattan Theatre Club production opened on February 29, 2000 and ran for 56 performances. Excellent reviews prompted a move to Broadway. After 25 previews, it opened on November 2, 2000 at the

Ethel Barrymore Theatre The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 243 West 47th Street (Manhattan), 47th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1928, it ...

, where it ran for 777 performances. The original cast, directed by Lynne Meadow, included Linda Lavin as Marjorie, Tony Roberts as Ira, and Michele Lee as Lee. Later in the run, Lavin was replaced first by Valerie Harper and then by Rhea Perlman, while Richard Kind and Marilu Henner assumed the roles of Ira and Lee. Ben Brantley of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' observed, "Mr. Busch is best-known for his appealingly warped cinematic parodies in which he plays the nobly suffering or archly conniving leading lady . . . Here the female icon that Mr. Busch comes closest to impersonating is Wendy Wasserstein, the writer of such beloved epigram-slinging hits as '' The Heidi Chronicles'' and '' The Sisters Rosensweig''. You may also find yourself thinking of

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

's mid-career comedies, plays that present harried New Yorkers speaking naturally in competitive one-liners . . . ''Tale'' has moments cut from the synthetic cloth of television comedy, and it doesn't quite know how to resolve itself. But it earns its wall-to-wall laughs."

Awards and nominations

* Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play (nominee) *Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for Outstanding Playwrighting (Charles Busch, winner) *

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, an Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first year ...

(nominee) * Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play (Linda Lavin, nominee) * Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play (Michele Lee, nominee) * Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play (nominee) * Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play (Lavin, nominee)

References

External links

Internet Broadway Database listingLortel Archives listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tale of the Allergists Wife, The 2000 plays Plays by Charles Busch Broadway plays Comedy plays Plays set in New York City Fiction about midlife crisis