59E59 Theaters
5 August 2025 Evening Performance
This show is very cute. It tells the real life romance of Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner, actors known best for their comedy performances – one for his movies including Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Young Frankenstein, and See No Evil, Hear No Evil and the other most notable for her numerous Saturday Night Live characters and sketches. The show is framed by being an intimate interview between an unnamed interviewer, voiced by Dick Cavett (this character is never seen, only ever heard), and Gene Wilder (played by Jonathan Randell Silver). The interviewer asks Gene Wilder to discuss his romance with his late wife, Gilda Radner (played by Jordan Kai Burnett). Gene is initially reluctant to discuss this because it is a “private” matter, but Gilda appears and urges him to tell their story. From then on, the show alternates between Gene Wilder talking to the interviewer and seamlessly drifting back in time through his memories bringing the audience with him to relive the experiences.
The chemistry between Burnett and Silver is hard to deny. The budding romance feels genuine and the witty dialogue between the two characters felt almost as if you were watching two people actually fall for each other for the first time. And that was absolutely delightful. Silver, especially grabbed my attention (for the record, I am much more familiar with Gene Wilder’s career than I am with Gilda Radner’s) with just how much he sounded like the late Gene Wilder.
The part of the show that just felt off to me was the parts where comedy was supposed to be the main focus… whether it was Gene Wilder being so neurotic that it felt like we were watching someone doing their best “Leo Bloom” impersonation or a monologue that cycled through all of the characters that Gilda Radner played on Saturday Night Live — it felt forced. Those moments felt like I was supposed to be watching someone who was supposed to be acting silly. It just didn’t feel genuine.
I also found this happened whenever the show would start to get too serious. When the characters of Gene and Gilda were intimate with each other, for example, the show would go into a dance motif. It was clearly meant to be a lighthearted way to say that the characters were making love, but it felt as if the show was simply trying too hard to be funny.
This shows best moments come when the characters of Gene and Gilda bounce off of each other and the comedy stays focused on the developing relationship. The story is a romance — I just wish it didn’t try so hard to be a comedy. The romance, the grief, the loss, the wisdom learnt is enough… everything else began to feel like an imitation of the titular characters. Love and loss are emotions that almost all humans have felt at some point in their lives. Whether it’s losing a person, a pet, or even an opportunity — the grief of losing someone or something can be beautiful. This show has the chance to really show the audience the beauty of humanity through the eyes of a man who has loved and has lost that love, which is something everyone can relate to.
