I walked into Tiny Beautiful Things with a little knowledge. I knew the play was adapted by and starred Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding). I knew it was based on a book by Cheryl Strayed. (Years ago I read her bestselling memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail.) I knew it was directed by Thomas Kail (Hamilton). And I knew that this play was sold out last year and this production was a return to a larger house; again a tough ticket.
The book Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar is based on selections from an anonymous online column Ms. Strayed wrote before Wild was published and became an Oscar nominated film. Essentially the play’s structure utilizes the advice column communications and Sugar’s responses which are often from a very personal, introspective place. This piece is delicate, sad, funny, thought-provoking, sincere, honest, devastating, life-affirming and, yes, a tiny, beautiful thing. I loved it.
Ms. Vardalos plays Sugar, a down-to-earth yet Oracle-type, working from home on her laptop. She is superb. The performance is restrained, dramatic and generous to her fellow performers, which can sometimes be hard to find in star driven vehicles. Watch her listen and you’ll see what I mean. Three actors (Teddy Cañez, Hubert Point-Du Jour and Natalie Woolams-Torres, all excellent) play the assorted letter writers seeking advice.
Filled with quotable lines and memorable monologues throughout, the result is a modulated torrent of grief, anger, confusion and neediness from subjects serious to mundane to silly. Ms. Strayed’s very personal and intimate writing style shines through beautifully. The simplicity and clarity of the staging and acting allow the emotional core to be the centerpiece. A celebration of life’s imperfect journeys, Tiny Beautiful Things is not to be missed by anyone unafraid to shed a tear. Or anyone with a beating heart.