Patti Issues/Bad With Money
Written by and Starring Ben Rimalower
Directed by Aaron Mark
Ben Rimalower's one-man plays Patti Issues and Bad With Money have been taking the country by storm, and now for the first time, they are available with this live recording, When Ben Rimalower was eight years old, his father came out of the closet and embarked on a drug-fueled tear that left his family in tatters. Amid the chaos of his young life, Ben found comfort—like so many gay boys before him and after—in musical theater, and specifically in the transportive voice of Broadway star Patti LuPone. Patti Issues marks Rimalower's debut as a playwright and performer, after serving as the director of numerous Off-Broadway plays, concerts and all-star benefits (and blogging for the Huffington Post). With a mix of comic irreverence, stark candor and show-biz bravado, Patti Issues poignantly explores the challenges facing LGBT parents and children while shining unique light on gay men’s time-old obsessions with divas.The New York Times raved, "“A tight hourlong monologue that pairs a well-honed script with an engagingly spontaneous delivery and a nose for sharp, observational comedy, Mr. Rimalower’s funny, tender reminiscence rides an infectious rainbow high.”Some of the various awards the plays have one are the 2013 M.A.C. Award for New York Debut, 2013 Bistro Award for Solo Play, New York Times "Critic's Pick", Time Out New York "Critic's Pick", The Stage (London) "Critic's Pick", "Critic's Pick" Time Out Chicago, "Best of New York Theater, 2012" and many more.
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Mrs. Lovett
If you want to find Ben Rimalower in a crowded room, the fastest way is not to look but to listen. He has the kind
of voice that carries: It’s brassy and loud, with distinct markers of gayness and Jewishness and what theater singers
call “ping.” It’s a Broadway show voice, in other words, and although Ben isn't known for singing, he’s always
been a fi rst-rate talker. For too long, his gifts as a raconteur were confi ned to regaling friends at dinner parties
and soirées, but in 2012 he channeled his storytelling into a revealing autobiographical solo show, Patti Issues,booked
to run for just a few weeks at the West Village’s cozy Duplex. Weeks turned into months and months turned into
years, because Ben is irresistible. He’s not just a great talker; he has a lot to say.
Patti LuPone, of course, also has a big voice, which is one thing that drew Ben into his lifelong devotion to Broadway’s
fi eriest diva. That fraught fandom is the subject of his fi rst one-man show which also recounts his traumatized
relationship with his emotionally unstable father, who came out of the closet when Ben was a child. As shocking as
his stories in Patti Issues sometimes are, they pale next to the revelations in his second show, Bad with Money, which
lays bare his sordid struggles with spending and debt. The tales Ben shares can be hilarious or harrowing, or even a
little of both, but they are never boring; listening to him perform feels as intimate as being at one of his dinner parties.
And while his stories are achingly specifi c, they speak to concerns—too rarely articulated—that most of us can
relate to, in our own sometimes surprising ways. In a noisy world, Ben’s urgent, bravely personal voice stands out.
ADAM FELDMAN
Theater and Dance Editor and critic for Time Out New York and president of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle
"The show's fantastic. It's really wonderful. I was moved.
He's a very talented man and I'm so proud of him."
PATTI LUPONE
“Ben Rimalower's Patti Issues was amazing and totally took me to
somewhere I never expected. I couldn’t recommend it more.”
ALAN CUMMING
2013 M.A.C. Award for New York Debut
2013 Bistro Award for Solo Play
New York Times "Critic's Pick"
Time Out New York "Critic's Pick"
The Stage (London) "Critic's Pick"
Boston Globe "Critic's Pick"
Time Out Chicago "Critic's Pick"
"Best of New York Theater, 2012"
