ms jones, i presume

I took a Sunday afternoon off from the Big D to catch a matinee show of Sarah Jones' Bridge & Tunnel during what was slated to be its last weekend on Broadway. Not only does Jones adopt a panoply of ethnic American voices, but she embodies her characters in a way that makes you forget that she's just switched a coat or a hat, or put on a pair of sunglasses. You really feel as if you are viewing different characters. I thought perhaps Jones would remind me of Anna Deveare Smith, whose Fires in the Mirror and Twilight: Los Angeles had captivated me some years ago. But Jones has a style all her own. Smith calls herself a "repeater" as she interviews people and sort of repeats their voices and gestures, their overall personas really. But Jones combines body and voice, humor and tragedy in a way that is original, refreshing and quite brilliant.

One of my favorite sketches is when Jones enlivens a Chinese woman named Mrs. Ling. She talks about the struggle she's had to accept her daughter's lesbianism. Mrs. Ling's daughter finds out her lover's work visa didn't come through and she will be deported. Jones takes that storytelling moment to remind us that had that been a heterosexual pairing, the couple could have married, but that same gender loving people do not have such an option. I can't possibly summarize it as well as Jones performs it, but it was quite moving and political without beating the audience over the head with a gay marriage banner.

The good news is that B & T has been extended at Helen Hayes Theatre so if you haven't seen it, go ... now. This young, talented sista deserves all the support and acclaim she's gotten so far and even more.