Whoopi: Back to Broadway - The 20th Anniversary

In 2005, twenty years after the one-woman show that launched her career, Whoopi Goldberg returned to the Lyceum Theatre to revisit the character work that made her a star. The resulting HBO special is an evening of theatrical portraiture, updating her 1984 creations for the George W. Bush era. She steps back into the shoes of Fontaine, a streetwise cynic who now directs his ire at the Iraq War and CNN broadcasts before recounting a trip to the Anne Frank house.

By this point, Goldberg was a household brand, coming off a stint producing The Hollywood Squares and leading a short-lived NBC sitcom. The transition back to stage acting brought mixed results. She introduces Lurleen, a Southern woman recounting a history of feminine hygiene, and reprises an unnamed disabled character who finds unexpected romance. While reviewers appreciated flashes of her acting ability, many noted that the edges of her original breakout performance had dulled. The New York Times compared her loose characterizations to “pictures drawn in sand,” noting that decades of mainstream Hollywood success had replaced her hungry stage energy with something closer to a comforting group therapy session.