By: Darryl Reilly
“Everybody grows up at a certain point, I grew up at 67.” So, states performer Steve Epstein during the wistful conclusion of his uproarious and moving self-written solo show, 39 Years Between First Kisses. The conceit is that in 1986 he had his first kiss with the woman who became his wife, she died in 2022. Earlier this year, he had the opportunity to have a first kiss with a woman he met where there was mutual attraction.
39 Years Between First Kisses is an uplifting and funny biographical account which is in parts a souful confessional, expert standup comedy and lively NYC tour guide commentary. This simple, humane entertainment is among the most enriching theatrical experiences currently on the New York stage.
With his sleek and lithe physicality, resonant tenor voice, assured comic timing and beaming, old-time New York City character persona, Mr. Epstein dazzles during his 80-minute presentation. The production is basic, it takes place at a studio space with no props or scenery and minimal lighting effects.
Epstein and Hassan were a groundbreaking, interracial husband and wife comedy team in the style of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, who inspired them. BlackJewLove was the title of one of their piercing, and characteristically raunchy, counterculture shows which delighted audiences in alternative Manhattan performing arts spaces and at fringe festivals around the world. They were ignored by the mainstream entertainment industry, yet they merrily persevered for many years.
The vivacious, Naimah Hassan was an accomplished Black actress who turned to school teaching to make a living as she couldn’t advance in the racist show business of the 1980’s. The Brooklynite, white, Jewish, and hard living Epstein, encountered Ms. Hassan when she showed up at the Greenwich Village jazz club where he was the doorman. Conversational sparks flew; they had a dinner date at her Carmine Street apartment a few days later. He soon moved in, and they married in 1989. Epstein previously chronicled their romance and her agonizing death from cancer and Covid in his wrenching 2023 show, When Your Soulmate Dies.
Epstein’s precise and flavorful writing in 39 Years Between First Kisses veers from hilarious to poignant with mounting momentum; well-structured anecdotes, honed observations and spicy, off the cuff remarks abound. The contentious circumstances of the Art Blakey concert which drew the couple together are grandly enacted and includes Epstein’s delightful impression of the jazz legend. The show is also a ravishing ode to yesteryear, Manhattan bohemia, and there’s a searing account of the early days of the AIDS crisis. Bella Abzug, Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, are among the historical figures cited during an enticing sample of Epstein’s walking tour patter. “I needed money, there was an ad on Indeed” explains Epstein on how he entered the profession.
Near the end of the performance under review, Epstein jovially called out two people in the audience who had attended his Greenwich Village walking tour earlier that day. He also emotionally acknowledged me for positively reviewing his last show. This was all representative of 39 Years Between First Kisses’ glorious, freewheeling spontaneity. We were all truly in the moment.
39 Years Between First Kisses (through May 10, 2025)
Balance Arts Center, 151 West 30th Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, call 212-242-6216
Running time: 80 minutes with no intermission