By SHARON EBERSON
Welcome back, Fishy Woo Woos. I’ve missed the laughs, the biting humor, the affirmations, and the love.
Monteze Freeland’s Fishy Woo Woo, Part 2 made its deliriously delectable debut at Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company this weekend, more than two years after the original. Back are the four core characters, with two OG actors (Mils “MJ” James as Cordero and Cheryl Bates-White as Char), in a spooky Halloween mystery and secrets galore to feast on.
The witty and wise script contains so many rapid-fire references to pop culture, queer icons, and inside jokes (one, in particular, about the Pittsburgh theater scene), that you may not catch them all. In such cases, I take Noel Coward’s advice: “Never mind, dear. We’re all made the same, though some more than others.”
(Courtesy of Mark Southers/PPTC)
If you missed Part 1 or have somehow forgotten it, don’t fret. All you need to know is pressed into a delightfully choreographed recap that tells of how a trio of friends helped one of their own, Shawn, through a bad breakup with the unseen Jonathan, and wind up taking into their tight-knit family young Kaden, who also had been Jonathan’s lover.
Got that?
Part 1 premiered during Pride Month 2024, and in 2026, some things have changed, including a Fishy Woo Woo trio’s move from Atlanta to Kaden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, where they are leasing a house from his father, Darnell.
The house may or may not be haunted by some fishy business in the past, but we do know from the outset that an ominous masked intruder has the Halloween gathering in his sights.
Oh, the horror, when Cordero and Shawn (Ethan Davis Butler) realize that their young charge, Kaden (Emmanuel Elliot Key), has never before heard the names that have inspired their Halloween costumes: Dorothy Zbornak and Sophia Petrillo, two of the Golden Girls on the “Mount Rushmore” of gay television icons.
In a house where truth is the rule, everyone is harboring a potentially life-changing secret. Even visiting Char has a big surprise for her fellow Fishy Woo Woos, as does Kaden’s father.
As Kaden, Key, an Alumni Theatre alum, has the hair-flip confidence of a young man who can get by on his looks. Living among elders who have his back has helped him find his way, but he still has a lot to learn.
As the gathering breaks down into generational and familial revelations, Freeland and the cast find the funny in the details. For example, Cordero is how old?!?!
James’ Cordero florid in speech, and heartfelt in his friendships. Butler’s Shawn is more reserved, pining for lost love, a counterpoint to Jame’s flash. That Butler enters dressed as Charlie Brown reflects his character to a black-and-gold tee.
Minniefield’s Darnell is an effusively caring father, who, in a bit of a turn-the-tables on this particular Halloween, is seeking his son’s approval for a new relationship.
Looming over the proceedings, just beyond their gaze, is the ghoulish masked mystery man (Manny Walker). His presence lends credence to “The Twilight Zone” theme that is among the music playlist as you enter.
The lighting design by Madeleine Steineck hits dim-and-spark hairpin cues that accentuate the spooky, with Tony Ferrieri’s set a study in how the inhabitants go all-out for Halloween, within a lived-in space.
and Ethan Davis Butler in Fishy Woo Woo, Part 2.
(Courtesy of Mark Southers / Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company)
From Part 1 to Part 2, Freeland and director Lovell McFadden paint a picture of a Golden Girls-family dynamic that moves and grooves from tirades and tizzies to warm and fuzzy, with a lot of life happening in between.
Two years ago, I wrote that the original Fishy Woo Woo was “sitcom ready.” Nothing has changed. As outrageous as the situations are, what works alongside the humor is the foundation of history shared by longtime friends, and passing on wisdom to the next generation. The Fishy Woo Woos, it turns out, can handle the truth, with love and laughter as the golden rule.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company presents Fishy Woo Woo, Part 2, through October 31, 2026, at the Carter Woodson Redwood Theater, Madison Arts and Entertainment Center. Tickets: https://www.pghplaywrights.org/season-info/fishy-2/.
Categories: Arts and Ideas, Reviews
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