Joy Behar’s My First Ex-Husband Opens at New MMAC Theater

By Melissa Griegel…

In the spirit of shows like The Vagina Monologues, Joy Behar’s new no-holds-barred show My First Ex-Husband opened on February 6^th, after starting previews on January 29^th, 2025. The show will run until April 20^th, with a rotating cast every four weeks. My First Ex-Husband is playing at Off-Broadway’s newest venue, MMAC Theater at 248 West 60^th Street. The opening of the show was also the opening night for the theater which was recently updated by MMAC Founder and Director Rose Caiola, who is also a producer of the show. “We are so happy to have a new venue to showcase talent,” she said, “and we have a beautiful event space upstairs.” The event space was used for the opening night gala which included guests such as current and past hosts of ABC’s The View.

Directed by Randal Myler, My First Ex-Husband is a compilation of six varied stories of divorce written by Joy Behar. “Forty to fifty percent of marriages ended in divorce last year,” Joy told the audience before the show. “And the divorce rate for people over 50 has doubled since the nineties.” This got Behar wondering why. She interviewed a wide variety of women and integrated their stories into eight monologues representing a diverse selection of characters talking about why their marriages ended, all done with Behar’s wit and humor.

Former and current hosts of The View celebrate colleague Joy Behar’s new play: Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sunny Hostin, Sherri Shepherd, Joy Behar, Ana Navarro, Star Jones, Sara Haines

Joy Behar bites head off groom cake topper

Cast smashes wedding cake at opening party

The first cast includes Behar along with Susie Essman (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Tovah Feldshuh (Funny Girl, Nobody Wants This), and Adrienne C. Moore (Orange is the New Black) who will end their run on February 23^rd. Drawing from theater, television, stand-up comedy, and film, the February 26^th-March 2^nd cast will feature Judy Gold (Comedy Central), Susan Lucci, (All My Children), Cathy Moriarty (Raging Bull), and Tonya Pickens (Jelly’s Last Jam, Caroline, or Change), with Veanne Cox (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Caroline, or Change) Gina Gerhson (Showgirls), Jackie Hoffman (Only Murders in the Building), and Andrea Navedo (Jane the Virgin) taking over the roles March 26^th through April 20^th. (Note: Gina Gershon will be starting April 2^nd.)

Incoming cast members Jackie Hoffman and Judy Gold

Alyssa Farah Griffin and Sara Haines

Joy Behar welcomes audience

Joy with future cast member Veanne Cox

Lisa Rinhart and Mikhail Baryshnikov

Current cast

Incoming cast member Cathy Moriarty

Orange is the New Black star Adrienne C. Moore

Each tale told by this talented cast told a vastly different story of love, marriage, and ultimately, separation. The charters ranged in age, ethnicity, and life experiences and all of the stories were done with wit and humor. A particular stand-out for me was Adrienne C. Moore’s “Where Are You At” monologue. She infused life and humor into this fictional character’s tale and seamlessly added in accents for the people in her story. She had the audience in stitches. Tovah Feldshuh expertly portrayed two vastly different women in her monologues, and even did a subtle costume change on stage to reflect the women. While the woman in her first tale was an elegant woman of means, the second character, Rebecca in a piece called “Wigged Out” told a more serious but poignant tale of a woman from an Ultra-Orthodox community escaping a stifling arranged marriage. By a show of applause, about half the audience clapped enthusiastically when Joy asked who in the audience has been divorced. The stories and the humor in the show clearly resonated with them, as the theater was filled with laughs and nods of agreement throughout the show. My First Ex-Husband is produced by Rose Caiola (Caiola Productions) and Cyrena Esposito (Red Letter Entertainment) with Associate Producers Mark Rubinksy, Tony Castrigno and Suzanne Rosenzweig.