Crystal reflections

I’M not quite sure where James C. Taylor’s opening night seat was for “700 Sundays,” but mine was in the mezzanine and apparently I saw a much better show [“Down Memory Lane With Billy Crystal,” Jan. 14]. When he refers to Crystal’s “flubbed lines and stumbled ... patter,” I guess I missed that. And the “lack of stagecraft” and “problems in the script”? Is he nuts?

Here are some words he left out of his review: tour de force, mastery, Chaplinesque and consummate showman.

PENNY PEYSER

Woodland Hills

*

TO pigeonhole this play as something only a mother would love is terribly unjust. This is a play that everyone who has ever loved a parent should see. And that’s quite a population. Because this is a play about honoring the memories of those we love -- and as baby boomers age, it holds even greater value for our society.

My father passed away seven years ago. It was not until I saw Crystal honestly and openly portray the emotion of grief and its inherent guilt that I understood that I was not alone, that the feelings weighing me down were “normal.”

In that one moment, seven years of pain dissipated. The grief cloud had finally lifted. That’s a gold standard no other performance can beat.

LYNN ISENBERG

Marina del Rey