Arriving just in time for ski season at the SoHo Playhouse, the daffy hit play Gwyneth Goes Skiing slalomed back onto the New York stage for a return engagement. The satire of very recent history is based on the infamous trial, Sanderson v. Paltrow, where actress Gwyneth Paltrow was sued by retired optometrist Terry Sanderson for damages he claimed occurred when the two collided on the slopes of the Deer Valley Resort in Utah in 2016. Paltrow notoriously countersued for a symbolic $1, and they faced off in the courtroom in March 2023.
As the televised proceedings unfolded, the slice of celebrity schadenfreude practically begged to be dramatized. Joseph Martin and Linus Karp of Awkward Productions gleefully obliged with Gwyneth Goes Skiing, a send-up of the affair that is zany and deeply unserious.
Act One sets up the incident, but before action begins, we get a potted bio of Gwyneth Paltrow up to this moment in direct address. This covers her nepo baby origins through her marriage to and conscious uncoupling from Coldplay singer Chris Martin. We hear of her turn as “the colour beige personified”, and the founding of her Goop wellness empire, “mixing pseudoscience and new-age in a wholesome and presentable way.”
The David and Goliath story of the optometrist vs. the actress and entrepreneur is essentially a two-hander. Linus Karp is splendid as the unfazed Gwyneth Paltrow, who seems to hover slightly off the ground, untouched by mortal problems. Joseph Martin’s Terry Sanderson is all bark, a gruff and grumbly schlub that crashes (literally) into the world of celebrity. While no one would mistake either performer for whom they personify, there is a fidelity and specificity to their renderings.
The remaining characters, such as producer Brad Falchuk (Paltrow’s fiancé and later husband), Sanderson’s girlfriend, and a retail worker, among others, are largely filled by audience volunteers who read lines from a screen. Paltrow and Martin’s offspring, Apple, is portrayed by an apple on a string. A deadpan Assistant Stage Manager (Ciara Pidgeon) handles assorted puppets and the large cutout of the Deer of Deer Valley.
After the intermission (or “gwynterval”), Act Two transports the audience seven years forward to the courtroom. Sanderson’s is represented by Kristin VanOrman, a starstruck Muppet puppeteered by Martin, who introduces herself with a deranged patter song. The relative absurdity of the ordeal, and the voyeuristic interest in it, is highlighted by using actual trial transcripts, proving once again that truth is stranger than fiction while offering a sort of meta-commentary on the proceedings.
There is a bravura moment of stagecraft where a flip chart is used to illustrate the physics of the collision. After the summation, the audience, acting as a jury, votes for the winner by scanning a QR code on their phones. Paltrow spends a portion of the trial workshopping what will end up being her famous whispered parting words to her antagonist, “I wish you well,” which is also the basis for the rousing final musical number.
Gwyneth Goes Skiing is well-paced, clocking in at under two hours. Some of the jokes are low-hanging fruit (sorry, Apple) with jade eggs, bone broth, and vagina-scented candles offering easy, familiar punchlines, along with affectionate references to Gwyneth Paltrow’s filmography. The creators know their core audience, which skews toward the “girls, gays, and theys” as Paltrow refers to the audience/members of the jury.
There is a special video performance by drag diva Trixie Mattel, appearing as Gwyneth’s mother, Blythe Danner, and several sly jokes and needle drops referencing pop stars like Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, and Chappell Roa, playing to a very online, pop-culture-obsessed crowd. Throughout, Gwyneth Goes Skiing gleefully lampoons the obsession with fame and the banality of the actual incident.
It’s a low-stakes poke at the celebrity machine without real bite. It is nice, though, that in the age of rabid stan culture and parasocial relationships, Karp and Martin aren’t afraid to poke at Paltrow for laughs.
While the production touts original songs by composer Leland (of RuPaul’s Drag Race), and a certified hitmaker with songs for Ariana Grande and Troye Sivan, it could benefit from more music. The Act One closer is a satisfying disco bop duet, “See You In Court”, while earlier in the show, Paltrow engages in a Snow White-esque singalong, “Winter In Deer Valley”, with adorable puppets of a squirrel and rabbit, plus the large cutout of the Deer of Deer Valley itself. Notably, the two leads lip-sync all the songs, with recorded voices provided by Cat Cohen and Darren Criss.
If Gwyneth Goes Skiing doesn’t leave everyone “gooped and gagged”, you still can’t help but wish these two “characters” well.
Gwyneth Goes Skiing plays at the SoHo Playhouse through November 16th, 2025.
If you miss this performance in the US, you can catch it at the Egyptian Theatre, Park City, Utah, in January 2025.