Demi-goddess Bea Arthur has subtitled her autobiographical solo, "Just Between Friends," an apt description of a show in which she casually offers bawdy jokes, novelty songs, show-tunes, and once-over-lightly career recollections. It's all charming, amusing, and just a little dull. Even if Elaine Stritch weren't seven blocks away giving a one-woman show for the ages, this look at the Arthurian legend would be disappointingly thin. For example, with her trademark croak-voice, the Golden Girl gets a big laugh by saying Jerome Robbins was "a genius.. Pure genius.. And a terrible human being" - but she doesn't provide a single anecdote as proof. (Compare that to Stritch's hang-on-every-word memories of Brando, Noel Coward, and the original cast of The Women!).
With the adorably muppetlike Billy Goldenberg at the piano, the tastefully arranged songs are generally pleasant, with a strong "Pirate Jenny" the best and a rickety "Some People" the worst. Ultimately, one wonders how a woman who once played a TV character billed as "anything but tranquilizin'" could be so mundane in the flesh.
