“Was that me or was that Gandhi?” asks Oprah Winfrey (Rachel Dunham) immediately after delivering one of her well-known life-affirming statements, and the sentiment pretty much epitomizes the brilliance of Oprahfication, a one-woman show that takes place on the day of Winfrey’s last show as she prepares to conduct “the interview” with a mysterious guest. While we wait, she takes us down memory lane, reminiscing about some of her greatest moments, “I had so much fun that year making your wishes come true” she exclaims with a big toothy grin.

As played by Dunham, Winfrey is a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde figure completely unaware of the megalomania behind her intention of doing good. She speaks to us with such condescension that we can’t help but feel sorry for her in moments when she sings about her loneliness, “I’m standing here all alone, what I wouldn’t give for a microphone?” she sighs at one point. With an outrageous stage presence and pipes to match, Dunham’s performance achieves just the right balance between respect and parody. She aces the very Oprah long vowels and incorporates them beautifully into her numbers, her melisma in the phrase “I was born for greatness” is a hoot.

Best of all is how she never seems like a performer interested in degrading her subject, while the show is highly critical of Winfrey’s love for stars and sensationalist journalism, it also can’t help but be in awe of her success, especially given she was “Fat, Black & Woman” as one of the songs explains. Oprahfication doesn’t diminish the hard work Winfrey put behind her show and her media empire, even if the latter part is dedicated to reminding us of the failure of her TV channel, to which she defiantly says “ I got my own network, do you?”.

What remains essential past the surface and the larger than life character on display, are Ms. Dunham’s talents. She takes hold of the audience with such charming authority that you can’t help but fall for her, therefore she successfully makes us understand why the world became so obsessed with Oprah. “Don’t you know I’m the superstar in here?” asks Winfrey at one point, and Dunham might very well be talking about herself.

Oprahfication is playing as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival.  For more on NYMF productions, click here.