Beyond Therapy references by Christopher Durang...?

Question

I'm in Beyond Therapy (Christopher Durang) and I don't understand some of his references. I get most of them but the biggest is when he says:

Bob: (at a loss, making an odd joke) You must be Marie of Roumania.

Is Bob just talking about Marie of Romania, or is he quoting something? It doesn't seem like an "odd joke" to me. He may as well have said, "you must be the President" or something else unless the name Marie of Roumania bears any significance. Also, the script spells Romania with a "u". Is that just another show of Christopher Durang's typing talent, or is that how it's spelled?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Don't know why C.D. mentioned her, but Marie of Roumania was the Queen of that country in, i think, the 1920s or '30s. The people in that country spell it "Romania", The French spell it "Roumania", and most everyone else makes do with "Rumania"

It's Christpher Durang: do you really expect it to make sense?

Answer 2

Beyond Therapy Christopher Durang Script

Answer 3

Being that it's Durang, it's almost bound to have obscure references. That said, Romania was spelled with a "u" in the first half of the century. Queen Marie was part of the massive Royal Family that ruled most of Europe before WWII, and somehow became the epitome of style and fashion (much like Mrs. Astor before her and Elizabeth Taylor after her).

She also became a way of jokingly referring to one's own lack of an opulent lifestyle, as in Dorothy Parker's poem "Comment":

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong,
And I am Marie of Roumania.

Answer 4

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