#1
Posted: 10/25/12 at 11:53pm
And Ethel and Ted and Eunice and Pat and Joan and Steve and Peter and Jean and Sarge and Joe and Rose and rows and rows...
The decade is starting anew, and maybe the season is too!
This fall theater season had a rocky beginning and we've all taken our lumps with some of the offerings, but the past few weeks have seen a turnaround in quality and tonight was a dazzling flash of lightning with the arrival of this wonderful play.
(If Durang can be this hilarious and witty with Chekhov imagine what he could do with the Sondheim canon. If I had the money to commission a play from him, that's what I'd want next.)
The first thing you see is a gorgeous home on a pond in buck county. It's so beautiful to look at; they must have spent a pretty penny on this set. This small space is transformed into a country retreat (even the aisles the actors use have been sod with astroturf!).
The cast is SO SO SO good. Kristine Nielsen is effin hysterical. I mean she was getting laugh, after laugh, after laugh.
Slight Spoiler************
She goes to a costume party dressed as the evil queen in Snow White, as played by Maggie Smith. Her Maggie Smith impersonation is downright riotous.
End Slight Spoiler*************
The one who did cause a near riot and halted the show with a monologue was David Hyde Pierce. He's in top form, and looking very sexy with a bit of scruff.
Sigourney Weaver is also doing very funny work. Her character laments having not done enough stage work, and I echo this lament for Weaver in real life. She's simply luminous on stage. There was one point where she was supposed to be throwing a temper tantrum and fake crying. She then made her wrists limp in front of her like she was a cat and began licking her paws as "cried." Her performance was full of delicious details like this.
The other three actors were superb as well.
The real star here though is the play. The Chekhov references are pretty damn funny, but where most spoof/satire type shows fail, this one succeeds: it makes you care for the characters on their own terms.
Buy your tickets now. 100% pure enjoyment.
The decade is starting anew, and maybe the season is too!
This fall theater season had a rocky beginning and we've all taken our lumps with some of the offerings, but the past few weeks have seen a turnaround in quality and tonight was a dazzling flash of lightning with the arrival of this wonderful play.
(If Durang can be this hilarious and witty with Chekhov imagine what he could do with the Sondheim canon. If I had the money to commission a play from him, that's what I'd want next.)
The first thing you see is a gorgeous home on a pond in buck county. It's so beautiful to look at; they must have spent a pretty penny on this set. This small space is transformed into a country retreat (even the aisles the actors use have been sod with astroturf!).
The cast is SO SO SO good. Kristine Nielsen is effin hysterical. I mean she was getting laugh, after laugh, after laugh.
Slight Spoiler************
She goes to a costume party dressed as the evil queen in Snow White, as played by Maggie Smith. Her Maggie Smith impersonation is downright riotous.
End Slight Spoiler*************
The one who did cause a near riot and halted the show with a monologue was David Hyde Pierce. He's in top form, and looking very sexy with a bit of scruff.
Sigourney Weaver is also doing very funny work. Her character laments having not done enough stage work, and I echo this lament for Weaver in real life. She's simply luminous on stage. There was one point where she was supposed to be throwing a temper tantrum and fake crying. She then made her wrists limp in front of her like she was a cat and began licking her paws as "cried." Her performance was full of delicious details like this.
The other three actors were superb as well.
The real star here though is the play. The Chekhov references are pretty damn funny, but where most spoof/satire type shows fail, this one succeeds: it makes you care for the characters on their own terms.
Buy your tickets now. 100% pure enjoyment.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
