The comedy “Moon Over Buffalo” continues through April 28 at Great Escape Stage Company in Marshall. WMUK’s Gordon Bolar has this review.
It’s always a good sign when you find yourself with sore ribs after seeing a farce. So, if you plan to attend “Moon Over Buffalo” by Ken Ludwig, one of America’s finest farceurs, be prepared for an evening of side-splitting comedy and non-stop laughter.
It’s not just Ludwig’s one-liners such as, “Buffalo, New York - it’s kind of like Scranton without the charm,” that account for this show’s success. It’s the execution of lines and business by a vocally and physically agile cast under the direction of Randy Lake that characterizes this production.
Set in a 1953 theater green room, Ludwig’s script focuses on the escapades of George and Charlotte Hay, two over-the-hill players seeking to resurrect their sagging careers with an over-the-top performance on the stage.
The couple’s plans quickly spin off-kilter when the spotlight-seeking Charlotte, deliciously rendered by Debbie Culver, discovers that husband George, played by Max Hardy, has gotten one of the troupe’s young actresses pregnant.
Hardy is at his best when his bombastic character attempts to dig himself out of a hole of his own making or when he is groveling on the floor to apologize. Hardy can also turn on a dime and rise to delight the audience as he hoists his rapier high, challenging all comers.
Culver, as Charlotte, is also capable of rising to any challenge verbal or physical. This versatile actress is adept at sword fighting as she rehearses a scene from “Cyrano”, or at delivering a wave of blows, as she cudgels George about the head and shoulders with a copy of Variety to punish his infidelity. She can play the enraged shrew one minute and then coo dulcet tones the next, when her would-be paramour Richard arrives to take her to lunch.
Because speed, acceleration, and volume are key elements of farce, three roles are central in keeping director Lake’s well-orchestrated production on track and on time.
Kelly Bidlingmaier, as Rosalind Hay, plays the daughter who has fled the theater and the family madhouse in search of a conventional life and a new love interest. She reluctantly returns to find company manager Paul waiting to rekindle an old romance. Bidlingmaier establishes her forceful character with an entrance that could peg out the volume on grandmother’s hearing aid, if only she were wearing it. Her young Rosalind can take charge of green room mayhem and marshal the manners of her newly acquired, semi-domesticated, fiancée.
Cameron Lake, as Rosalind’s former boyfriend Paul, is a physically gifted actor. His character, always in motion, is a veritable blur as he zips across the stage, in and out of closets and up the stairs in acrobatic attempts to shore up George’s schemes. Slamming doors inevitably punctuate his entrances and exits and prove the sturdiness of the attractive multi-level green room set.
As Ethel, Rosalind’s hard-of-hearing grandmother, Georgia Marsh sets a baseline for the production with measured delivery and deliberate crosses. In contrast to the frenetic activity circling around her, this character is positioned as the center of the storm as she quietly mends George’s trousers.
Marsh’s mannerisms and droll commentary are a launching pad for the accelerating action that follows her intentionally slow and appropriately plodding stage business. This includes inadvertently plying George with spiked coffee to sober him up for the imminent matinee, to be attended by movie director Frank Capra.
Other supporting players deserve notice for their respective roles and contributions. Allan Elliott, as Richard, provides a humorous, credible and stable option for Charlotte should she decide to fly the coop of the green room and leave George. Emma Arvoy, as the expectant Eileen, relishes her opportunity to make George squirm as she twists the knife, vowing revenge from her pistol-packing brother. Nate Cox makes the most of his role as a bumbling buffoon and stage struck weather man. His portrayal of Howard provides the show with a visitor from the “normal” world outside the green room loony bin and clearly demonstrates that not all of the loonies are inside it.
The pièce de résistance of the evening is the greatly anticipated matinee, in which the beleaguered troupe attempts to stage “Private Lives”. Or is it “Cyrano de Bergerac”? Or both at the same time?
It’s difficult to tell from the hilariously incongruous fiasco that follows, as everything that can go wrong does. But let’s just say that when Noel Coward’s flamboyant wit is pitted against the grandiloquence of George’s Cyrano, there is no clear winner. Except the audience, who, on opening night, laughed throughout this uproarious scene and “Moon Over Buffalo” under a full moon in Marshall, Michigan.
You can stay in touch with WMUK news on Facebook, Twitter,and by signing up for our eNewsletter.