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| L- R Michael German (Standing), Darcy Silveira (seated), David Narloch (seated) |
By Joe Straw
Okay, this time I brought chairs, and it was a little easier
to enjoy the park when you are sitting on chairs. Away from the bugs and other
crawling creatures, one can relax under a shady tree and enjoy the show.
Culver City Public Theatre, celebrating its 15th
Anniversary, presents Leading Ladies by Ken Ludwig and directed by Lewis
Hauser. Produced by Heidi Dotson and Ria
Parody Erlich, this production has plenty of laughs and makes for an enjoyable
afternoon. And it’s free.
“Florence Snider (Ria Parody Erlich) has died. Gently taken this spring of 1958, she died
peacefully in her sleep surrounded by doctor, friends and family. Florence, not
a minimalist being by any stretch of the imagination, was the owner of the
biggest house in York Pennsylvania. We
are saddened by the tragic lost of the filthiest richest woman on the hill and regretfully
we send our condolences. She is survived
by a niece Meg Snider and…” York Daily Record *
Meg Snider (Rosie Mandel), wealthy niece to Florence and
promising thespian, loves the theatre.
It is early evening and she is waiting for her beau, the Reverend Duncan
Wooley (P.J. Waggaman) for a night of Shakespeare at the Moose Lodge. Impatient,
she commands him to run to her. And he
does. Unfortunately, the honest Reverend has loaned out his car and now they
have no way to get to the theatre (eh hem…Moose Lodge). Meg is incensed that she will miss
performances by two of the finest Shakespearian actors in the world, or, at least, the ones
she knows.
At the Loyal Order of The Moose Lodge in Shrewsbury,
Pennsylvania, Doc Myers (Phil Hunter) and his moose minions are dipping into
the buffet spread as Leo Clark (David Narloch) and Jack Gable (Michael German)
perform their Shakespeare tidbits, an annotation version, if you will. And both of them together, of course, are
Clark Gable in names only.
Doc, not liking the performances, runs them out of the lodge
and asks them not to come back.
Now they are stuck at a train station, with no money, Clark
and Gable scouring the local paper for opportunities finds a rich local woman
has died (Yes! It’s Florence Snider) and
has left her relatives Max and Steve one million dollars as an inheritance. Leo
Clark suggests they arrive at the doorsteps and claim the inheritance. It is a beautiful plan, which according to Clark
cannot fail.
But there’s a problem.
Neither one knows Florence Snider (Ria Parody Erlich). So they ask a local book loving, roller-skating
waitress Audrey (Darcy Silveira) about the Snider family. Audrey says she has worked for them and fills
them in to the details but tells them Max and Steve are really Maxine and
Stephanie.
This does not present a problem for Clark. They’ve got a suitcase filled with costumes,
they are both actors, and Clark sees this as a minor impediment to their future
wealth. Gable, with his deep manly voice, doesn’t think it’s a good ideal.
Clark says he will do all of the talking and that Gable can play the deaf mute complete
with fake sign language.
When they get to the house dressed as women, Clark is
immediately enchanted with Meg. Suddenly they find out that Florence Snider is
not dead, just deathly ill, well not even that, and she greets her long-lost
nieces as though they were her daughters. Gable is infatuated with Audrey and Butch
Myers (Daniel Ray Litz), Audrey’s boyfriend, is strung out like a polish
sausage.
Reverend Duncan Wooley doesn’t like what he sees and he
tries his best to get the goods on these two intruders.
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| L - R - Daniel Ray Litz, Phil Hunter, Michael German, Darcy Silveira, David Narloch, P.J. Waggaman, Ria Parody Erlich and Rosie Mandel |
Rosie Mandel is charming as Meg Snider. But slightly misses in creating specific relationships with each of her loves. Not enough details are given in her characterization or in the fact that she might be crossing over to the other side, her side. Her dialogue suggests she is fed up with the Reverend, also her dialogue says she like to go into her bed room, strip down, and sprinkle water over her naked body and lie on the bed with the intention of enticing another woman. But, she does little in her physical life to reach that objective. That said, she has some very nice moments citing Shakespeare.
P.J. Waggaman played
Reverend Duncan Wooley and he must be totally in love with the money. Nothing
else. The comedy is better when it’s
about the money. And with that said the character must never take his eyes off
the money. He must have a reason to loan
his car (the money), to console his future wife (the money), to rat on his
recently acquired acquaintances (the money!) All of his actions on stage must
be about the money.
Phil Hunter plays
Doc Myers and his performance is enjoyable from start to finish. His characterization, his movements on stage,
and his truth in his being all rang true for me. He has a marvelous instrument
and is wonderful in his craft. And he is funny to boot. But what makes him such a lousy doctor?
Michael German plays Jack Gable and Stephanie. Dashing in a suit and, oddly
enough, better looking in his wig and dress. German provided plenty of laughs
in this production.
David Narloch plays Leo Clark and Maxine and does it with a lot of Shakespearian flair. Among
his human vanities is his overstated belief in his perspicacity that appears to
be surface in nature. The scene where Leo and Maxine are both vocalizing off stage was incredibly funny and not fooling
anyone. Narloch has some very nice moments
when Leo, as Maxine, falls in love with Meg. And Narloch has a marvelous voice.
Darcy Silveira
does a nice little turn as the roller-skating Audrey (No pun intended.). I’m sure there’s a little something extra
needed in this character. Audrey comes out in roller skates, infatuated with
books, and immediately takes an attraction to the exciting actors suggesting
that she doesn’t want her current boyfriend.
Daniel Ray Litz
has a very good look as Butch Myers. The
name Butch gives away something about his character, which was not fully loaded
and was not specific in his objective. The character really has to try harder
to keep the girl, to fight off other suitors, and to take a stand, drawl a line
in the sand, etc. All this would help this character realize the comedy.
Ria Parody Erlich
was Florence Snider and I saw a lot of substance in her characterization. Probably
the hardest thing to do is to pull off a good character when you’re dying and
Snider is dying throughout the play.
From beginning to end, she was marvelous.
Lewis Hauser, the
director, gives us delightful moments throughout. But no character really takes
a good look at the two in drag nor makes any kind of distinction, when in real
life we do that everyday. We take
notice, make a mental note, take action, and move on. Don’t see that happening here. The hugs don’t
really work with Audrey and Gable unless they carry the relationship to another
level after each hug. The actors tend to wander about the stage and this should
be cleaned up. Also a rather strange occurrence happened when both actors left
the stage looking for a newspaper prop that was nicely tucked under a seat.
After what seemed like an eternity of an empty stage the actors came back on
and recovered – something about buying a cup of coffee. Also, not much is made
of the name Clark Gable and it could be.
I read that Ken Ludwig,
the writer, has written a show that is fun for all ages and could be performed
in venues all over the United States. Ludwig’s
play captures the essence of a British farce with and places it in Pennsylvania
with American characters. And he succeeds marvelously. This is a show that is pure camp and everyone
needs to go to camp.
Sometimes I think that having no set in the park is a better
option. Let the actors create the space
and see how real we can get. A little symbolism goes a long way. I saw this set last year in Goldoni’s A
Servant With Two Masters. Possibly there
is something out there, a prefabricated set that can be used and set up many
ways.
Other members of the crew are as follows:
Danit Rothstein – Stage Manager
Robert Ballo – Set Designer
Sheridan Cole – Costumes (Note: a very nice job with the particular period)
Susan Stangl – Sound Design
Victoria Miller – Choreographer (Note: Also a very nice dance sequence.)
Producers – Heidi Dotson and Ria Parody Erlich
Run! And bring lots of
friends that love to laugh.
Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm through August 18, 2013
* A parody of an obituary.
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