“Laughter is the best medicine,” so throw away your pills and see the delightful Moon Over Buffalo, presented by Wasatch Theatrical Ventures over at the Grove Theatre Center. There was so much guffawing from the audience that some people were throwing away their canes after the show.
There’s plenty of vigorous physical comedy on stage. People enter and exit through various doors with the exquisite timing that you’d see in a classic Marx Brothers movie. The actors are equally deft in the dialog department. Their humor grows so effortlessly from their characters’ memorable personalities that we easily forget how much harder it is for actors to master comedy than straight drama.
Kudos also to Director KIFF SCHOLL for maintaining the madcap pacing throughout the play, doing full-moon justice to one of the masterworks of acclaimed Playwright KEN LUDWIG.
The set up: We find ourselves in 1953 Buffalo with Charlotte Hay (KIMBERLY LEWIS) and George Hay (MARK BELNICK.) Once, this acting couple had graced the cover of Time Magazine, but time and television have reduced them to stints in the hinterland. Their shoestring budget allows for two plays: Cyrano de Bergerac (the “revised, one nostril version”) and Noel Coward’s Private Lives.
Mother-in-law Ethel (CAROL HERMAN) is far from pleased at this turn of events. She’s hard of hearing and hard on George, who probably deserves her sharp tongue. Sometimes, George falls off the wagon and into bed with cutie-patootie ingénues like Eileen (SARAH RANDALL HUNT.) Meanwhile, dashing attorney Richard (PAUL MICHAEL NIEMAN) looks like he might succeed in wooing away Charlotte.
The Hays’ unsuspecting daughter Rosalind (KERI SAFRAN) returns for a family visit, still determined to stay out of show business. She has in tow her boyfriend Howard (CHUCK RAUCCI,) a nerdy TV weatherman. But Rosalind would’ve come at a different time if she had known she’d be bumping into her old boyfriend Paul (PAUL GALLIANO,) who still has the acting bug…and his charm.
Into this all madness drops an once-in-a-lifetime break: the opportunity for George and Charlotte to star in a major movie and revive their fading careers. All they have to do is suitably impress the legendary director Frank Capra, who’s flying to Buffalo to see one of their live performances.
Piece of cake, right?
Moon Over Buffalo continues through September 14. (Dark Labor Day Weekend: August 28, 29 and 30.) Performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 3 p.m. Running time is 120 minutes, with one intermission. Buy the $25 General Admission tickets by going to www.plays411.com/moon, or by calling (323) 960-7721. The Grove Theatre Center is at 1111-B West Olive Avenue in George Izay Park. Parking is free on nearby streets and within the parking lot off Clark. For more information, please visit www.wasatchtheatricalventures.com.
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