By Myra Chanin . . .
Harrumph!!! Where in the world can a theatergoer find a well-performed farce nowadays? I just reveled in the perpetually amusing Will Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors during a recent visit to London’s Globe Theater; but since then, and closer to home, I found an equal amount of hilarity at Boca Raton’s Marleen Forkas Studio One Theater where FAU (Florida Atlantic University) theater graduate students melded the fundamentals of farce in John Bishop’s ingenious and wildly comic romp, The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, into a laughing matter, which involved destroying the pretensions of pompous Broadway backers, presenting an over-abundance of sneaky Nazi assassins-cum-victims, mistaken identities galore, secret doorways leading to hidden tunnels and labyrinths; plus, power outages, accentuated murders, shocking resolutions, young lovers and, finally, a very happy ending to save the day.
A stunning, beautifully crafted set—designed by K. April Soroka, FAU Associate Chair of Scenic Design and built by FAU’s students—created a classic library in a Chappaqua, NY mansion, inhabited by Elsa Von Grossenkneuten (Ana Calise) and her devoted maid, German refugee Helsa Wenzel (Cait Siobhan Kiley). Helsa, who was killed in the opening scene, was first stashed behind the front door’s drapes before being carted off, stiff as a board, to not exactly eternal rest in the cleaning supply closet. One might well wonder why Kiley, a member of Actor’s Equity, accepted such a now-you-see-her-now-you-don’t role. Spoiler alert! Helsa has more lives than the proverbial unkillable cat. She appears again and again and again, mostly in the same uniform with a different personality and once, even, as a cabaret artist with a striking change of gender.
Mischief gets underway when Michael Kelley (Joel Rodriquez), as a convincing New York City undercover detective who would be right at home at Frank Reagan’s Bluebloods Sunday dinner table, enlists Elsa to join him in a scheme to fool the elusive Stage Door Slasher—who destroyed the prospects of Elsa’s previous production—into outing himself. Elsa invites the creators and cast of the Broadway flop, where the Slasher ran amok, to audition a new play at her mansion for Marjorie Baverstock (Shayna Gilberg), a big buck Broadway investor.
Then OMG! Helsa reappears, reincarnated with a changed personality, followed by the arriving thespians. The most striking player was Ken De La Maize (Michael Worrell-Olsen), the director of the auditioning play. He was handsome and slick, exquisitely outfitted in a tan, double-breasted suit. His pencil-thin mustache was seductive, his voice as silky as butter. He was however, somewhat portly, reminiscent of Orson Welles, after he (Welles) devoted himself to gastronomy via recording commercials in which he told the world that winemaker Paul Masson would “sell no wine before its time.”
The cast arrives next: Singer-dancer Nikki Crandall (Allie Gladstone), bad comedian Eddie McCuen (Zack Marullo), Composer Roger Hopewell (Anthony Blatter), and his hysterical lyricist Bernice Roth (Caitlin Foster). Rest assured, none of the above are what they claim to be.
Eventually, the criminal mastermind is revealed. Not who I thought it would be, but I ain’t tellin’. You’ll have to follow the convoluted play and see if you’re surprised. Eddie and Nikki follow their instincts to each other, in a mad clinch. How long will their love last? That’s anybody’s guess.
I was very impressed by the casting, which I couldn’t imagine being any better. As for the costumes designed by FAU Associate Professor of Costume Design, Dawn Shemberger, and sewn by her and costume shop manager Tim Bowman, they were a wonderful sight to behold. Janelle Dias’ blackouts scared me, and sound designer Hannah Roebucks’ whooshing blizzard made me wish I’d brought a down jacket along with me. I loved Carolyn Slagle’s crazy wigs. They were works of imagination.
I’ve saved my greatest kudos for Director Lee Soroka, FAU Associate Professor of Movement and Stage Combat, for the precise moves made by the entire cast. The acting was artfully exaggerated. They milked each scene for everything it was worth. But, there was a slight problem. The actors’ voices were sometimes screechy, which made what they were saying hard to understand. Other audience members shared my feelings, including Gino, a young theater lover and his inamorata seated on my right, as well as Chuck, the senior citizen seated on my left. But, the body language kept all of us laughing. We might have laughed even more if closed captioning had flashed on the proscenium arch.
The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940. Through July 2 at Florida Atlantic University’s Marleen Forkas Studio One Theater (Boca Raton, Florida). www.fau.edu/artsandletters/theatre/productions/ Box Office 561-297-6124
Photos: Morgan Sophia Photography
