SHOWING : January 25, 2008 - February 17, 2008
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The Sopranos meets Bullets over Broadway. The worlds of the Mafia and the theatre clash hilariously when a professor turned playwright seeks funding for his new play from the family of a former student. The fact that the lusty, unwed daughter of the house falls in love with the playwright only furthers his involvement with the Mob. In this madcap situation, murder and menace are served up with plenty of pasta and laughter.
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Kiss Bang Boom
| by Mama Alma |
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Tuesday, February 12, 2008 |
5.0
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I wasn't too keen on seeing Breaking Legs. I'm one of the few people in America who wasn't disappointed in the ending of The Sopranos. I'd long stopped watching before the final cut to black. So a comedy about some "wise guys" did not pique my interest.
But I adore actors, and a finer trio of wise guys could not be found. Lee Buechele seemed to me a little more Irish than Italian, but I certainly believed he knew his way around a bar. Michael Shikany, decked out in designer sweats and running shoes, with his definite articulation (complete with gestures) was the best muscle since Tony Lapaglia redefined the form in Betsy's Wedding. "I did not know this," cracks me up every time.
But the piece de resistance was George Crolius as Mike Francisco, an aging don, who because of scars from an earlier injury cannot smile when he laughs. The result is a macabre cackle that punctuates some of the funniest spots in the show.
Amber Chaney is pitch perfect as the predatorily feline Angie who sets her sights on Allen Hagler's scholarly Terence O'Keefe. She stalks him until he catches her. In one oddly hysterical and erotic scene, Angie asks Terence for a foot rub. There's a different kind of "rub" going on outdoors, and something other than a foot rub going on indoors. It's funny, and confusing, and erotic, and disturbing, all at once. The flyers for this show say "for mature audiences" and this would be the scene your ten year old would be pestering you about. Leave the kiddies at home.
Hagler has the comfortable good looks and body language of an older Mark Hamill (Return of the Jedi, not Episode IV). And he plays a great drunk.
Chuck Welcome outdid himself on the set. I'm sure by now he mumbles under his breath every time he has to dress yet another "eatery/restaurant/bar." How many has it been now, Chuck? But he got to do the carved bar, stained glass lights. Real class.
Again, as I said in my review of Room Service earlier, this play is not going to illuminate any of Life's Great Truths, but it'll keep you young and laughing. Go, enjoy.
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