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Beard of Awnis
up to scratch {
Where's there's a Will,
there's a way to get laughs
By Edward F. Maroney
emaroney@barnstablepatriot.com
I
H
^^P^^^^^^^^^^^^^^P^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^ -^^m^Hj
KATHLEEN A FAHLE PHOToS
TWO BARDS AND A BEARD - Edward de Vere (Brent a
Harris) tells Will Shakespeare (Ian Kahn) his schemej
in The Beard of Avon at Cape Playhouse in Dennis.
Too many good ideas fill up Amy Freed's The >ig-*
.
Beard of Avon at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis. iBfcj
These include some of the worst (and therefore best)
^J
puns you are likely to hear for the nonce.
The play isan excessof success, with wonderful words,
worthyperformances,and splendid production values.The
first act gallops by, and if the second cannot keep pace, it
at least lets us enjoy the further antics of the characters
we have come to appreciate.
Freed makesthe challengingassertion thatjust about ev-
erybody wrote Shakespeare'splays-includingShakespeare.
We meet the balding bard of Avon when he is straining to
find a larger stage. "The girl I married became my wife," he
declares. "I haven't seen her since."
AbandoningAnneHathaway,Willrunsoffwitharovingband
of players and windsup asaless-than-supersupernumerary in
bawdy productions. How bawdy? You never sausage things!
It's not long before Will is taken up by Edward de Vere, the
nobleman who's anything but, as authorial front for de Vere's
CONTINUED ON PAGE C:2
Monomoy throws a simply Marvelous Party !
Noel Coward's genius
comes to life with
this witty show
By Kathleen Szmit
kszmit@barnstablepatriot.com
PAUL FRAZEE PHOTC
JOINTHE PARTY-The friends of Noel Coward at Monomoy s A Marvelous Party'mMe,
from bottom left and counter-clockwise. William Gard Diggle. Laura Frye, Luke Eddy,
Aline Elasmar. Chris Kauffmann. and Beth Brown.
Imagine if you will, your favorite
three-layer cake. In this case, it
would be silky chocolate with a tartly
sweet raspberry fillingbetween layers
wrapped in sinfully indulgent icing.
That,my friends,is A Marvelous
Party!
The witty confection of star Mi-
chaelJohn McGann, Monomoy The-
atre'sParty is a musicalrevue of some
of Noel Coward'smost popular tunes
nicely woven between three of his
finest one-act plays: Hands Across
the Sea, Ways and Means,and Red
Peppers .
Hands Across the Sea is a cheeky
romp about a dreadfully wealthy and
woefully shallow couple, Lady Mau-
reen Gilpin and her husband,Peter, a
Commander in the Royal Navy.
There's a riotous case of mistaken
identity as the Gilpins and several
equally shallow and confused friends
attempt to identify a mystery couple
that have popped in for a visit. Cmdr.
Gilpin sits down at the piano as if to
play and then crankis out questions
in the form of song lyrics.
Aline Elasmar is lovely as ever as
Maureen Gilpin, while Luke Eddy is
perfectly pompous as the Command-
er. Kelsey Brennan and Raven Peters
are ideal in the role of the Wadhursts,
the unknown couple,and Beth Brown,
Kurt Peterson, and Shelley Wilson
are simply comedic as the Gilpins'
couture companions.
The second one-act,Ways and
Means,delves into the touchy subject
of addiction,albeit with a humorous
touch.
Laura Frye and William Gard Diggle
are Stella and Toby Cartwright,a
somewhat superficial couple living
beyond their means while taking
advantage of wealthy friends. As their
time at one such friends' home draws
to a sudden close, the two realize
that due to her extravagan t shopping
habits and his excessive gambling,
they are deep in debt.
Toby is so anxious over their pre-
dicament he nearly gives the audience
an ulcer with his frantic ramblings,
while Stella does her best to avoid the
situation all together, clinging comi-
cally to her optimistic outlook.
The comedy in this show builds
Like a wave on the sea, reaching its
hilarious height when the Cartwrights
stumble upon the perfect plan to
recoup their losses,a scheme too
precious to give away here.
Accompanying Frye and Diggle in
this amusing tale are the ever-witty
Aaron White. Matthew Archambault ,
Kaitlyn Whitebread,Paul Frazee and
Matthew Goins.
Concluding the trio of one-acts is
the raucous Red Peppers,about a bick-
ering couple performing in a variety
show and their antics backstage.
CONTINUED ON PAGE C:2
Cape Rep's Full Monty full of fun
i) Heart and
humor
fc entwine in
R excellent
fk production
By Britt Beedenbender
arts@barnstablepatnot com
%L
ROBERT TUCKER/FOCALPOINT |
STUDIO PHOTO
MEASURE BY MEASURE 1
- Eric Riley as
Noah "Horse" T. Simmons 1
revs it up with "Big
Black Man" in Cape Rep
Theatre's The FullMonty.
The Cape Cod Repertory
Theatre 's production of The
Full Monty is without ques-
tion one of the most solid and
entertaining performances to
be seen on Cape this summer.
While the thought of steelwork-
ersstripteasingis titillating, the
reality isthat this is a wonderful
story that is as sentimental as
it is comical.
In Buffalo.NY.sixsteelwork-
ers find themselvesunemployed
and.over time, begin to question
their masculinity, purpose and
role in their respective relation-
ships.In need ofsome quick cash
and amission, they decide,after
seeing the frenzied response of
their wives and girlfriends to a
Chippendale 'sstriptease, to up
the ante and bare it all at a lo-
cal club for one night.Through
the riotous auditions, pained
workouts, lively practices and
final "full monty," we discover
that this is a story about self-
wort h, family, love, friendship,
and expectations.
Everythingabout thisproduc-
tion is worthy of note. Director
Susan Terrier has succeeded in
a seamlessstage interpretation
of Terrence McNally 's book
about the common man.Terner
has assembled a talented cast
of amateurs and professionals
who, through the harmonious
collaboration of musical direc-
tor Scott Storr and choreog-
rapher Terry Norgeot,move
with agility through the angry
lyrics and aggressive staging of
"Scrap." to tender love ballads
like "You Rule My World," to
energized show stoppers like
"Big Black Man." performed
by the immensely talented Eric
Riley whose character, Noah
"Horse"T. Simmons is charged
and ready to explode. Behind
all of this is a gifted orchestra
that delivers on David Yazbek's
pulsing and seductive score.
Amy Jackson creates her own
force fieldasGeorgie Bukatinsky,
the passionate and adoring wife
of the endearing Dave, played
by Christopher Schulz, who is
both overweight and depressed.
Schultz shares the stage with
CONTINUED ON PAGE C:2
Btf AlaiW. Petmll/
DVD QUICK PICKS
John Ford/John
Wayne Collection
(Warner Home Vid-
eo)
This set is pretty
incredible - not only
do you get eight films
of one of the more
importantfilm stars of
the twentiethcentury,
but all the films were
directed by one of the
greatest film direc-
tors of the twentieth
century.
Wayne himself may
have been a difficult
person -politically to the right of Genghis Kahn and
disgustingly,blindlyjingoistic -but he was one hell of a
movie star.He also, as this collection clearly shows, was
one hell of an actor. The earliest film in the collection
dates back to 1939, the latest, 1957. As he grew as an
American icon, he grew as an actor.
The earliest film here, Stagecoach,was Wayne's first
A-movie lead, and he heads an all-star cast, including
Claire Trevor, Thomas Mitchell (who won an Oscar for
this film) and George Bancroft. The Long Voyage Home
(1940) is based on the short sea plays of Eugene O'Neill,
withBarryFitzgeraldandWardBond. They Were Expend-
able (1945) is a war film that treats the possibility that
America would not be able to win WWII. 3 Godfathers
(1948), whilehavingadistinctlyreligioustheme,was shot
in Death Valleyin glorious color, and is the most starkly
beautifulof all Ford films. Alsofrom 1948isFort Apache ,
withShirley Temple (as an adolescent), Shirley'shubby
John Agar and Henry Fonda, giving an indelible perfor-
mance in a role not unlike General George Armstrong
Custer. Ford and Wayne followed this with She Wore a
Yellow Ribbon in 1949; Wayne ages some 20 years, again
protecting the land from Native Americans. Wings of
an Eagle (1957) is Ford's tribute to the Navy, and has a
strange, not-quite-happy ending.
The best film here, of course, is the masterpiece, The
Searchers. Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, who spends 10
years searching for his young niece (played by Natalie
Wood), who has been kidnapped by Native Americans .
he also desperately wantsrevenge for those who killed
her family. Made in 1956 and arguably one of the most
beautifully photographed American films, The Search-
ers is an incredible story of racism conquered by love,
of loneliness and hatred and the only kind of ultimate
redemption that man can have.
The DVD collection is awesomely assembled, with
discs of extras for both Stagecoach and Searchers that
are a cut above most "fillers."The film transfers are crisp
and clean, and, especially in the case of The Searchers ,
the color appears as close to what Ford envisioned as
possible.
FordandWayneare,frankly,not highlythought oftoday;
possibly there is more concern with their personal lives
than their genius. And Westerns, which are their best
works, have become passe with the rising of conscious-
ness about America's treatment of Native Americans.
Still,these films deserverevisiting.Despite the treatment
of Native Americans, these gems are exciting, thought-
provoking,startlinglybeautiful -andrepresent American
filmmaking at its best.
Some Like It
Hot (M-G-M)
Life is never a
drag. Thisweek's
proof: The new
"collectors edi-
tion" of Some
Like It Hot. The
movie, lovingly
and seamlessly
directed and co-
authored by Billy
Wilder,wasmade
in 1959, and stars
Marilyn Monroe ,
Tony Curtis ,
Jack Lemmon ,
George Raft,Pat
O'Brien and Joe
E. Brown. Curtis and LemmonwitnessRaft committing
mass massacre - so he needs to rub them out.
To avoid their demise, the boys spend the rest of the
moviein drag, playingin an all-girlband where Marilyn
sings and plays the ukulele. The band ends up playing
at a resort that caterers to millionaires (Joe E. Brown
plays the richest millionaire). Coincidentally enough,
there is also a convention of mobsters -with Raft in
tow. As the farce progresses, Curtis falls in love with
Monroe,Brown falls in love with Lemmon, and the
movie ends with the funniest closing line from any
motion picture.
If you don't know this movie, buy it. If you think you
know this movie, you don't remember all of it, so you
should buy it. The extras are kinda fun, but, frankly,
with thiskind of movie, most of the extras are superflu-
ous -no "behind-the-scenes" explanations are going
to make you laugh any more loudly. Voted the No. 1
comedy by the AmericanFilmInstitute and on the short
list of everyone's favorite, Hot not only lives up to its
hype, it far surpasses it. The jokes come so thick and
fast that you'll need to hit pause and go back to catch
the linesyou missed whilelaughing. Proof,indeed ,that
Some Like it Hot will always sizzle.
CONTINUED ON PAGE C:2
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