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Murder, romance, humor, work together in playhouse musical
By KATHY BLANKENBILLER
Ephrata Review
Published: May 07, 2008 9:25 AM EST
EPHRATA - Riding home in the car after seeing—no—experiencing EPAC's
newest production, "No Way to Treat a Lady," I wondered how I would
describe it to you.
So, first I thought, "Hmmm, it's a musical
thriller…" but on second thought, it's best described as "a
high-energy macabre gambol—a funny, suspenseful tale of humor,
romance and murder. Yup, that's it!
By now you know that I don't
like to give away the entire story; I just like to give enough to entice
you to go see it. But in this case, I have to tell you a little more than
normal. However, nothing I say here will be a "spoiler;"—no, indeed,
I've left out the juicy bits for you to discover on your own!
In a
nutshell, it's about two middle-aged men who are so different yet eerily
the same. Both have mothers who push them to their emotional brink, whose
support each man yearns for but can never seem to achieve. And, sadly, each
man dreams of being recognized for his efforts but neither ever has been.
That is, until one of the men is driven past the point of sanity; then the
fun begins.
Tim Spiese plays an endearing, bumbling detective,
Morris Brummell, who never quite proved himself worthy of "high profile"
cases, until a string of strangulations catapult him into the spotlight.
The murderer, Kit, played by Brian McCreary, is an unemployed Broadway
actor who always strived to escape the shadow of his famous mother, herself
an accomplished actress. Now recently deceased, thanks to Kit's psychosis
she continues to taunt him. She insists that he hasn't "really" made it
until he makes the headlines in the New York Times. Unable to prove her
wrong using his acting skills, murder, he decides, is the best way. Kit
commits homicide after homicide, viewing every killing as a performance,
leading to some very funny almost-over-the-top scenes in which his
character uses various dramatic yet hilarious (only to us, not his victims)
personas to hide his true identity. As Morris pursues Kit, a perplexing
relationship develops between the cop and the killer, resulting in... oh,
no, THIS you have to find out for yourself!
Let's move on to my take
on the cast. Let's see, there's a cop, a killer, the detective's love
interest, two mothers and five victims and a cast of four actors. That's
right, only FOUR actors to portray all those characters! And they did it
with ease, let me tell you! Here's how it breaks down:
Tim Spiese -
Det. Morris "Mo" Brummel - This was perfect casting; from the moment Morris
rolls out of bed to face another dull day of investigations, a smothering
mother and no love interest, our hearts are with him. "I need a shave, a
shrink, a life…" and we audience members wanted it for him right
away. Spiese plays the role believably and ably.
Brian McCreary -
Christopher "Kit" Gill - The killer. Looking at McCreary off stage you'd
never cast him as a killer. Tall, good-looking and slender, he looks more
like the love-interest-leading-man type. But when McCreary gets a hold of a
roll like this, something happens. And it's all good! Throwing himself into
each personality with delicious abandon, he is absolutely transformed. My
favorite scene of the entire show takes place in the first act between
Ramone (Kit), an honors graduate of the Arthur Murray class of 1968, and
his victim (played by my other favorite, Tricia Corcoran).
Katherine
Robb - Sarah Stone - Morris meets Sarah while investigating the very first
crime. Taking one look at lovely Sarah, Morris is in love. Robb gives Sarah
an intelligent personality, depicting her as a delightfully strong woman
who knows what she wants out of life and has the gentle firmness to achieve
it. Robb's performance is sensitive and believable and definitely adds a
little pizzazz to the story. The scene she shares with her
mother-in-law-to-be is priceless!
Tricia Corcoran - Both overbearing
moms and all the rather eccentric victims - One word for this
lady—remarkable! Or better, chameleon! I really believe that if I
didn't tell you she played ALL those rolls, you'd never know it. From
appearance to accents, she changes before your very eyes, from a devout
little old Catholic lady, to a stereotypical Jewish mother, to a Spanish
dance student to…the rest you'll have to see for yourself! She's
just absolutely incredible. My favorite.
Director Kevin Ditzler's
intimate, imaginative style of producing offers an innovative perspective
of "No Way to Treat a Lady," which was adapted by Douglas J. Cohen from the
screenplay of the 1968 cult film hit by William Goldman.
Designer
Victor Capecce created a smartly framed, sophisticated canvas of projection
scrims on which scene changes materialize via the video imagery of Ryan
Mast and lighting by Christofer Smith. Musical director Gary Peters, with
his invisible band, and stage manager Joan Adams, did their magic to set
the mood along with costumes and sound design by Matt Good.
In my
opinion, EPAC has taken another rather unconventional musical and has most
definitely turned it into an evening of worthwhile entertainment. Don't
miss it!
Tickets are $22-$24. For reservations, visit www.ephrataperformingartscenter.com
or call 733-7966. EPAC is located in the Tom Grater Memorial
Park
"No Way to Treat a Lady" will be performed on Wednesday, May 7,
Thursday, May 8, and Friday, May 9 at 8 p.m. There will also be two shows
offered on Saturday, May 10; an evening performance at 8 p.m. and a matinee
at 2 p.m.--EPAC will continue its tradition of a "Pay-What-You-Can"
performance for the Saturday, May 10 matinee performance of "No Way to
Treat a Lady." All tickets not sold by 1:45 p.m. that day will go on sale
at a "pay-what-you-can" price. "Pay-What You Can" tickets can only be
purchased at the Box Office on the day of the performance.
Rated
PG-13 for adult situations and comic violence.
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