31
Mar
2014
One of the cleverest things about the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's Always a Bridesmaid is its title, and the way it fits its group of women who, because of a promise made at their senior prom, continue to be bridesmaids in each other's weddings well into their 50s. That, however, is as clever as playwrights Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten get, as their show's humor is amusing, at best, but never hilarious. The plot and comedy play out more like that of a television sitcom than a theatrical comedy - which might be expected given Wooten's work as a writer and producer on The Golden Girls.
Wednesday evening's audience clearly had a lot of fun watching and interacting with the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating, & Marriage. In truth, the performance would not have been quite as much fun if there were more watching and less interacting. While there are plenty of laughs to be had as the titular character in this PG-13-style comedy offers advice on flirting, relationships, and sex, there are also a few missteps made along the way.
The Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's Things My Mother Taught Me, which is about a young New York couple moving into a new apartment in Chicago, is one of those plays that requires patience, as the first half of the first act takes a while to get on its feet and bring in the humor. While Brad Hauskins' Polish building superintendent Max elicited hearty laughs during Friday's performance through the actor's adept comic delivery and (eventually overused) "Uh-oh"s, not much else, early on, was all that effectively funny. Until, that is, the parents of the cohabitating Olivia and Gabe arrived, at which point it was clear that director Warner Crocker's pacing for the rest of the show was going to be remarkable, and the comedic chaos amplified by the play's four parents fussing over their children.
With its charm, high spirits, optimism, and infectiously fun tunes selected and arranged by Steve Przybylski, there's a wonderful specialness to playwright Warner Crocker's Southern Crossroads. And in the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's current production of the show, what's particularly special about what is already a good musical has a lot to do with director Curt Wollan's cast members, who have an apparent love for the material and exude a palpable enjoyment in their performance of it. This piece transcends traditional musical theatre in a way that's all too rare, pulling in its audience through a spell of song and hope.
