Since first experiencing one of Genesius Guild's end-of-season comedies two summers ago, I've eagerly anticipated playwright/director Don Wooten's witty work each subsequent year. His sharp, humorous, sometimes biting rewrites of Aristophanes comedies abound with political, pop-culture, and theatre references at the local and national levels. And while I've not had the honor of being personally referenced in one of his jokes - at least not while I was present - this year's The Frogs features hilariously pointed jabs at almost every theatre company in the Quad Cities area, with Saturday's performance the funniest of the three annual Guild spoofs I've yet seen.

Even if you entered the Timber Lake Playhouse's Boeing-Boeing unaware that author Marc Camoletti's play was a farcical comedy - its elbow-in-the-ribs title somehow not divulging that information - all it would take is one look at Nathan Dahlkemper's scenic design to know that some serious slapstick was bound to be in store.

Leaving Friday's Countryside Community Theatre performance of Singin' in the Rain, I overheard one woman say to another, "Well, that was a different take on it." Actually, I would love to see a different take on this classic musical written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, with lyrics by Arthur Freed and music by Nacio Herb Brown. But director/choreographer Christina Myatt's production is, instead, an homage to the original film with only-slightly-adjusted re-creations of Gene Kelly's original choreography, yet one boasting just enough beautiful, original touches to avoid direct mimicry of the movie.

I quite like the tone of the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's More Than Meets the Eye, as director Joseph R. DePauw's production brings a natural feel, and a welcome lack of affectation, to a play that kind of screams for affectation. Instead of overplaying the plot's cross-dressing humor, Friday night's performance offered a softer, more realistic approach to its comedy that rendered the jokes more subtle, but still laugh-out-loud funny. Unfortunately, the laughs in author Fred Carmichael's play are, if not few, fairly far between (though when the jokes do hit, they're good ones), and it doesn't help that DePauw's pacing is a bit on the slow side, lengthening the wait between punchlines.