I Saw Moon Over Buffalo Last Night

I saw Yardley Players' production of Moon Over Buffalo last night.....

You're probably wondering what I thought of it. Or maybe not, but I'll tell you any way. After all, this is a blog. Let me first preface my comments with this simple statement: Mother always told me: "If you can't say any anything nice, don't say anything at all." So I'll say only this one thing....

I laughed.

I laughed so loud friends sitting on the other side of the house new it was me laughing. "That's Dan," they said to themselves (and to me later) as my guffaws echoed across the room (it was a healthy turn out for the opening night of a play, by the way. I was jealous.)

Not only did I laugh. I slapped my knee and laughed like a drunken Bozo the clown. The script for Moon Over Buffalo is a gem. It's one of those shows you've never heard of before, and when you finally see it, you ask..."why have I never heard of this before!" The playwright keeps the jokes coming hot and heavy, and the Yardley cast mostly does them justice. In some cases they even polish up a few for better effect. Kurt Penney nearly steals the show as George Hay, but Laurie Hardy (who you'll remember from MP OnStage's production of Lucky Stiff), stays right there with him as his wife Charlotte Hay. Laurie and Kurt make a great one-two punch.

Moon Over Buffalo is an old fashioned farce, which should say a lot for my reaction, by the way. You see I don't like farces, just ask my brother John. But this much is true...

I laughed.

Bat Boy

I'm trying to get out to see Bat Boy. It closes this weekend, so it's now or never. But we also have auditions for The Emperor's New Clothes this weekend. It will be tough to squeeze everything in, but Stars in the Park usually does a good job and I'm hearing good things about the show. So I'm just going to have to make the time.

No surprise the buzz is good, especially considering the cast includes talents like Kitty Getlik, Nicole Spadafino (Annabelle Glick in our production of Lucky Stiff) and many others. Caroline, (that's my daughter) has friends in the cast (Kitty and Nicole among them) and is eager to see the show. I'm interested in see in friends on stage, of course, but I'm even more interested in seeing the repelling scene. Apparently, to stage the scene where characters repel down into a giant cave, director Diane Wargo has actors repelling from the Kelsey Theatre catwalk using mountain climbing rigs. Very cool. If I can get out to see the show this weekend, I'll fill you in on the details.