Hilarious 'Rumors' features first-rate cast
By Judith Prieve
STAFF
WRITER
Article Launched: 01/11/2008 02:57:18 AM PST
At a VIP dinner party with no host, no hostess, no cooks, no cleaners,
it's no wonder chaos abounds -- all in rollicking good fun, of course -- in Hapgood Theatre Company's latest production, which opened
Jan. 2 at the Nick Rodriguez Community Center.
…
The talented Tiffany Hoover of Pleasant
Hill plays Claire, eliciting laughs as she spreads wild rumors about who's
having an affair, which might explain the gunshot, the hostess's and cook's
absence, not to mention the lack of food.
…
With
perceptive directing, top-notch acting, hilarious one-line zingers and a
wonderful set, it's a pretty sure bet that this new theater troupe will have a
hit on its hands. If you haven't yet seen a Hapgood
play, check out this latest quintessential American farce to see what all the
good talk is about.
Reach
Judith Prieve at 925-779-7178 or jprieve@bayareanewsgroup.com.
CURTAIN
CALLS: SALLY HOGARTY
By
Sally Hogarty
Posted: 02/26/2009
12:00:00 AM PST
THE WILLOWS THEATRE
is currently presenting the heartwarming romantic comedy, "Be My
Baby." The author, Ken Ludwig, also penned the hilarious "Lend Me a
Tenor" and "Moon Over Buffalo" so I
wasn't surprised to find myself laughing a lot throughout the production.
The unconventional
love story starts with Christy (Brady Woolery) and
Gloria (Melissa Quine) getting married in Scotland.
When Gloria miscarries, the couple decides to adopt a friend's newborn, and
since Gloria cannot travel yet, they ask Christy's former guardian John (Chris Ayles) and Gloria's Aunt Maud (Patricia Silver) to travel
to America to retrieve the baby.
The trip to America is where the comedy
really takes off as one delay after another keeps the curmudgeonly Scotsman and
the uptight English matron in San Francisco. As the unlikely pair cares for the
infant, they fall in love with more than just the baby.
Ayles is wonderful in the
role of John, with Silver warming to her part in Act
II. Woolery and Quine make
a lovely couple with Tiffany Hoover and Nikolai Lokteff
doing a fantastic job in a myriad of roles.
Special kudos to the backstage crew and set
designer Peter Crompton, whose revolving set kept the 16 scene changes in Act I
and 13 in Act II moving crisply along. The large, luggage stamp pictures easily
shifted to the various locales and the car wash-like curtain allowed large set
pieces to easily revolve in and out.
Directed by Richard
Elliott.
