The Gays of Our Lives is a HIT!
16/03/07 21:21 Filed in: Theater
The Gays of Our Lives played
to full houses opening weekend, and at least one
reviewer was enthusiastic! Here's the review from the
Capital Times. The show continues through March 31 at
the Bartell Theater, 113 E Mifflin Street in Madison.
Reservations available at 661-9696, extension 3, or
on-line at
www.stageq.com.
Review from The Capital Times is here.
Review from The Capital Times is here.
'Gays of Our lives' light,
entertaining
By Rena Archwamety
Special to The Capital Times
Take the plot from any daytime soap, set it aboard the Love Boat, throw in a dash of "Will and Grace" and sprinkle with a dash of Agatha Christie mystery.
Let it cook for about two hours, and the result is StageQ's latest confection, "The Gays of Our Lives," a tale of "sex, murder and intrigue" by Chicago-based playwright Claudia Allen.
Like last season's "Brides of the Moon," "The Gays of Our Lives" is a light, campy and over-the-top spoof of campy and over-the-top storytelling genres, with the expected twist that all the characters turn out to be gay and live happily ever after before curtain call.
Predictable, yes, but director Tara Ayres and her cast found plenty of opportunity to surprise and charm Saturday evening's audience that nearly filled the Bartell Theatre's small Evjue Theatre.
The play ran like back-to-back episodes of a soap opera, moving from one short interconnected scene to the next. The plot follows the thread of family and romantic relationships that shuffle, intersect and aren't always mutually exclusive.
The story opens with once-divorced, once-widowed grandmother Tip (Pam Adams), who decides to leave her data entry job to join the crew of an oil tanker and see the world. While she's away, a heated love triangle forms as her son falls for his sister's husband.
Someone is murdered, someone goes to prison, and meanwhile, Tip surprises herself as she is seduced by and falls for a handsome lesbian shipmate. Upon her return home, she finds that all hell has broken loose, and she sets about to save her troubled family.
The plot is ridiculous, but the cast's unwavering devotion to the one-dimensional characters steals the show and brings it to life.
Karen Saari was a perfect June Cleaver, with her prim circle skirt and cardigan, in her role as Mary Pat, the jilted housewife and mother of six. The constant smile on her face and the baby on her arm during the first half made her temporary breakdown later in the play all the more jarring.
Katy Conley was charming as Tip's handsome, heartbreaking love interest Kitty, a name almost too sweet for her macho persona, but irresistibly full of innuendo. She said more with a stance, swagger and eyebrow raise than could possibly be conveyed with words.
Alex Szele showed impressive range in his double role as the sensitive, submissive husband Jeff and later as Jeff's gruff and tattooed evil twin Biff. Similarly, Peggy Rosin played all the parts (Buzzard/Matron/Police) of her character's split personality so distinctly that it was not immediately clear she was the same actor in all the roles.
Everyone in the show, from the main characters to those who appeared in only one scene, gave their parts strong and unique personalities.
The actors moved the scenes along at a fairly snappy pace, unhindered by props in the simple and static set that consisted of a bed, table, chairs and a few blocks and risers. The only complaint is that frequent darkened scene changes sometimes ran long, making the play somewhat choppy and slow between scenes, rather than flowing directly from one to the next as in a typical soap opera.
The cast and crew of "The Gays of Our Lives" brought their colorful characters to life and a spectrum of genres, from family drama to romantic comedy to murder mystery, to the stage.
It was a recipe for satisfying entertainment, light and perfectly baked.
By Rena Archwamety
Special to The Capital Times
Take the plot from any daytime soap, set it aboard the Love Boat, throw in a dash of "Will and Grace" and sprinkle with a dash of Agatha Christie mystery.
Let it cook for about two hours, and the result is StageQ's latest confection, "The Gays of Our Lives," a tale of "sex, murder and intrigue" by Chicago-based playwright Claudia Allen.
Like last season's "Brides of the Moon," "The Gays of Our Lives" is a light, campy and over-the-top spoof of campy and over-the-top storytelling genres, with the expected twist that all the characters turn out to be gay and live happily ever after before curtain call.
Predictable, yes, but director Tara Ayres and her cast found plenty of opportunity to surprise and charm Saturday evening's audience that nearly filled the Bartell Theatre's small Evjue Theatre.
The play ran like back-to-back episodes of a soap opera, moving from one short interconnected scene to the next. The plot follows the thread of family and romantic relationships that shuffle, intersect and aren't always mutually exclusive.
The story opens with once-divorced, once-widowed grandmother Tip (Pam Adams), who decides to leave her data entry job to join the crew of an oil tanker and see the world. While she's away, a heated love triangle forms as her son falls for his sister's husband.
Someone is murdered, someone goes to prison, and meanwhile, Tip surprises herself as she is seduced by and falls for a handsome lesbian shipmate. Upon her return home, she finds that all hell has broken loose, and she sets about to save her troubled family.
The plot is ridiculous, but the cast's unwavering devotion to the one-dimensional characters steals the show and brings it to life.
Karen Saari was a perfect June Cleaver, with her prim circle skirt and cardigan, in her role as Mary Pat, the jilted housewife and mother of six. The constant smile on her face and the baby on her arm during the first half made her temporary breakdown later in the play all the more jarring.
Katy Conley was charming as Tip's handsome, heartbreaking love interest Kitty, a name almost too sweet for her macho persona, but irresistibly full of innuendo. She said more with a stance, swagger and eyebrow raise than could possibly be conveyed with words.
Alex Szele showed impressive range in his double role as the sensitive, submissive husband Jeff and later as Jeff's gruff and tattooed evil twin Biff. Similarly, Peggy Rosin played all the parts (Buzzard/Matron/Police) of her character's split personality so distinctly that it was not immediately clear she was the same actor in all the roles.
Everyone in the show, from the main characters to those who appeared in only one scene, gave their parts strong and unique personalities.
The actors moved the scenes along at a fairly snappy pace, unhindered by props in the simple and static set that consisted of a bed, table, chairs and a few blocks and risers. The only complaint is that frequent darkened scene changes sometimes ran long, making the play somewhat choppy and slow between scenes, rather than flowing directly from one to the next as in a typical soap opera.
The cast and crew of "The Gays of Our Lives" brought their colorful characters to life and a spectrum of genres, from family drama to romantic comedy to murder mystery, to the stage.
It was a recipe for satisfying entertainment, light and perfectly baked.