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Peer Reviews Never
Too Late for an Evening of Fun and Laughter Entire contents are copyright © 2007, Craig Nolan Highley. All rights reserved.
The Shelby County Community Theatre is one of the local theatre scene's best-kept secrets. It's a beloved home for treading the boards in Shelbyville, but surprisingly little known in the surrounding counties and cities, including Louisville. And that's a shame, because the product they put out is generally very high quality. They have struck gold again in their current production, Never Too Late. It's a quaint, if dated, little throwback to a more innocent time, with characters who are so G-rated they can't even use words like "toilet" or "pregnant." But that's not a complaint; the show is so upbeat and funny you can't help but be swept away by it. The play premiered on Broadway on November 26, 1962, and ran for over a thousand performances, with a cast that included such familiar character actors as Paul Ford, Maureen O'Sullivan and Orson Bean. Ford and O'Sullivan reprised their stage roles exactly three years later when the film version opened in November of 1965, with a cast that also included Connie Stevens, Jim Hutton and Henry Jones. Both the Broadway production and film version received stellar reviews, so it's surprising the show isn't seen more often by little theatre groups like SCCT. Considering how dated the material is, director Rick Reinle (ably assisted by Ashley Raymer-Brown) wisely keeps the story set in 1962. Harry and Edith Lambert (Steve Nessel and Cheryl Rankin Van Stockum) are a middle-aged couple living in a huge house with their daughter Kate (Rachael Yeager) and son-in-law Charlie (Adam Raymer-Brown).
Harry prides himself on running a tight household and owning the best of everything that money can buy. Edith runs herself ragged minding the huge home. Charlie works for Harry at Harry's lumber company, and Kate never lifts a finger to help around the house. It's not a perfect living arrangement, but at least it runs smoothly. But then Edith throws a wrench in the works: despite her and Harry's advanced age, she's about to have another baby! The show works mainly due to the strength of the cast. Reinle has assembled a very interesting group of performers, and it's worth noting that of the four main roles, three of them are played by actors who have never played lead roles before: Nessel, Yeager and Raymer-Brown. It was a risky move that paid off. Nessel infuses Harry with just enough bluster without making the character come off as nasty or mean, which is no easy trick. Yaeger is convincing as Kate, the spoiled princess. But perhaps Raymer-Brown comes off best; he starts off playing the character as wide-eyed and childish, but really shines later in the play when his character goes on a hilarious drunken rampage. In smaller but showy roles, SCCT vets Pat Wetherton and Duke Thomas Low are also very good. As Edith's supportive friend Grace, Wetherton gets some of the play's best throwaway lines and delivers them with gusto. As the short-tempered next-door neighbor, Low gets his chance to chew the scenery in hilarious fashion in the second act (this role will be played by Brian Douglas Barker during the run's second weekend). But by far the best thing the show has going for it is Cheryl Rankin Van Stockum's turn as Edith. She runs the character through a complete emotional journey, starting off as the meek and doting wife, then basking in the glory of impending motherhood, until finally taking control of a rapidly deteriorating situation with the strength of character you would never have guessed she possessed. This is all the more amazing when you think that this powerhouse performer has only been acting for a couple of years! Also worth mentioning is Brian Douglas Barker's shockingly realistic set design; you really believe you are in the living room of a huge house circa 1962. The only real criticisms I can apply to the show were a few typical opening night issues; the pacing of the first couple of scenes seemed to drag, and a few cues needed to be picked up. The show seemed to tighten up significantly after the second or third scene, so this was probably just due to the cast getting used to their audience. The scene changes were not terribly long, but could have used some music to cover the awkward blackouts between scenes all the same. Overall, this was yet another solid production from a solid theatre company that deserves your attention, so take a little trip down I-64 to Shelbyville and see it before it really is too late!
Never Too Late Shelby County Community Theatre Starring Brian Douglas Barker, Duke Thomas Low, Scott Nation, Steve Nessel, Adam J. Raymer-Brown, Cheryl Rankin Van Stockum, Pat Wetherton and Rachael Yaeger Posted Nov. 19, 2007
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