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Peer Reviews
Blue Plate
Special
Reviewed by Cristina Martin
Entire contents copyright © 2008,
Cristina Martin. All rights reserved.
After a ten-year hiatus, The Alley Theater is
back! Newly reopened as a cabaret in Louisville's
City Block entertainment complex, it has hit the
ground running (or perhaps I should say singing,
dancing, even playing the spoons) with the resoundingly
zany Blue Plate Special. The Alley has set its
sights on appealing to essentially the same crowd
as might frequent the nightclubs at City Block
and has set about filling this tall order by showing
that theater can be contemporary, farcical, riotously
entertaining, and enjoyed with drink in hand.
Blue Plate Special is in fact a soap opera
within a play. It is set on the set of a daytime
drama in a diner in rural Tennessee. Lest this
seem more convoluted than the provenance of the
House That Jack Built, fear not: we see the characters
only in their soap opera roles, but the added knowledge
that they are actors purposely over-acting makes
the melodrama and preposterous plot even funnier.
Romantic rivalry, paternity issues, show-biz dreams,
attempted murder, a mysterious case of narcolepsy,
radioactive vegetables -- this show has got it
all and then some.
The diner is owned by big-hearted Della Juracko
(Laura Obenauf), who, as the voiceover of the announcer
(Randy Davidson) tells us before this episode of
the serial begins, has just sprung her grandson
Joey from reform school. Joey (played by a stuffed
doll in a nod to TV's Passions, probably
one of the most outlandishly implausible soap operas
of all time) was doing time for allegedly killing
Della's former husband, Preacher Larry Finney,
a year and a half ago; that seems like quite a
feat, considering Joey was only an infant at the
time. Joey's mother and Della's daughter, aspiring
country singer Ramona, is due to appear on "The
Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson at any moment.
Though Della misses the broadcast, we meet Ramona
(Jill Higgenbotham) in person shortly, along with
the others who figure in Della's world: son-in-law
Ronnie Frank Flaugher (Herschel Zahnd), current
husband Ricky Jim Robinson (Ray Robinson), has-been
country star Connie Sue Day (Kelley Brady), and
a mysterious stranger (Mike Seely) who can't seem
to get a word in edgewise.
The play's casting is inspired. The impressive
resumés of these actors come as no surprise
as one witnesses the cast's wealth of talent and
polish. Unfortunately, the music from the nightclub
next door was particularly audible at various points
throughout the show, but not once did anyone lose
focus, maintaining the highest degree of professionalism
also despite an audience whose numbers were compromised
drastically by a U of L basketball game and a Jeff
Foxworthy performance going on the same evening.
Laura Obenauf's accent, body language, and animated
facial expressions lend Della the suggestion of
a more sanguine, brunette version of Thelma Harper
of "Mama's Family," and Kelley Brady's
eyes gleam with the hungry side of Connie Sue,
who appears in an orange jumpsuit (coincidentally,
just a shade off from Della's salmon-colored pantsuit)
the first time we see her. Connie Sue has spent
time in prison for having taken the others hostage
and threatened their lives in a moment of desperation
brought on by her plummeting singing career. No
hard feelings, though; her picture is still up
on the wall of the diner next to a picture of "The
King" -- Elvis as Jesus at the Last Supper.
Jill Higgenbotham is perfect as fresh-faced Ramona
and an effective counterweight to rival Connie
Sue. Ramona's disillusionment with the world of
show business is underscored cleverly as she strips
off the red honky-tonk outfit which she wore in
Hollywood to reveal a down-home ensemble in powder
blue and white. Herschel Zahnd is strong as Sheriff
Ronnie Frank and shines particularly in the musical
number in which he sings about being an "All-American
Male"; he also does a masterful job playing
the spoons. Ray Robinson's Ricky Jim doesn't quite
seem to possess the same vigor as some of the others;
while the character is dim, he could be a little
less hangdog and a little more modulated in his
schlepping about. His accent is unusual, kind of
Tennessee laced with Chicago, which is only disconcerting
until we learn that Chicago is exactly where Della
met him. As Preacher Larry, Mike Seely seems just
a bit too unassuming. This is the realm of the
unbelievable, of course, but I found him somewhat
wooden and unconvincing as a man of the cloth.
Isn't it his ilk, after all, who speak in tongues
and take up snakes? The blindingly white suit helps
him stand out, though, and his comical revelation
that nobody recognizes him because he had plastic
surgery after a helicopter accident which landed
him in a coma reminds us, should we momentarily
forget, that this is indeed a soap opera.
While the first part of the play seems a bit long,
Blue Plate Special is suddenly infused with energy
after intermission when the madcap action really
takes off. Harmonies are spot-on in the songs throughout,
and movement is well-choreographed. Musicians Scott
Kasbaum (keyboards), Jim Schweikart (guitar), Jeff
McAllister (drums) and Jenna Mattingly (bass) provide
outstanding accompaniment and musical sound effects;
the dramatic arpeggios at every mention of Chicago and Joey's father are particularly funny. The actors
sing and dance their way to a conclusion in which
all the outlandish elements of the plot manage
to come together; the formal soap-opera framework
fades (we don't hear from the announcer after the
beginning of the second part), and the play concludes
with these nutty characters really having carved
out a warm spot for themselves in the hearts of
the audience.
The Alley Theater's co-producing directors Scott
Davis and Carol Dines have planned to follow Blue
Plate Special with The
Bible: the complete word of god! (Abridged),
by Adam Long, Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor,
and the live-to-tape radio variety show "Live
from the Alley Theater," which
they have produced together in the past. Possibilities
for the future include Saucy
Jack and the Space Vixens; Suds; Batboy, The Musical;
Plaid Tidings; Shout; The Big Bang; Dixie Highway;
Menopause, the Musical; Angry Housewives; and I
Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. Whatever turns out
to be in store for audiences, theater-goers would
do well to take note. The resurrected Alley Theater
deserves kudos for a great inaugural show and an
ambitious vision that promises to enrich the Louisville
theater scene significantly.
Blue Plate Special: Episode 41, The Della Syndrome
Book by Tom Edwards
Lyrics by Mary L. Fisher, Music by Harris Wheeler
Directed by Sharon Murray Harrah
The Alley Theater at City Block
133 W. Liberty Street
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 589-3866
www.cityblocklouisville.com
Thursdays, Saturdays & Sundays
February 21 - March 16, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Posted March 4, 2008
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