This Tony Award-winning musical came to the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse last evening. Joan and I along with an expectant audience settled in for what turned out to be an extraordinary evening of music and humor.
Rona Lisa Perretti (Lorinne Lampert), the perky, non-stop lady in charge, introduced the contest participants, Marcy Park (Lisa Helmi Johanson), Leaf Coneybear (Scott Guthrie), Logainne Schwarzandgrubanniere (Joanna Krupnick), Olive Ostrovsky (Brittany Kiernan), Chip Tolentino (Geoffrey Kidwell), William Barfee (Bruce Warren), plus three volunteers drawn from the audience, Meg Vanek (Executive Director at Cayuga County Convention and Visitors Bureau), Daniel Larson (President of Cayuga Community College), and a woman whose name I did not hear.
All the characters are more or less anxious as they step up to spell words like "strabismus," "cystitis," "capybara" and "weltanschauung."
Brittany Kiernan as Olive Ostovsky
While the tunes “My Friend, the Dictionary” and “I’m Not That Smart” are witty and ear-catching. And Brittany Kiernan delivered a touching ballad, "I Love You". The show's best number was "Pandemonium" where cast let loose with craziness.
Bruce Warren's performance (insistent that his last name be pronounced bar-FAY) had Joan and I laughing to the point of tears. As the grotesquely loutish, arrogant nerd Barfée, Warren used his "magic foot" to spell out each word on the floor. Warren has been a comic highlight on the playhouse stage all summer.
Ed Sayles and the board made an excellent decision to include this marvelous and hilarious production in the 2012 season.
Other shows of the 2012 season:
Kiss Me Kate
9 to 5
My Fair Lady
Cabaret
Nunsense
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