Reviewed by Sue Nedar
What do Charles Dickens, two escaped convicts, a mama’s boy, a red-headed detective, a smitten D.A., and a slightly dippy if not delightfully naive mama have in common? Well…you’ll just have to go and see A Christmas Cactus, by Eliot Byerrum, currently playing at The Newport Playhouse, to see for yourself.
Read more “A Christmas Cactus – Newport Playhouse”Reviewed by Sue Nedar
The current fare at the award-winning Newport Playhouse is Ray Cooney’s Funny Money. A madcap farce of switcheroos, aliases, stolen money, and brief cases … keep your eyes on the brief cases!
Under the direction of Daniel Lee White, the ensemble of seven consists of: Tony Annicone as the dastardly Detective Davenport, Rick Bagley as the unlikely thief Henry Perkins, Pamela Gill as the sexpot Betty Johnson, Jim Killavey as the cantakerous Vic Johnson, Sarah Reed as the frazzled Detective Slater, James Walsh as the suffering taxi driver Bill, and Playhouse staple Sandi Nicastro as poor, poor Jean Perkins.
by Sue Nedar
Newport Playhouse’s holiday offering is, “A Doublewide Texas Christmas” by Jones, Hope, & Wooten. Somewhere in the Texas heartland, lies the brand new town of Doublewide – Population, 10. It’s Christmas time, and things are complicated. You see, Doublewide is being double crossed by the county, there’s a nativity competition to worry about, and there’s a pack of overly aggressive raccoons hanging around just outside the door. All the makings of raucous Yule time comedy.
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Reviewed by Tony Annicone
Newport Playhouse’s current show is “Sylvia” by A.R. Gurney. It is the male viewpoint of a man’s midlife crisis. Gurney uses a female dog as the metaphor for the other woman in this man’s life. The love and affection of this female dog helps the man escape from his nagging, jealous wife. The talking dog helps the man cope with his problems and eventually brings the couple together by the end of the show. Add three other characters to the mix and you have the ingredients for Mr. Gurney’s solution on marital problems. Michael Johnson directs the show with a deft hand, blending the comedy and the pathos together to create a show that the audience can savor and enjoy.
Reviewed by Tony Annicone
The current show at Newport Playhouse is “No Tell Motel” by Michael Wilmot which was originally called “Love Shack” when it premiered back in 2010. Brandon and Sarah plan a quick, sexy rendezvous at Bird of Paradise Motel and discover getting what you want isn’t always what you want. A meddling motel manager with issues and the fall out from a Bible salesman with ulterior motives get in the way. Also a roll-away cot, guilt, misunderstandings and an inconvenient husband somehow combine for a happy ending. The show is about sexual fantasies and full of good natured humor. Director Daniel Lee White casts these four comic roles beautifully and gives them each their moment to shine and some clever shtick to perform to keep the audience laughing all night long.
Reviewed by Tony Annicone
Come on down to Texas, you all and the current comedy dinner show at the Newport Playhouse. “The Lone Star Love Potion” by Michael Parker kicks off the 36th season for this theatre with a bang. Mr. Stancliffe, the owner of a vast fortune and a two hundred thousand acre ranch in Texas has passed away. His long time butler, Jarvis and the maid, Melody along with Patrice, Mr. Stancliffe’s only living relative are there for the reading of the will by the family lawyer, Mr. Oakfield. Also there is Patrice’s husband, Michael and a neighbor Tammy Jo who is also mentioned in the will. Later on a dowdy ornithologist , Mary Lou appears on the scene. It is a very rainy evening and they all are trapped in the house because the bridge is flooded by the rain. Also found in the safe is a secret love potion that makes whomever ingests it to become irresistible to the person who smells it. This becomes a prize wanted by many of them especially the very amorous, Michael who wants every woman in sight especially Melody, the maid. Throw in many pratfalls, mistaken identities and wrong lovers here and there and everywhere and you have the necessary ingredients for this hilarious farce. Director Daniel Lee White creates the shtick to leave the crowd laughing all night long. The first entrance of the maid is hysterical with her balancing a tray while tumbling over a sofa and never dropping a thing while doing so. He gives each performer their moment to shine in the show. Tonya Killavey and Jacob Davis create a gorgeous unit set of living room and bedroom that is so realistic that one longs to move in lock, stock and barrel.
Read more “THE LONE STAR LOVE POTION”Review by Tony Annicone
The current show at the Newport Playhouse is “Self Help” by Norm Foster. Hal and Cindy Savage are a couple of second rate performers who long for a first class life. They are weary of scraping out a meager living by plying their trade in second rate theatres. The best thing they have is their love for each other. Cindy has an epiphany involving a pithy self-help book and a bad night at yet another uninspiring dinner theatre in Canada and voila! They reinvent themselves as all knowing gurus of personal and professional development and are a runaway success.
Reviewed by Tony Annicone
Newport Playhouse’s second show of their 35th season is “Remember Me” by Sam Bobrick. On the surface it seems that Brian and Mary Hanson seem to have a very comfortable marriage after 25 years. He is a tax attorney and she’s an interior decorator. They seem to have it all. Then one day after Brian leaves to play tennis, Mary’s old college boyfriend, Peter Lawrence shows up or does he? Mary and Brian have to sort things out with Brian eventually hiring a dimbulb actress to try to fool Mary. But will the couple live happily every after? Will Peter wreck their happiness? Will Tori, the young actress bring them together or drive them apart? For these and other unanswered questions, be sure to catch “Remember Me” which will leave you laughing in the aisles while bringing up some funny relationship situations that audiences can readily relate to. The gorgeous purple colored living room set is by Tonya Killavey. Hard working stage managers Olivia Sahlin and Lauren Beaudoin keep things running smoothly all night long.
Director Daniel Lee White picks topnotch performers to play these four roles. Many funny situations abound with Brian constantly drinking Mary’s coffee before leaving for his game and forgetting to kiss her before he leaves. Pamela Lambert commands the stage as Mary. Her comic one liners, her facial expressions and line delivery are terrific. Some of her funniest moments include deep breathing exercises with both men and saying her dream fantasy was Henry Kissinger when it was actually Harrison Ford. Michael Johnson plays the worried husband, Brian. His clever antics leave you in stitches. His slow burns and constant exasperation are hilarious. He also sprays foot spray and gets a fire extinguisher to banish Peter from their lives. He also spits out a muffin after saying it tastes like foot spray. Is their humdrum marriage in trouble or is it just a figment of the imagination. Great job by both leads.
Jonathan Perry is seductive as the long lost boyfriend, Peter. He brings up many memories of the past to entice his girlfriend of the past by unbuttoning his shirt and give her shoulder and massages. He also has a comic scene later on in the show where he appears without a shirt at after mad passionate lovemaking. The second act contains a surprise about Peter after he gets punched in the face. Charles Kehres plays Peter on the weekends. The biggest scene stealer of the show is Katrina Rossi as Tori. She makes many inappropriate comments like being a vegetarian but eats shrimp and prime rib, is an actress but never had any lines and likes Shakespeare because she loves his movies. Tori also likes to climb on the furniture and takes off her shoes to do so and she also insults everyone winning many laughs while doing so. One of her funniest lines to Brian is “Boy, are you needy.” Katrina is reminiscent of Lesley Ann Warren from “Victor/Victoria” movie with her hilarious speaking voice. So for a fun filled show with an all you can eat buffet before it and an entertaining cabaret afterwards, be sure to catch “Remember Me” at the Newport Playhouse.
REMEMBER ME (31 May to 1 July)
Newport Playhouse, 102 Connell Highway, Newport, RI
1(401)848-7529 or www.newportplayhouse.com
