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Photo by Don Kellogg

Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Marriage of Bette and Boo


Roundabout Theatre Company was smart to place this stink bomb at the end of their season.   You see, they already have their subscriber base to fill most theater and there is always a good percentage of tourists who will be fooled into seeing an off-Broadway show for cheap in August.  What I do like about this show is the idea and concept.  The concept that we all really do have problems in life, our families are all f-'d up and marriage and religion are only superficially observed.  There's something in just about every character that most people (unfortunately) can relate to.  It's a farce, of course, so everything is exaggerated, but that's the point.  However, the execution simply falls flat on stage.  

I did not get the privilege of seeing Victoria Clark (one of the few reasons i really did want to see it) but her understudy (Lizbeth McKay) was brilliant, nonetheless.  Julie Hagerty's (Morning's at Seven, The Odd Couple) character, Soot, was side-splittingly funny.  John Glover (The Paris Letter) played a marginal drunk.  I enjoyed Charles Socarides (Awake and Sing!) as Matt, the narrator and central character to the story. He swiftly kept the story moving and provided the needed background to the story unfolding before us.

Walter Bobbie has done a substantial job at keeping this stink bomb moving along swiftly and crafting the farce.   Unfortunately, this one belongs on Saturday Night Live or Comedy Central.