BWW Reviews: DANNY & THE DEEP BLUE SEA, Drama at its Best in Kansas City

You do not have to be a large production company to work with the finest actors in Kansas City. Different Choices Productions proved that at their preview of their dark comedy Danny & The Deep Blue Sea on Thursday October 9. Directed by Bob Linebarger the show is being staged in the Buffalo Room behind the Westport Flea Market.

Run by comedians Different Choices Productions opens their second production on Friday October 10. In their statement in the printed program, the company has to do with the choices comedians tend to make. Their statement goes on to say, "I would love to re-define comedian from one who is funny to one who has the ability to find humor in something, even if it seems impossible to do so."

Danny & The Deep Blue Sea written by John Patrick Shanley is the second play by the playwright who has penned 23 stage productions and 10 films. Moonstruck one of his more famous films starred Cher and Nicholas Cage and won three Academy Awards. Mariah Thompson and Linebarger design the Kansas City production and stage management provided by Robin Joelle Harman.

Danny & The Deep Blue Sea is not your typical love story, but a love story it is. Roberta meets Danny at a bar; they fall in love and decide to marry. Sounds normal except that Roberta is a single mother living with her parents who hides a dark foreboding secret that she has never told anyone. Danny is a truck driver referred to as "the Beast" by co-workers, with severe anger management issues. They both hate themselves and are at the dark dank bar for its solitude.

After riling Danny to the point that he begins to strangle her (she is asking him to squeeze harder), they unexpectedly see themselves in each other. She reveals her secret to Danny, the only person she has confessed it to, and they find themselves in each other's arms. Here we have Roberta who wants to be loved but does not think she deserves to be and Danny who would rather kick someone in the groin than be intimate. To learn what happens from this point one should buy a ticket; it is well worth the price of admission.

The theatrical energy delivered by Stefanie Stevens as Roberta and Kyle Dyck as Danny is riveting, drawing the audience in, and mesmerizing them. I have seen Stevens in many roles most of which were musical and lighthearted. On Thursday, she gave a dramatic performance that in my opinion elevated her to the top of the acting pool in Kansas City. After watching past performances and that of last night I have no doubt she can handle any role that comes her way.

Dyck as Danny is full of energy and delivers a performance that sucks the audience in and does not let go until the final curtain. His performance explodes on stage, carrying over to the audience, but comes off as completely believable and just a little frightening. It would be hard to say that I have seen a finer performance by any two actors in Kansas City this year.

Danny & The Deep Blue Sea continues at the Buffalo Room through October 20, and anyone who does not see it will miss one of the best dramatic productions of this early theatrical season. Purchase tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/879016.

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