Review: LUCKY STIFF at The Barnstormers

I went to see a performance of the musical comedy, Lucky Stiff at the Barnstormers Theater in Tamworth with a group of twelve fellow campers from a nearby resort in Freedom, New Hampshire.

One attendee, Mike from Atlanta, Georgia, summed up the experience perfectly.

"It was a high energy romp with a great cast, and I liked the cute twist at the end."

I couldn't agree more with Mike.

The play is the final offering of the summer at The Barnstormers, America's oldest summer theater, and a rollicking choice to end its 92nd season.

The show's premise is a farfetched farce and played completely for laughs. You might call it a musical murder mystery on steroids.

Harry Witherspoon (Jordan Ahnquist) is a struggling British shoe salesman with a dull, uneventful life. His prospects suddenly change as he is named the sole heir to a six million dollar fortune willed from his little known American uncle, Tony Hendon's (Frank T. Wells).

But there is a catch to the inheritance.

Uncle Tony wanted to see Monte Carlo before he died, and he doesn't want a little inconvenience, like death, to stop him. Harry must follow his uncle's detailed tape-recorded instructions (on a cassette player, no less) and take his well preserved corpse seated in a wheelchair on the trip of a lifetime or else the money will go to Tony's favorite charity, the Universal Dog Home.

Along his journey, Harry encounters Annabel Glick (Mary McNulty), a representative from the dog home who eagerly hopes that Harry stumbles in fulfilling the requirements of the inheritance. She stands ready to bring the cash to her employer if Harry fails.

But that's not all.

There's a frenetic mistress, Rita La Porta (Cheryl Mullings) who confesses to her mild-mannered optometrist brother, Vinnie Diruzzio (Greg Pike) that she, in fact, was uncle Tony's lover and that the six million dollar windfall was promised to her instead. She convinces her brother to journey to Monte Carlo to get what is rightly hers.

But like any good farce, there are oodles of bizarre characters adding to the convoluted plot played by Robert St. Laurence, Kurt Perry, Lisa Joyce, and Becca Gottlieb. There's a bell hop, waiter, a drunken house maid, a French chanteuse, a stuffy lawyer, a frazzled secretary, and on, ad infinitum. This mighty ensemble added fun and laughter throughout.

By the end of the show, Luigi Gaudi (Doug Shapiro, a 20 year veteran of the Barnstormers stage), a charming Italian, makes an astounding announcement, Harry and Annabel fall in love, and an array of mistaken identities and criminal missteps are sorted out that leaves everyone living happily ever after. (A nice reference, I suppose, to The Barnstormer's season opener, Into the Woods.)

Ahnquist is a loveable Harry with a flawless British accent, great comedic timing, and unbounded energy. I have seen him in three productions in Tamworth this summer and he is consistently skilled in creating very different characters each time. This is one talented actor.

Mary McNulty is charming as the serious note-taking rep from the Universal Dog Home. She and Ahnquist are perfect together as they start the evening out confrontational and end up capturing each other's affections. McNulty's musical number "Times Like This," is a show favorite as she extols the virtues of dogs often making far superior companions than real life partners.

Mullings portrayal of a maniacal madcap with Broadway belter vocals and a zest for sight gags is a comedy highlight. Pike's transition from a mild-mannered wimp to his pairing with a sexy lounge singer is over the top hilarity.

Wells plays the perfect corpse who at times is a bit more vibrant than what you would expect. His coming back to life at curtain call was an audience favorite.

Director, Sarah Rozene, kept the production fast paced, an essential element in pulling off a musical farce. Costumes by Patty Hatch Hibbert had a very authentic flair. Set design by Emily Nichols was simple but effective. (I particularly liked the oversized eye chart.)

Music director, Andy Roninson, adeptly coordinated a musical roster that included a few ballad-like numbers mixed in with upbeat offerings. This is not the kind of musical where you hum the tunes on your ride home after the show. The music is witty and fun.

Is there anything that could have made this show more outstanding? Not really, except that having some animal shelter dogs from the Universal Dog Home greeting guests at intermission would have made the evening spectacular.

Lucky Stiff runs through September 3.

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