Review: DADDY'S DYIN', WHO'S GOT THE WILL? at Palm Canyon Theatre

Palm Canyon Theatre (PCT) and Del Shores have a long, strong bond with each other. His sidewalk star is even strategically placed in front of the theatre. It seems that every year PCT produces one of his plays, frequently Sordid Lives. This year they are presenting Daddy's Dyin', Who's Got the Will?, his second play which was first produced in 1990. I've known the title for years - it's the sort of title you don't soon forget - but this is the first time I have seen it produced. I personally think it is a better structured play than the more popular Sordid Lives, and the opening night audience at PCT howled with laughter from the very first entrance.

The Turnover family is reuniting at the family home because Buford Turnover (Terry Huber), the family patriarch, is dying. We first meet Sara Lee Turnover (Louise Ross), one of the daughters, who must have exercised her neck to be able to support her bouffant wig. Sara Lee starts the play delivering some exposition with her half of a phone conversation. She also starts the Texas speech pattern and trivial concerns that are a delight in virtually all of Shores' works.

The biggest laughs of the evening go to Mama Wheelis (Amanda Barr), Buford's sister who has assembled his four adult children to be around him during his demise. She wants to rule the roost, but Buford's offspring are such a crazy, disparate group (did I mention this was a Del Shores comedy?) that her efforts at control and decorum are seldom successful.

Sara Lee is a spinster who lives in the family house, looking after her father. We next meet her sister Lurline (Kathleen Anderson) who is married to a preacher and finds every opportunity she can to insert the Lord's word. This is the actress's ninth season with PCT and this is the most major role I have seen her tackle. She was a delight from her first entrance to the closing curtain.

Orville Turnover (Winston Gieseke) and his wife Marlene (Dani Jara) are next to arrive. He is a plus-size bully who is used to ruling his wife and hopefully anyone within range. His most frequent line is, "Marlene, get me another beer!" He's eager to see daddy's will to find out what he has scored - if anything. He's afraid (with justification, it turns out) that daddy is less than impressed with him. His wife, Marlene, is a wimpy, submissive soul, but she develops character in the second act and Ms. Jara shows that still waters do indeed run deep.

Last to arrive is the baby of the family (at 35), Evalita Turnover (Jasmine Shaffer). She has brought her current fiancé, a hippy musician named Harmony Rhodes (Sam Schwartz). Evalita has gone through some six husbands and is working on number seven. She's a big personality who fancies herself a rock/country singer. All of her costumes display generous amounts of boobs and legs. She has no shame in any aspect of her lifestyle, even when she shows up ready for daddy's funeral wearing an outfit that would raise eyebrows even on Palm Canyon Drive. Schwartz's hippy seems a bit insipid at first, with a placid smile constantly on his face, but this purposely misleads us. As the play progresses, the character displays a wealth of skills, from setting the table to singing hymns to giving experienced medical advice. Starting as a cypher, he becomes one of the most likeable people in the house.

Director Richard Marlow has established himself as one of the most skillful theatre artists in the Valley. He has presented the Turnover household as alive with crazy energy, seeming to me like a half dozen horses all harnessed to parts of the same wagon, but each pulling in different directions. He has kept the madness hilarious, but still just within the bounds of credibility. He has worked here with his frequent collaborator, Toby Griffin, to create a set which is a large, tacky Texas home with pictures and knick-knacks on very possible surface. The director and designer work so much in tune with each other that it's almost as if they share a heartbeat. The set, which extends from the apron almost to the back wall of the stage, provides lots of individual acting areas including a dining table upstage, chairs and a sofa downstage, bits of a kitchen viewed through a serving window, and even a view of the outside of the house through a window which allows us to get a peek at characters before they enter the house.

Between Derik Shopinski's excellent costumes (how many times have I said that in the past?), some outrageous wigs which I assume he also took care of, and terrific casting, each character's personality is fully obvious as soon as they enter. J. W. Layne's lighting design is effective - basically just a normally lit room. Nick Campbell has really raised the level of sound design at PCT, and this show is no exception. I don't know how it would be achieved but I would like to have heard some difference when characters were speaking from off stage. Perhaps having those lines come from an offstage speaker?

This production is highly entertaining with a talented cast delivering family squabbles and compromises galore. Shores concludes it with a delightful reminder that despite what they may have gone through, family is still family, and there's no stronger bond.

Daddy's Dyin', Who's Got the Will plays through March 26 on Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $32 for adults and $17 for students. Group discounts are available.

For tickets, sponsorship opportunities, or other information, call the PCT Box Office at (760) 323-5123 or order online at PalmCanyonTheatre.net. Palm Canyon Theatre is located at 538 North Palm Canyon Drive at the corner of Alejo Road. Box Office hours are currently Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Next up at Palm Canyon Theatre is Little Women, a musical based on Louise May Alcott's classic novel. It plays April 7 - 23.

Photos courtest of Palm Canyon Theatre. Note, all photos were taken before the amazing wigs were added.

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