[NEohioPAL]TUNA CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINS AT PLAY HOUSE

[Roy Berko]

A TUNA CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINS AT CPH

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	

	
First there was GREATER TUNA, a delightful comedy
exposing theatre audiences to the residents of Texas’
third smallest town, where the Lion’s club is too
liberal and Patsy Cline never dies.  Now, there is A
TUNA CHRISTMAS.   We meet all the town’s eccentric
citizens portrayed by two actors playing all 24
characters.  

The residents of Greater Tuna are full of holiday
spirit, but can they cope with such traumas as a
disaster-prone production of "A Christmas Carol" or a
yard-decorating contest that's being sabotaged by a
mysterious phantom? 

The script skewers gun nuts, Baptists, old church
ladies, pink-dressed diner waitresses, and just about
every other Southern stereotype.  This is a He-Haw
laced comedy.  How can you sit there and not laugh at
lines like, "She sounds like white trash at a tent
meeting," "It almost makes me want to go back to
school and get my GED," "Get that out of your mouth,
it’s not that kind of thermometer," and "Even Baptists
out to sin once in a while, that’s what the church is
for." Watch as two little old ladies try and kill blue
jays with a sling shot and marbles, as a saleslady of
weapons encourages everyone to carry guns, or as
midgets stand behind a restaurant’s counter ordering
food with only their hair in view.

National reviewers have heralded other stagings of the
show with such comments as:  "I wouldn't want to spend
Christmas anywhere but Tuna, Texas,"
"The multiple stories are the stuff of biting comedy
-- laced with poignant moments that take one's breath
away," and, "A TUNA CHRISTMAS delivers a stocking full
of laughs!" 

The CPH production, under the guidance of Billy Bob
Hoffman, doesn’t produce the delight of the
productions starring Joe Sears and Ed Howard, two of
the show’s writers and performers.  In the local show
Dana Snyder is delightful.  His characters are each
full-blown.  He adds emotional nuances to the various
men and women he portrays.  Chuck Richie, on the other
hand, is tentative and doesn’t make the necessary
emotional and physical shades between the people he
portrays.  In his interpretations, pathos and comedy
aren’t always separated.   In general, the pacing of
the production is quite slow, but this should improve
as the duo interacts with each other and reacts to the
laughs of the audience.

A TUNA CHRISTMAS will delight audiences.  In spite of
some problems, it surely did opening night.

A TUNA CHRISTMAS will be performed in the Drury
Theatre at the Cleveland Play House through December
22.   Tickets, which range in price from $32 to $47.50
 may be obtained by calling 216-795-7000 or on-line at
clevelandplayhouse.com.

(Listen to Roy Berko commenting on Cleveland
entertainment on WERE-AM/1300 on Fridays.)

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com