[NEohioPAL] David Ritchey's West Side Leader review of Light Up the Sky, Coach House Theatre, Akron

[Henry Bishop]

Entertainment & Lifestyle

Coach House lights up with latest production

12/11/2008 - West Side Leader


By David Ritchey

Comedy, fine acting in 'Light Up the Sky' hold audience

WEST AKRON - The sky over Coach House Theatre surely did light up Dec. 5, the opening night of "Light Up the Sky."

Playwright Moss Hart had spent a lifetime in the theater before he wrote this play, and his experiences in the theater helped make this a detailed back-stage story of an opening night.

The story is set in the Boston Ritz-Carlton suite of Irene Livingston (Dede Klein), a leading lady of American theater and the star of a show that is opening that night. Everyone associated with the opening night stops by Livingston's suite for a celebratory drink before going to the theater.

Each of the 10 people who visits, including Irene, gets a star turn for laughs and over-the-top character development.

Hart wrote 10 vastly different character types often associated with theater. The actors finally get a chance to poke fun at other character types they know from their work in the theater. This makes the script appealing to performers and the audience.

Klein plays Irene with a long blonde-red wig (think of Rita Hayworth or Veronica Lake). Klein doesn't walk on the stage, she floats, and wreaks havoc wherever she goes. Irene is excited about her role in the new show, in part, because she doesn't speak a line in the first act.

Carleton Fitzgerald (Richard Worswick) is the director of the play. Most of his lines deal with his threat to cry or telling stories of his crying. Carleton's emotions are near the top and manifest themselves as raw, rare emotions.

Peter Sloan (Scott Shriner) is the playwright, the man of words. Yet Peter seldom speaks in more than one-syllable grunts.

Sidney Black (Timothy Champion), the producer, has $300,000 in the show and intends to make good on his investment. He is married to Frances Black (Linda Graske), who won fame as a skating star and is attempting to find culture in expensive jewelry and clothing stores. As the story progresses, Frances reveals she has invested $150,000 of her own money in the show, matching Sidney's investment.

At the same time the Ritz-Carlton Hotel is hosting the first lady of the American stage, the hotel is filled with Shriners in town for a convention. The Shriners are disruptive in the hotel, and when they go to the opening night of Irene's show, they also disrupt the performance.

Unfortunately, we never see the opening night chaos as the Shriners signal their lack of appreciation of the allegory presented on the stage. Yes, the show is an allegory. This important bit of information is declared at the end of a wonderful comedic scene in which a lack of knowledge doesn't keep the characters from making declarations of the script's literary merit.

Jonathan Fletcher (costume design) has the characters dressed in over-the-top costumes, including the men's tuxedos. Fletcher has the women is gowns that deserve applause for being so big, elegant and flashy. Graske's opening night costume includes layers of material, a long train and who knows what else. In this big costume, Graske sails around the stage like an ocean liner on the way to do battle with whales. Yet Graske manages to walk and lie down in this remarkable costume. The women's costumes, alone, are worth the price of admission.

Director Terry Burgler has succeeded in making each character distinct and memorable. He works with an excellent cast of some of the best actors in our area. In addition to the actors already mentioned, the cast includes Holly Humes, Henry Bishop, Karen Wood, Bud Graske, Barry Friedman and Alex Nine.

All of these actors have played leading roles in other shows, but they have taken featured roles because the script is entertaining and Burgler is able to evoke an accepting place for actors to work and create.

Burgler and the cast triumph over a dated and uneven script. The cast, the costumes and the excellent directing make "Light Up the Sky" a pleasant evening in the theater.

"Light Up the Sky" continues through Dec. 21. For ticket information, call (330) 434-7741.

David Ritchey has a Ph.D. in communications and is a professor of communications at The University of Akron. He is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
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