[NEohioPAL] Berko review: BECKY'S NEW CAR @ Actors' Summit

[Roy Berko]

Birthday present makes for fun theatre at Actors' Summit

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

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

COOLCLEVELAND.COM

When his wife, who was approaching her 60th birthday, said she wanted something 
special for a present, what do you think  Seattle's Charles Staadecker did?  Buy 
her a large diamond?  Make plans for an around the world cruise?  Had Vera Wang 
design her an original ball gown?  Nope.  Staadecker commissioned prolific 
playwright Steven Dietz to write and dedicate a play in wife Benita's honor.  
Not a play about her, but a comedy.  The results:  BECKY'S NEW CAR, now in 
production at Actors' Summit.

The Staadeckers were in attendance at the opening night of the Actors' Summit 
production of their play.  They revealed that they have seen the show around 60 
times.  As each theatre company, and there have been around 20 productions, 
opens its stagings, the Staadeckers traipse off to see it.  

BECKY'S NEW CAR, is the story of Becky.  Becky, who, picks up after her adult 
son, a grad student who is still living at home.  She does her usual household 
chores and interacts with her kind, but boring husband.  She goes off to work as 
an employee at a car agency.  There she is forced to listen to a depressed 
salesman who has not gotten over the loss of his wife.  She finds herself 
wishing  for another life, a second chance. Well, as the old saying goes, be 
careful what you wish for.  

Into Becky's life come a rich suitor who mistakenly believes she's a widow. That 
results in a story of twists and turns which finally ends with Becky's literally 
accelerating out of her control.

BECKY'S NEW CAR is funny and will offend no one.  It's a script of irony, which 
is a little corny and gets close to the ridiculous in plot construction. At the 
obvious end of the show the audience applauded, waiting for the curtain call, 
and then there was an unnecessary final scene. Why Dietz decided to add a 
30-second add-on scene is not clear.   

Under the direction of Constance Thackaberry, the AS production generally 
works.  Because it is too languidly paced, some of the tension and laugh lines 
are missed, but hopefully, as the cast melds together, the show will pick up 
speed.

There are lots of clever shticks.  Becky talks to the audience, involves them in 
getting her chores done, allows theatre-goers to help make some decisions about 
the play's format, and even uses three of them to form a wall while she changes 
costumes.

Paula Kline-Messner is delightful as the first bored, then panic stricken 
Becky.  Kline-Messner has a nice touch with comedy and her face is a roadmap of 
emotions.  

Mark Leach as son Chris, does a great job of portraying the pscyh major who 
drives his parents crazy by constantly diagnosing them and everyone else with 
various disorders.  Casey Novak is realistic as Chris's girlfriend with a 
surprising secret and Anne McEvoy effectively develops the role of an 
over-the-hill debutant who has recently lost her inheritance.  Tony Zanoni is 
properly kvetchy as the car salesman, who simply can't get over his wife's 
death, until a magic incident occurs.  

Both Bob Keefe as Becky's husband, and Rich Goodwin as Becky's wealthy suitor, 
have some good moments, but their characterizations come and go.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  Actors' Summit has transitioned nicely into its new home in 
the Greystone Hall in Akron.  BECKY'S NEW CAR is a good choice for its target 
audiences and makes for a fun evening of theatre. 

For tickets to BECKY'S NEW CAR, which runs through February 27, call 
330-342-0800 or go to actorssummit.org. 
 
Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 
2011, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at 
http://royberko.info.  His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com 
and www.NeOHIOpal