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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Rabbit Run director
takes something off his screwball pitch<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"
align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">This
review appeared in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I>7/24/09</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The screwball comedy
is a wonderful thing.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">In it, the sexual
tension between a </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: #333333; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN">mild-mannered
but </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">self-assured young
man and a bright, outgoing young woman who cannot admit their feelings for each
other is transformed into comedic antagonism. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Before falling into each other’s arms,
which they inevitably do, the two engage in rapid, </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN">witty
repartee and uncharacteristically bizarre behavior to demonstrate their utter
disdain for each other.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It’s a fun
ride.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Screwball comedies
were popularized on stage and screen in the 1930s, the result of an economic
depression in need of some serious comic relief and censorship codes that
allowed for sexual attraction, but not sex.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They are named after the baseball pitch
thrown with a spin that causes the ball to flutter erratically.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Although the musical
<I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">She Loves Me</I>, currently on stage at
Rabbit Run Theater, was written in the early 1960s, it i</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">s
based on </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN">Miklos
Laszlo's 1936 play <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Parfumerie</I> and
takes place in the late 1930s.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Like
the play, the musical has all the earmarks of a good, old-fashioned madcap romp
and follows the formula to a tee. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">At
its epicenter is Georg, a mild </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN">middle-manager,</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
and Amalia, a high-energy sales girl, who are feuding employees in a European
parfumerie.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They loath each other
and take refuge in anonymous, romantic pen pal exchanges until they finally
realize that they have been writing to each other.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
play is peppered with colorful supporting characters built for crazy
comedy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is filled with lively
and smart banter by playwright </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Joe Masteroff.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">infused
with a score by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick that provides a constant barrage
of cleverly worded, if not melodically memorable, songs.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Because
the love affair is so central to this story and madcap humor is a passing phase,
many contemporary productions of <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">She
Loves Me</I> tend to extract much of the screwball from the
comedy.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Direct
Brendan Sandham follows suit, choosing to slow down this play’s pace, sedate its
zaniness, and level the bipolar personalities of its wonderfully eccentric
population. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">What
is left is a thoroughly enjoyable but significantly less animated romantic
comedy that goes for the heart rather than the funny bone.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Brian
Altman, as Georg, has the look, sound and comic timing of all those romantic
leads from yesteryear, as if he just stepped out of 80-year-old celluloid.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He is absolutely wonderful in this
production.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Altman’s Georg is an
immediately interesting, likable guy capable of holding his own in a heated
exchange with his female counterpart.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">He
never really gets the chance, for </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Lindsey Sandham’s
Amalia is too angelic to be aggressively argumentative and too sweet to secrete
sexual tension, even by romantic comedy standards.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Sandham’s lilting, sing-song-y speaking
voice does not allow the antagonism to register beyond mere annoyance, although
it does deliver each and every song with magnificent tone and texture.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She is an absolute pleasure to listen
to.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">Despite the
toned-down nature of this production, Sandy Kosovich Peck as the ditsy
saleswoman Ilona, Paul Feldon as the smarmy salesman Steven Kodaly, and Carl
Simoncic as the head waiter at the restaurant where the pen pals finally
rendezvous are refugees from the realm of screwball comedy.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They are delightful, and successfully
strike the funny bone while other supporting actors merely manage to graze
it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They, along with a very
talented, scene-stealing Michael Crowley as the young delivery boy, offer rich,
fully developed characters.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">This show’s few
production numbers are very well staged and take full advantage of the
attractive and </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">functional
set design by Julie Harter, marvelous period costuming by Karen Ziegler, and
adequate 12-piece orchestra under the direction of Beth Johnson.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They are, however, </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">somewhat muted
affairs that lack vitality, although it is clear that some members of the
ensemble are bursting at the seams to kick these numbers into another gear.
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">She Loves
Me</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">
delivers a slow change-up high and tight rather than a screwball low and
away.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It makes for an entertaining
evening, just not a wildly entertaining one.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">She
Loves Me<I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"> continues through August
2</I></SPAN><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> at </SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Rabbit
Run Theater, 5648 W. Chapel Rd., Madison Township.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which are </SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">$</SPAN></I><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">15
to $17, call </SPAN></I><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">440-428-7092
or visit <A href=""><SPAN style="mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri"><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.rabbitrunonline.tix.com</FONT></SPAN></A>.</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>