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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">A
‘Wild’ and crazy ride at the CVLT<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Bob
Abelman<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">News-Herald,
Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times
Courier<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Member,
International Association of Theatre Critics <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"
class=MsoNormal align=center><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></I></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">This
review appeared in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I>3/19/10</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><FONT size=3><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The Effect of Gamma Rays on
Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> is a marvelous, sensitive tale about
growing up in a dysfunctional single-parent household with an abusive, paranoid
and disillusioned mother. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>It earned
playwright Paul Zindel a 1970 Obie Award, the New York Drama Critic’s Circle
Award for best American play of the year, and a 1971 Pulitzer Prize for drama.
In 1972, 20<SUP>th </SUP>Century Fox turned the play into a memorable film that
was directed by Paul Newman and starred Joanne
Woodward.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>This play’s ugly
sister is currently on stage at the Chagrin Valley Little
Theater.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><FONT size=3><I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">The Secret Affairs of Mildred
Wild</SPAN></I><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"> has Zindel’s
signature themes of loneliness and shattered dreams, but it is fashioned as a
rather peculiar, off-kilter comedy.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>It won no accolades, earned no critical acclaim and lasted less than
three weeks on Broadway in 1972.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Mildred
Wild and her nondescript, insecure and nearly invisible husband operate a
Greenwich Village candy store that is about to be demolished.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Over the years, Mildred has lost touch
with reality and regularly regresses into a dream world conjured up by the 3,000
movies she has eagerly devoured and the collection of movie magazines she has
amassed.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Every crisis transmutes
into a scene from a classic film until it is averted. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">A
harried heroine living a pathetic life makes for a strange kind of comedy.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Add to the mix her delusions bordering
on psychosis and an assortment of sadly dysfunctional, highly argumentative and
unlikeable sidekick characters, and you have a disturbing kind of comedy.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The writing in this play is so askew
that it offers little wiggle room to decide whether to laugh at or laugh with
Mildred, or whether laughter is really the right reaction.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>The CVLT
production of this play, under the superb direction of Michael Rogan, not only
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>makes it clear when to laugh, but
why.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In fact, this production
wholeheartedly accentuates the funny, and does so through its fine selection of
lead actors, its frantic pacing and its clever set design.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Lisa
Tarr is a brilliant Mildred.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>She is
in a state of perpetual motion from the beginning of the play to its end, and
thoroughly inhabits the silver screen sirens that surface during her momentary
lapses.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Her every action and the
delivery of her every line is hilarious.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Tarr’s
antics are wonderfully off-set by Adam Young, who could not be any more
milquetoast in his portrayal of Mildred’s inert husband, Roy.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Young’s straight face and clueless
demeanor counterbalances Tarr’s manic tendencies, which makes for very funny
moments.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">No moments are
funnier than when Jim McCormack takes the stage.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>His against</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">-type
portrayals during Mildred’s imagined excursions into movieland are
priceless.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>After McCormack—an
extraordinarily large, white male—sashays into a scene as Prissy, the tiny,
black, female house servant in the 1940s classic <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Gone with the Wind</I>, the play should end,
the curtain should drop and people should go home.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is a sight gag for the ages.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Not
all the actors in this production are as unselfconscious as Tarr, Young and
McCormack, nor do they appear to be as willing to take risks and live on the
edge of this quirky play. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is
unfortunate, for this play needs all the help it can get from its performers.
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">It
gets plenty of assistance from Edmond Wolff’s </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">set design, sound
design and lighting.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Much of this
play’s humor resides in Mildred’s transitions from the real world to the reel
world, which are nicely facilitated by rear screen projections and an apartment
that goes through the same metamorphosis as Mildred’s troubled mind.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Craig Tucker’s wonderful costuming adds
to the fun.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The Secret Affairs of
Mildred Wild</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> is not a great play,
but this is a fine production of it.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt" class=MsoNormal><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">The
Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild</SPAN></I><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">continues
through March 27 </SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">at
the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">,
</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">56
River Street, Chagrin Falls.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For
tickets, which are $12 and $16, call 440-247-8955 or visit <B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><A href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.cvlt.org</FONT></A>.</B><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>