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<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" align=center><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Punch lines, not
performances, sustain CVLT’s ‘Sunshine Boys’<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" align=center><B
style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></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><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><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,<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></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">The
Morning Journal, 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,
American Theatre Critics Association <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 will appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">News-Herald
</I></SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">8/5/11</SPAN><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 115%; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Many of playwright Neil
Simon’s comedies are populated with professional funnymen whose penchant for
one-liners is an occupational hazard.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>His <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Laughter on the 23<SUP>rd</SUP> Floor</I>
features a room full of fast-talking, joke-jousting TV comedy writers. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Brighton Beach Memoirs</I>, the quick-witted
lead character (who is also featured in <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Biloxi Blues</I> and <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Broadway Bound</I>) is an aspiring comedy
writer. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Simon’s <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">45 Seconds From Broadway</I> takes place in
a coffee shop that offers a steady flow of wise-cracking theater folk as its
customers.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>For the two title
characters in <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Sunshine Boys</I>,
currently on stage at the Chagrin Valley Little Theater’s River Street
Playhouse, comedy is more of a way of life than an occupation.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In fact, comic timing is as instinctive
and essential as breathing, and the cadence of a lifetime of professional
burlesque is imprinted in every punch line that peppers their
conversation.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Willie Clark and Al
Lewis, formerly the vaudeville comedy team of Lewis and Clark, are still each
other’s straight-men despite having not seen or spoken to each other in 11
years.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>After a long career in which
they never got along, Willie and Al are coerced out of retirement by Willie’s
perpetually aggravated nephew and agent, Ben, in order to perform their classic
comedy routine for a TV special.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Some of Simon’s best
writing can be found in <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Sunshine
Boys</I>, for he has created a scenario where argumentation and the constant
patter of jokes as delivered by true masters of the quip, the counter quip, and
the double-take are natural occurrences.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Frank Mularo and Don
Edelman, familiar faces on the community stage and elder statesman of the CVLT,
know their way around a proscenium arch and have punched their share of lines.
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Their appearance in <I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Sunshine Boys</I> and the experience
they bring to the roles of Willie and Al, respectively, could not be a better
fit. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Upon entering the stage,
Mularo and Edelman are immediately charming and endearing.
<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Yet, during their opening
night performance, only glimpses of their obvious stage savvy are in
evidence.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Their comic timing, and
that of Steve Kay as Ben, is never on track due to the lingering lapses that
occur between frequently misplaced lines.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN>Many of Simon’s patented zingers get waylaid while waiting for cues to be
picked up.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>In fact, under Kate
Tonti’s direction, much of the evening’s enterprise is slow, underplayed and not
in synchrony with the playwright’s intentions.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Lines like “don’t shout,” “don’t get
upset,” and “calm down,” directed at Willie, are not preceded by emotional
outbursts or anything remotely demonstrative.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Without some sense of a heightened
emotional state, there is not much to justify these lines, Willie’s mild heart
attack at the end of Act 1, or all that transpires in Act
2.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>Only Willie and Al’s
reenactment of their classic comedy sketch, which is delightful, is
energized.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>A brief scene between a
convalescing Willie and his take-no-guff nurse, played well Jackie Cassara, has
some spark as well.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></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">Similarly out of sync
is the set design which, appropriately enough, is not attributed to anyone in
the playbill.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The sparse hodgepodge
of furnishings and random wall hangings hardly fill the intimate stage.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Nor does it serve to resemble an old,
decaying, cluttered New York City hotel apartment that has been occupied for
over 40 years by a septuagenarian with a lifetime of show business memories and,
one would think, memorabilia.<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'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><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">Despite this
production’s lack of attention to detail, Neil Simon’s sustainable handicraft
comes through.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And, in those
moments when Simon’s comic genius is matched with that of Mularo and Edelman’s,
this <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">The Sunshine Boys</I> shimmers.
<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'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><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">Here’s hoping for
more of these moments in subsequent performances, and maybe a stack of discarded
“Variety” magazines added to the mix. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><o:p><FONT
size=3> </FONT></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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The
Sunshine Boys </SPAN></I><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">continues
through August 13 </SPAN><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">at
the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre’s River Street Playhouse in Chagrin
Falls.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which are
</SPAN></STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">$10, 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>