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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'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">Beck Center’s ‘The
Little Dog Laughed” is theater to be listened to<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></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="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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"><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; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">This
review will appear in the <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Times</I>
</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">on
10/18/12</SPAN><SPAN style="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"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>Douglas Carter Beane’s “The Little Dog Laughed,” currently on stage at
the Beck Center for the Arts, is the kind of theater that requires and rewards a
careful listening to.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Despite the
visual distraction of nudity and director Scott Plate’s creative placement of
performers in all corners of the intimate black box Studio Theater space, this
play is all about the words.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>“The Little Dog Laughed” features Mitchell, a closeted movie star so lost
in Hollywood’s fast-paced, image-conscious world that he has no sense of self.
<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>He readily admits to an inability
to identify his feelings in a police lineup, but it is not for want of trying in
this two hour long production.<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>Diane is his no-nonsense take-no-prisoners agent, who finds Mitchell’s
“slight, recurring case of homosexuality” counterproductive to his looming fame,
and whose own identity is so closely connected to Mitchell’s success that he is
more appendage than protégé. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN><FONT
size=3>While Mitchell is in New York investigating a project that could
potentially propel him to the next level of stardom, he falls for Alex, a sweet
boy-toy for hire.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Alex earns a
living sleeping with men, but lives with his lover, Ellen, who is a lost soul in
her own right. <o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN"
lang=EN><o:p><FONT size=3> </FONT></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN" lang=EN>What
makes this play so intriguing is that Beane’s confused characters are forever
expressing themselves about their inability to express themselves, and do so
with discordant eloquence and razor-sharp wit.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Their whines, tirades and late-night
laments are things of beauty that make these very s</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'">hallow people seem interesting and
their affinity for ambiguity appear somehow
alluring.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></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>One of Beane’s tricks of
the trade is to offer all this talking through increasingly intimate
delivery.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Most conversations take
place in a bedroom, which is the only permanent set on stage. <SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Many of the monologues are personal
disclosures between just the character and the audience.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There is quite a bit of pillow talk and
overheard phone conversations 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="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"><FONT size=3>The best scene in the
play is also the most intimate, for it occurs inside the heads of Diane and
Mitchell as they take a meeting with a playwright whose property they
covet.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>This is a hilarious
symphonic narrative of what they hear, what they think, and what they say, and
the first-, second-, and third-person references fly by with incredible speed
and dexterity.<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>Laura Perrotta as Diane
and Phil Carroll as Mitchell are brilliant in this play.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>They clearly have the skills and
experience to master the material and make the words flow like bracingly cold,
clear water. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is a particular
pleasure to see Perrotta’s talents outed in her portrayal of a more contemporary
character than her regular appearances with Great Lakes Theater provide.
<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>Brandyn Leo Lynn Day as
Alex and Lindsey Augusta Mercer as Ellen are less brilliant.<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Though they try hard and are, at times,
endearing, their relative inexperience has not provided them with the tools to
take all their unnaturally wordy and smart dialogue and make it sound
consistently authentic.<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>This off-beat,
off-Broadway hit raises questions about the differences between gay and
straight, image and identity, and love and lust, particularly in the second
act.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>And, perhaps, the play’s title
offers some commentary about the artificiality of Hollywood’s storybook
endings.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It comes from a line late
in the play when Diana is insisting on a more sanitized ending in the edgy
script she has commandeered for her client:<SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>“You know the type of ending I
want.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>‘The little dog laughed to
see such sport and the dish ran away with the spoon,’ that type of
thing.”<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>But, really, this play is
all about the words.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The pleasure
to be found in this story is in the telling of it.<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><I
style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">“The Little Dog
Laughed” runs through November 11 at the Beck Center for the Arts in
Lakewood.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For tickets, which range
from $12 to $28, call 216-521-2540 x10 or visit <A href=""><FONT
color=#0000ff>www.beckcenter.org</FONT></A>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></I></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>