By Kathy Carpenter
A farce is a comedy with mistaken identity, disguises, hilarious characters, door slams, plot twists and a whole lot of zany. A musical farce is rare. Scripps Ranch Theatre presents a musical comedy by Ahrens and Flaharty, Lucky Stiff. The show is directed by Kathy Brombacher with Terry O’Donnell as musical director. This show has everything you need in a farce.
Lucky Stiff tells the story of an unassuming English shoe salesman who is tasked with escorting the remains of his murdered uncle to Monte Carlo for a final fling. Along the way, he encounters a series of offbeat characters.The score is lively and upbeat, featuring a mix of ballads and showstoppers, and the lyrics are clever and witty. The cast is filed with talented performers who bring the zany characters to life with their energetic and over-the-top performances. Overall, Lucky Stiff is a fun and entertaining musical that is sure to have audiences tapping their toes and laughing out loud.
Everyone needs their zany from time to time. I enjoyed the show immensely but I did have issues. The main one being that the characters as wonderful as they performed were not introduced. All the characters were thrown together but we did not know who they were or why they were there. But, with a show like this, I know you just need to be in the moment and enjoy.
Harry Witherspoon, the shoe salesman, and our leading man is played by Cody Ingram.The show has an innocent romance between Harry and Annabel Glick. a woman from a dog shelter that receives the inheritance if Harry messes up. Annabel is there to catch him. She is played by Kelly Derouin. The tension between the two sizzles.. Rita La Porta, the widow of the uncle, is played by Erica Marie Weisz, the vivacious and greedy widow who is determined to get her hands on the uncle’s inheritance. The uncle was a man in a wheelchair. It is such a difficult role to sit in a chair the whole play and not move. Kudo’s to the wonderful Ralph Johnson.
The show also features the reluctant Vinnie, brother of Rita, who is drawn into her scam. Kenny Borders Plays the role. Olivia Pence showcased her talent as Dominique, a beautiful and mysterious woman. The show rounds out with Beatrice Crosbie, Audrey Ward, Ted Leib, Bob Himlin and Bryce Nicastro.
“Something funny’s going on!” Come join the fun.
Lucky Stiff
Scripps Ranch Theatre
Jan 27 – Feb 15, 2023
https://www.Scrippsranchtheatre.org
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