Stages feature dark comedy, whimsical tale of home

The company that delivered the city’s best drama for the last few years returns for a scathing production of David Mamet’s 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning black comedy, “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

The Actors Theatre of Kansas City’s peek at the dark side of capitalism subjects the audience to a memorable verbal onslaught, an unparalleled barrage of profanity that is as fitting as it is obscene. The plot centers on a handful of corrupt real estate professionals as they ply their disreputable trade.

Victor Raider-Wexler portrays the desperate and pathetic Shelly Levene, an aging salesman whose best days are behind him. Levene’s tired bag of tricks is no longer effective and his job is on the line because of a sales contest instituted by callous office manager, John Williamson (Brian Paulette).

Problem is, John is sitting on the valuable “leads” that his staff lusts for. The current contest leader is a swindler named Richard Roma (Scott Cordes). He does his manipulative song-and-dance act on a milquetoast bar denizen (Phil Fiorini) who later tries to squirm out of his agreement.

Things get complicated when those precious “leads” are stolen in an office break-in. Could the culprit be the sleazy salesman Dave (David Fritts) or his whiny counterpart George (Stuart Rider)? Detective Baylen (John Rensenhouse) intends to find out.

Under Rensenhouse’s direction, the rock-solid cast effectively presents Mamet’s patented, rat-a-tat, overlapping dialogue that is simultaneously funny and unnerving. Although Mamet’s unsentimental and profane look at the ugly underside of American business is over 20 years old, it couldn’t be timelier.

“Glengarry Glen Ross” runs through Aug. 16 at the H&R Block City Stage, Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, Mo. For tickets, call (816) 235-6222 or visit www.kcactors.org.

THE WIZARD OF OZ

When the farmhand characters in the Theatre in the Park production of “The Wizard of Oz” pull an old wagon onstage for a repair, one might expect Auntie Em to say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That’s the logic behind this adaptation of the 1939 film version of L. Frank Baum’s classic story.

The time-honored story involves Dorothy (Molliann McCulley), a Kansas farm girl caught up in a twister and whisked “Over the Rainbow” to the land of Oz. There, she angers a wicked witch (Wendy Godfrey) and befriends a Scarecrow (Zak Smith), a Tinman (Peter Purin) and a Cowardly Lion (David Thompson).

Along with Munchkins, flying monkeys and talking trees, Dorothy encounters a good witch (Jamie Scherrer), an annoying gatekeeper (David Hastings) and the pompous wizard (Don Leonard). McCulley has a  lovely voice and the rest of the cast members capably imitate the film performers.

Scenes that wound up on the movie’s cutting room floor have been restored. We’re offered wisecracking crows and one of the missing Harold Arlen-E.Y. Harburg numbers, “The Jitterbug.”

While this production may lack originality or inspiration, it delivers exactly what its audience demands.

“The Wizard of Oz” runs through Aug. 9 at Shawnee Mission Park, 7900 Renner Road, Shawnee. For tickets, call 312-9941 or visit www.theatreinthepark.org.

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Write comment