by Tony Annicone
Little Rhody Entertainment Writer
Bay Colony Productions' current show
is Kaufman and Hart's 1930 screwball comedy, ''Once in a
Lifetime'' which was their first collaboration and ran
for 401 performances on Broadway. The show takes place
in 1927 and is about three vaudevillians who are down on
their luck. Jerry decides to sell their part of the show
for $500 and head to Hollywood to make 'Big Money' with
the advent of 'the talkies'. Astutely manipulated by the
'better third', the enterprising May Daniels, they set
off for LA with its legion of would-be writers and
starlets. A chance encounter with Helen Hobart, a Hedda
Hopper type newspaper columnist on the train who is
May's friend from years back, leads May claiming to be
an elocution teacher and voice coach to Lady Tree from
England. With Helen's help the trio lands jobs at the
Glogauer studio, based on the Goldwyn studio, and due to
a series of consistent blunders, George, the most stupid
of the three is carried to the pinnacles of fame and
fortune until he's literally made a god of the industry.
Kaufman and Hart's inside knowledge of the entertainment
industry lends their satire an edge and originality with
the parade of humorous film types which they parody,
gives a comical look into motion pictures in their early
days. One line that still stands the test of time, "Did
anyone read the script before the film was made?", can
apply to some current day trashy movies, too. Director
Justin Budinoff leads his 25 member cast in this
rollicking romp of this 75 year old comedy of
yesteryear, obtaining many laughs along the way.
Justin blocks this huge cast show
marvelously, keeping the actors in constant motion. His
crew moves the sets with ease from a tacky apartment set
to a Pullman car set to the impressive Gold room hotel
set to the reception area of the studio set. The
numerous 1920's style costumes are by Daniel Kozar who
plays a playwright in the show who ends up in a
sanitarium because he keeps getting a paycheck for doing
nothing for eight months and keeps waiting to see Mr.
Glougauer day after day without any success. Justin and
his crew bring the audience back to the 1920's not only
with the set and costumes and the wonderful period wigs
for the women but with Al Jolson recordings from that
era including "Mammy" and "California, Here I Come".
Leading the cast is Melissa Prusinski
as the wise-cracking May. She sounds like Rosalind
Russell and gives a high energy performance as the gal
who is smart about life but sappy in love with Jerry who
is oblivious to her once they land in Hollywood. Melissa
commands the stage in all her scenes, ordering her two
cohorts to do her bidding. She captures the essence of
this tough talking broad from the past. Award winning
actor Bill Stambaugh plays Jerry who gets them to move
from New York to LA to seek fame and fortune. Although
Jerry formed the vaudeville act, he meets with little
success in LA. Bill handles this role with ease, showing
why he won two E-mact awards. Their good-natured but
dumb pal, George is wonderfully played by Donald
DeBerardinis who returns to the stage after a two year
absence. He plays the part of the dumbbell who manages
to crack Hollywood as easily as he cracks nuts with his
teeth, showing how the talent less George makes it while
smarter people fail. Donald's portrayal is hilarious and
his character also winds up with girl at the close of
the night. The girl of his dreams, Susan Walker is a
young starlet who is beautiful but isn't very talented.
However Nicole DaCosta who plays this role is a triple
threat perfumer who is very talented. Her doting and
fawning mother who is constantly at her side is played
by Susan Jones. The character sees John Gilbert and
other famous actors everywhere and she is ruled by her
ironfisted husband back home.
One of the biggest scene stealers of
the night is Dori Bryan as Helen Hobart. She makes this
odiously self important gossip columnist larger than
life, giving many laughs to the crowd. David DaCosta
portrays Mr. Golgauer, the pompous head of the studio
who doesn't know what the hell he is doing. He handles
the caricature of this Goldwyn-like movie mogul
wonderfully, barking orders at everyone who dares to
cross his path. Paul Warner is amusing as the dictator
like German director, Kammerling a la Eric Von
Stroheim who struts around the stage, yelling and
screaming until he gets his way, waving his whip. Two
silent screen beauties who have awful screen voices and
need to be tutored by May are played humorously by
Samantha Brior- Jones and Davida Wright Galvin. Samantha
uses a high pitched voice as Florabel while Davida uses
a deep voice as Phyllis. The ditzy receptionist who
can't remember anyone's name five minutes afterwards and
is dressed in a black evening gown is played by Jessie
Desmarais. She is a hoot and wears a blond wig, using a
high pitched dumb blonde voice to go with it. This huge
cast plays the manic and comic moments up, keeping your
interest in what they are doing. So for a trip back to
Hollywood in the good old days, be sure to catch "Once
in a Lifetime" at the Orpheum Theatre in Foxboro.
ONCE IN A LIFETIME ( 14 -23
October, 2005)
Bay Colony Productions, Orpheum
Theatre, 1 School Street, Foxboro,MA
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