The Cast and Crew of Moon Over Buffalo are shinning ever so brightly after producing such a stellar (and aesthetically pleasing) performance as the one they put on this weekend.
by Asia Dorsey
photo by Kevin Fleming
One walks in with anticipation. The lights (as directed by Alexis Barber, Kenneth Dickens, Mariah Brown and Sam Ockey) go off and after some friendly conversation the attention is drawn to the set. There, to this reporter’s reconciliation, has never been such a well decorated set or cast. The set was simplistic yet believable, and boy did it work. The costumes and make-up were alluring and professionally designed. The opening scene establishes the setting, a theater in Buffalo New York, with the appearance of Cyrano’s Soldiers (Maggie Barbour, Audrey Morris-Reihl, and Gracie Wood) and classical actor George Hay (Manny Perez). From there the audience is catapulted into the hilarious lives and relationships of the many talented and dramatic players.
This comedy was brilliant in how the characters interacted with one another, especially two of the favorites (judging by the audience’s reactions) was that of George Hay played by Manny Perez and his mother-in-law Ethel, played By Liz Hayes. The witty and at times sadistic exchanges between this antagonizing pair kept the belly laughs flowing.
There was also the ever present theme of love and relationships, including the troubled marriage between George and Charlotte Hay (magnificently played by Mina Bradley who looked as remarkable as her performance was dazzling in every scene), and Charlotte Hay’s extracurricular relationship with one very attractive and suave lawyer named Richard (played by Caleb Johnson). There was also the awkward (and briefly adulterous) couple of George Hay and the very pregnant, very deceitful, (and very cute) Eileen, played by Melissa Fife.
My favorite paring involved Rosalind Hay (played by Natalee Pinson), George and Charlotte’s only daughter who has a marked disdain for the theater business, and Paul, a drama happy, sympathetic and very funny stage actor (played by Dan Rios). As the story goes, Rosalind is in town with her new boyfriend, the quirky, nervous, excitable and adorably awkward Howard (played by newcomer to the TJ stage Alex Burns). Rosalind brings him to meet the parents, and who else is there to greet her but her old fling, Paul.
As aforementioned, Rosalind has come back to Buffalo to introduce her family of actors to her soon to be husband, Howard, a television weatherman, but the family is involved in some drama of its own. It would seem the stage isn’t as popular as it used to be. The family, struggling just to make payroll, is desperate in a 1950’s world trying to compete against television and film. After his mistress becomes pregnant, Mr. Hay goes on a drinking binge in response to his wife Charlotte’s threat to leave him for the family lawyer, Richard. During this time he is offered a role in a big time film that the family really wants. Not that one condones drunkenness but, Manny’s performance is bested only by the real thing, with the exception of being amazingly entertaining and causing tears of laughter, not sadness, in the audience’s eyes. The family has a very hard time putting on a matinee performance with the main character stone cold drunk. The performance of course is a failure, with Mr. Hay mistaking what play in which he was acting, but it made for some side-splitting laughs. The play ends with the family getting a second chance to perform in front of the famous director Frank Capra, a pregnant Eileen running off with Rosalind’s shell shocked fiancé, a reunion of the love of Paul and Rosalind, and of course a family quarrel.
One must not forget to mention one memorable and unique aspect of the play: the scenes when the stage needed to be modified. It sounds strange, but the audience got to experience the stage hands (Kiera Classen [KC], Trina Frenandes, Connor Hickman and Keith Hussesy) at their best, changing sets without being camouflaged. It was soothing to watch them work and relaxing while music from the likes of Billie Holiday played in the background.
Moon Over Buffalo was a refreshing and exciting choice for a fall play. It was masterfully executed by Thomas Jefferson’s drama extraordinaire Michael Palmieri and the entire cast and crew. If there is lack of criticism on this reporter’s part, it’s because the play lacked any major defects. The whole production was very charming and, as one senior audience member Sara Thurber exclaimed, “I couldn’t stop laughing even if I wanted too.”
