06 December 2008

Off to the theatre

Rico says, having seen Greater Tuna years ago, he and the ladyfriend are off to the theatre to see its latest incarnation, A Tuna Christmas. From Wikipedia:
Greater Tuna is the first in a series of comedic plays (followed by A Tuna Christmas, Red, White and Tuna, and Tuna Does Vegas), each set in the fictional town of Tuna, Texas, the 'third-smallest' town in the state.
The series was written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard. The plays are at once an affectionate comment on small-town, Southern life and attitudes, but also a withering satire of the same.
The plays are notable in that two men play the entire cast of over twenty eccentric characters of both genders and various ages. Greater Tuna debuted in Austin, Texas, in the fall of 1981, and had its off-Broadway premiere in 1982. Williams and Sears regularly tour the country to perform all four plays, with Howard directing. An HBO Special of Greater Tuna, produced by Embassy Television and Norman Lear, was aired in 1984. Due to modern videography techniques, the various different characters portrayed by Sears and Williams were able to be seen en masse for the first time. Sears and Williams did command performances of both Greater Tuna and A Tuna Christmas at the White House for President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush.
Rico says he's looking forward to the outing and will review the play when he gets home.
Well, Rico says it was great, if frenetic.
Two guys playing a dozen or so characters, changing clothes and personalities offstage, sometimes very quickly.
We also, through the lack of attention by the Walnut Street Theatre to signage, ended up in the wrong theatre, and were then barred from the the first (and fortunately non-critical) first five minutes of the play. When we were escorted in at the first break, the only seats available were in the front row. In this play, that can make you part of the case, or at least part of the props; the guy next to us got to hold (as if he were a table) the 'award' received by two of the characters until it was needed in the play.
All in all, a lovely time. The actors were older than when Rico saw them the first time, but so's he...

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