AISLE SAY Florida

VIAGRA FALLS

by Joao Machado and Lou Cutell
Directed by Don Crichton
The Golden Apple Theatre
25 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota, 941-366-5604
December 29, 2012 to open run in 2013

Reviewed by Marie J. Kilker

What would be a boulevard play in France, Viagara Falls harks back to off-Broadway little comedies of the '50s through '70s with updating mostly in the title. Made to attract a matinee crowd, a show like this usually combined naughty and nice. So sexy talk promises sexy action off-stage rather than showing it.  And the talk is mainly one joke after another.  

Charlie Milhouse (squat, funny Lou Cutell) is having an 80th birthday, but he wants not just another cake-and-baloons celebration with his best pal. The conservative Moe Crubbs, age 70,  a five-year widower like himself. (Robert Pine as Moe is the consummate straight man.) So Charlie suggests they hire prostitutes for a home slumber party. He's bought some Viagara to assure no slumber and avoid the risk of going out to a night spot. After a lot of bickering, in a series of jokes suitable for a comedy club routine, plus practiced preparations and drawings back and going forward, the guys welcome Jacqueline Tempest. The tall blond beauty with bust and legs much in evidence promises to make up for lack of her usual partner, just arrested. (Teresa Ganzel makes her seem professional yet almost innocent and definitely likeable.)

Guess who uses the Viagara? Who gets the experience of a lifetime? And what's the secret about that lifetime? How effective are the references to Jackie's fees?  (They're not all jokes like "got two nipples for a dime?")  Where does pathos come in? What does Frank Sinatra music have to do with everything? Basically, the 1 hour, 45 minute one-act is a burlesque show incorporated into a one-time sitcom.  Like the cozy, old-fashioned apartment setting (by Sydney Liwack) imported from NYC, Viagara Falls takes a while to enjoy but captures its intended audience (for matinees and the older kind of dinner theaters), who punctuate the stream of bits and banter with laughs.

Costumes: Bob Mackie. Lighting (a bit dark): Alex Newberry. Tech Supervisor: Trez Cole. Production Stage Manager: Kyle Ennis Turoff.


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