Sue Merrell's Blog: Laughing for a Living, page 27

Grade A laughter

Laughing is my life's work. And I was working overtime tonight at "The Dixie Swim Club" at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre. This show has some hilarious lines such as "You couldn't wear that dress to a phone interview." In my job as a theater reviewer, I see all sorts of humor. Slapstick. Campy. Insulting. Vulgar. But my favorite is witty repartee. Sassy barbs bouncing back and forth like a tennis ball. The kind of lines that sneak up and slap you silly. That's what you'll find at "Dixie Swim Club." And not a curse word in the bunch. Just good clean fun. Dive in. The water's fine.

Laugh lines

I'm not in any hurry to grow old, especially after getting a preview recently of what I will look like with a few more wrinkles. In preparation for "Dixie Swim Club," the season opening show at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, several of us were invited into the dressing room to use makeup to accentuate our wrinkles instead of covering them up. We learned some of the techniques that makeup artists will be using to help the five actresses in the show to age 33 years in two hours. In this photo, the laugh lines of talent agent Malinda Petersen have been accented with dark makeup. That's me, right behind Malinda. I'm a little concerned that I may have even more serious laugh lines since I've been Laughing for a Living for more than a decade. Oh well, every job has its downside. Check out some more photos from our evening of aging on Mlive. "Dixie Swim Club" opens Friday and continues through Sept. 22. It's about five women whose friendship survives 50 years, pregnancy, divorce, hurricane and dementia. Now that'll give you some worry lines!

Laughing at the City Club

Everyone always expects my book, Laughing for a Living , to be hilarious even though the title refers to my great luck to have a job that causes me laughter. But laughter is contagious and when I gave a presentation today at Women's City Club for a good crowd of about 70 people, we were all laughing at the life I've led. It was my first try at supplementing my presentation with Power Point, and I was afraid we'd be laughing at my technical failure. Thank goodness all went well. What a lovely, exciting place Women's City Club is. I've been there before as a visitor, but I was so excited to sign my name in a speakers book  that spans decades...and naturally, that's only one of many registers spanning the club's history of more than a century. The club is a venue for the upcoming Art Prize so if you haven't visited it before, be sure to stop in. The food is to die for.

"Boeing-Boeing" takes off

There's nothing like a set with six doors to predict a successful farce. And when one of the doors has a little window for peeking, so much the better. Peeking through the door in "Boeing-Boeing," the latest show at Mason Street Warehouse, is a wisecracking French maid who's fed up with her playboy boss who's been romancing three different airline stewardesses. Yep, you guessed it. The playboy and a school chum keep stashing beautiful women behind different doors, hoping they don't run into each other, which of course they inevitably will. Catch my full review on Encore Michigan.

Twinkle, twinkle little star

Remember how Carl Sagan used to talk about the "billions and billions" of stars in the universe? Well, when you're talking about that many stars, one star more or less doesn't make much difference. But when there are only four stars -- as in the rating system used by The Grand Rapids Press -- one star can make all the difference in the world.

Last week, Circle Theatre opened a fantastic farce "See How They Run." If you read my review on Mlive, you know I gave it three stars -- which means it's a great show, recommended. But if you read the review in Sunday's Entertainment section of the printed Press, you saw only two stars, meaning an average show, take it or leave it. 

The printed review had a typo. A falling star, you might say. The Press will print a correction. Hopefully the stellar qualities of the show will shine through the words of the review like billions and billions of little stars. But just in case, be sure to spread the word. Yes, you should "See How They Run."

Laugh-a-minute

Circle Theatre's latest farce, "See How They Run," is a non-stop riot of silliness. How do they run? Through the living room, over a body and out onto the balcony. They run into the kitchen. They run into the closet. They run up the stairs. They run in a clerical collar. They run in a night shirt. They run in bright green polkadot boxer shorts and socks with suspenders. They run circles around Circle Theatre and leave the audience breathless from laughing so much. For more details, catch my review on Mlive or in The Press on Sunday.

Do-it-yourself theater

I stopped in at Civic Theatre recently to meet with the kids in the Summer Repertory Program while they painted and sanded sets and got the costumes ready for Friday's opening performance of "Ramona Quimby", followed Saturday with "Schoolhouse Rock Live."  The kids, ages 14-19, seemed to be having a blast. They understand that their work behind the scenes won't get much recognition, but they know it takes more than actors to put on a good play. I always think a play's success depends on the enthusiasm of those involved, which should make SRT an award winner. Go ahead; you don't have to be a kid to enjoy these shows.

Lookin' for laughs

"An Inspector Calls," which opened this week at Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, is not one of those door slamming British farces. On the contrary, it's a drawing room drama, a moral dilemma constructed entirely of conversation. But the show does have a few moments of unintended humor. It's set in 1912 at the home of a wealthy mill owner, Arthur Birling. It's a new age, Arthur says, an exciting time, when business and scientific advances combine to create such a perfect world that there will never be another war. Of course, we know this glorious prediction is just a few years before the first of two devastating World Wars, and skirmishes around the globe too numerous to count. The audience can't help but laugh at Arthur's misguided optimism, even though we'd all give anything if he had been right. Check out the rest of the review on Encore Michigan.

Love story with laughs

Okay, those of you who missed a chance to accompany me to Tuesday's performance of The Wedding Singer at The Barn Theatre: Eat your heart out. It is '80s madness. The music, the fashions, the hair. And oh, the technology. Imagine thinking a bag phone is cool. And no one even knows what a CD is!Can't exactly say it was a simpler time, but it brings back funny memories. You'll find my complete review at Encore Michigan.

Tragedy tonight! (and tomorrow!)

I'm not reviewing Heritage Theatre Group's production of "Medea" for any paying client, but it sounded intriguing, and since my good friend Sherryl Despres performs the title role, I had to take in Wednesday's dress rehearsal.  OMG. That's one intense experience. You can't expect a Greek tragedy to be fun, though Diane Rayor's translation is so down-to-earth in spots that Jason (Michael Dodge) made me laugh in his casual description of how a wife might feel if her husband takes a new lover. The Greeks weren't trying to make us laugh, their goal was catharsis, a purging of all those negative feelings, which they figured was almost as healing as a good laugh. They wanted to create a situation so revolting  that it would churn your insides and then expel it all in a freeing gush at the end. "Medea" certainly achieves that goal. The depth of Medea's seething anger is hard to comprehend, though Sherryl's performance did give me a few flashbacks to my own murderous thoughts as I went through divorce thirty years ago. Although her horrifying revenge takes place off stage, the detailed description of the deaths of her victims created the desired revulsion, topped by Medea's almost orgasmic delight at hearing the news. The obligatory Greek Chorus is particularly well done with CJ Namenye, Amy Groen and Stacy Schram singing the lines, in harmony, to original music by Todd Lewis. Unfortunately, most of the lines spoken off stage, before Medea enters, are lost, and even the off-stage interchange with her children later, though amplified, lacks believability. The costumes are beautiful and the set provides a variety of levels to keep the action moving. Kudos to director Karen Libman, all the cast and translator Diane Rayor for a truly tragic production.