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Barefoot In The Park Review
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‘Barefoot in the Park’ puts Simon in ‘retro’-spect
By Warren Gerds
wgerds@greenbaypressgazette.com
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Play review “Barefoot in the Park”: dinner seating starts 6 p.m., curtain 8 p.m., through Oct. 19 (dark Sunday and Monday) at Door Off Broadway Dinner Theatre in Mr. G’s, two miles south of Jacksonport. $45.95 plus tax. (920) 823-2899. (Three stars out of four) |
The show runs a lot on energy, with a bit of expert acting to go along.
Setting a retro tone are the ’60s pop tunes that are in the air all around the play. The lead-in dinner — tasteful — includes sounds of folks humming along with the hits.
“Barefoot in the Park” looks at newlyweds Paul and Corie as they move into their first apartment after their honeymoon.
Two things develop. After a breathless start, the couple hits a big speed bump. Also, Corie’s staid (and unattached) mother takes up with a dashing older gent.
In this Simon play, the humor comes from circumstance more than witty one-liners (though some are there).
Suzanne Eastlund makes a fiesty Corie, who’s merrily impulsive.
Mark Petrie puts a lot of nuance into Paul, a fledgling attorney who’s arrow-straight.
Mark Warren Moede breathes expertise as the flamboyant Victor Velasco, who lives life at 80 mph.
Amanda Angel is too young by 25 years to be Corie’s mother, but she puts ditsy appeal into the role.
Looking back, we can see how coy Simon was.
The “speed bump” was the result of a drink-filled night on the town.
Fact of the matter is, a screechy dispute arises between the newlyweds because they are stone drunk.
In the hands of another playwright, this would have been the scathing “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?” — which arrived the year before “Barefoot in the Park.”