By: SUSAN LIN
Door slams, body gestures and timing are probably as entertaining as the plot in "Moon Over Buffalo," as performed by Long Island's BroadHollow Theater Company.
"It's very physical. Especially with comedy, a look, a line, who runs on stage, who runs out -- it sets up a joke," said Patricia Zaback, director of the production being staged weekends and Wednesdays from March 10-25 in Rockville Centre.
As one might expect in a classic farce, the set features several doors put to good use. One swings open, depositing an actor on stage, while another slams shut, as someone slips out of sight.
And like a typical farce, key characters are missing at the worst possible times, people appear at the most inopportune moments, and the right mix of characters who need to be in the same place together in order to solve a major misunderstanding seem to perpetually elude one another.
"I like how the characters play off each other," said Zaback, who was tweaking the performance here and there for Saturday's opening night.
It's not just the precisely cued stage direction that makes "Moon over Buffalo" funny, though. The actors do their part, too. One character, George Hay, played by Ken McGinnis of Oakdale, in Suffolk, is positively drunk through most of the second half of the play.
"George is a pompous ass, a real ham, so I played him overblown," said McGinnis, who is otherwise an adjunct professor of political science at Nassau Community College.
Keeping the audience's attention all the while, McGinnis is on stage lumbering around, steadying himself by grabbing onto anything in sight, and cracking up at his own jokes. "Ken's a natural at being drunk," said Zaback.
Ethel is another exaggerated personality. Like the proverbial grandmother, Kathy Scaparella in the role of Ethel walks in quick, shuffling steps, reads lips to aid the hearing process, has strong opinions and does things like pull lint off people's clothes while they're trying to have a productive conversation.
Although the positioning of the actors, tone, pace and other non-verbal components of the play were a matter of Zaback's taste, the director kept to the script by playwright Ken Ludwig. "I usually follow scripts exactly. I don't know if it's ethical to change it," Zaback said.
The plot of "Moon Over Buffalo" centers around George and Charlotte Hay, two actors past their prime and about to fall into the world of has-beens. (Hence, "Moon over Buffalo.")
As a last-ditch effort to salvage their careers, they audition for the lead roles in Frank Capra's upcoming movie "The Twilight of the Scarlet Pimpernel." Unfortunately, the plan fails. They don't get the roles, and instead of Hollywood, they're stuck in Buffalo of 1953.
That's the first 10 minutes of "Moon Over Buffalo." For the rest of the play's two hours, the plot gets more elaborate. Eileen, a young member of the repertory theater to which George and Charlotte belong, is pregnant. And the father, from a one-night stand, is George.
"Charlotte's going to kill me!" shouts George, when Eileen drops the news on him.
Meantime, wealthy and handsome lawyer Richard is hitting on Charlotte.
In the midst of the marital problems, Charlotte finds out that Capra will be attending a matinee of the play they are currently acting in. However, George is missing (getting drunk at a bar), and several people are misidentifed as "Frank Capra."
Throughout most of the play's two acts, it feels as if things couldn't possibly get worse. The situation is ready for a catastrophe, but Ludwig doesn't let things blow up until the last five minutes.
"Moon over Buffalo"
Saturday, March 10-Sunday, March 25
The BroadHollow Theater Company
Centre Stage, Molloy College
100 Hempstead Ave., Rockville Centre
Tickets: Adults, $16-$20; students 16 & under, $12.
Showtimes: 8 p.m. Saturdays; 3 and 7 p.m. Sundays; 2 and 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 14; 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 21, and 8:30 p.m. Fridays.
