If
humor is based on truth, then it’s probably not a good idea to build a comedy
around a concept such as: Airline schedules are infallible! These days, the
arrival and departure times for airplanes are more like rough estimates scrawled
on a cocktail napkin that are easily amended or crumpled up entirely.
Not
so back in the 1960s, when the French playwright and farceur Marc Camoletti
wrote Boeing, Boeing. In this
production at the Lakeland Civic Theatre, directed by Martin Friedman, fulltime
lothario Bernard relies on the clockwork precision of airlines so that he can
rotate three stewardess “fiancées” through his Paris flat without any of them
being the wiser.
Once
you accept the show’s premise as a charming anachronism, the stage is set for
lots of door-slamming hijinks. And that does happen at times. But the over-long and repetitive script,
as translated by Beverly Cross and Francis Evans, eventually wrings a lot of
the humor out of what should have been a sprightly romp.
Bernard
is busy romancing an international goulash of stews: Gloria from TWA, Gabriella
from Alitalia and Gretchen from Lufthansa. So feel free to duck as the
stereotype characterizations and jokes, um, fly fast and furious. A
complicating element is added when Bernard’s old pal Robert, a dweeb from
Wisconsin, stops by for a quick visit and then decides to stay.
The
suave Bernard is intent on educating Robert in his technique of engaging but
never marrying women—two of whom who are flying to all parts of the world while
he’s boffing the third one who’s on the ground. He is aided in this carousel of
carnality by crusty Bertha, his aging maid with a nasty attitude.
The
script, however, is quite creaky. There is so much repeated exposition of Bernard’s
game plan early on that you want to scream, “Get on with it, already!” But it
doesn’t, and we are past the one-hour mark of this 2½ hour piece before any
comical sparks start flying.
During
that time, there is a lot of set-up palaver between Bernard, Robert and Bertha
that never ignites. As Bernard, a smooth and assured Jeffery Grover firmly
establishes Bernard as a master of his universe. But he is so cool early on you never
feel the passion of this man outside of his cringingly-intense, Al Gore-style
kisses when a couple of the stews arrive.
The
role of snarky Bertha calls for an actor who can create her own comedy magic
(as Thelma Ritter did in the movie version). But Beth Lee makes Bertha
unpleasant without being particularly funny, a rather deadly combination for
this kind of farce.
Katie
Nabors is cute and amorous as Gloria. But her momentary infatuation with Robert
is based on a quirk that doesn’t track (and that isn’t worth repeating at the
play’s conclusion). Nancy Telzerow
does the hot-tempered Italian thing as Gabriella. But neither her nor Nabors’
roles allow them to vent in more interesting ways
A
couple of elements of this production work splendidly. As Robert, Brian
Zoldessy is a limp, human sock-puppet of a man and, after the stultifying early
scenes, he’s often hilarious. Using his bespectacled, sad-sack face and slumped
posture, Zoldessy is a sight gag without even saying a word.
Benefitting
from one of the best-written roles, Tess Elizabeth Burgler makes Gretchen a
Teutonic tower of uncompromising need. Bossing Robert around before a
surprising turn of affection, Burgler is a treat. And her scenes with Zoldessy
crackle with the perfect pacing for fluff of this sort.
There
are laugh-out-loud moments in Boeing,
Boeing, but not nearly as many as one might desire. Cut out an hour of the
scripting fat, and this could be a fast-paced one-act comedy sprint. But that’s as much of a dream as hoping, these days, for an on-time flight.
Boeing,
Boeing
Through
October 6 at the Lakeland Civic Theatre, Lakeland Community College Campus (Just
south of Rt. 90 and Rt. 306 in Kirtland), 440-525-7034.
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