Shear Madness: Sheer Hilarity
Written: Jul 04 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: the improv, extremely funny and a lot of fun
Cons: none at all
The Bottom Line: Shear Madness was a great time and a lot of fun. I can't recommend it enough.
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| MattA75's Full Review: Shear Madness |
I've heard about Shear Madness for quite a time now. When you're as interested in performance arts as much as I am, it's hard not to hear about a play that's been running for 24 years straight, with over 10,000 performances logged in that time. So when my girlfriend and I were looking for something to do this past Saturday night, we decided to head over to the Charles Playhouse and see if Shear Madness was truly worth its hype in comic gold.
We were not disappointed. Then again, when you're placed right in front of the stage, close enough to get wet when the sink is on, its hard to complain about much when the play is this good.
Shear Madness takes place in a unisex hair salon. There are two workers, Tony Whitcumb (Rick Park) and Barbara DeMarco (Laura Given Napoli). They are joined by a pair of customers, Edward Lawrence (Paul Dunn), and Mrs. Shubert (Mary Klug) as well as a couple of cops, Nick Rosetti (John P Arnold) and Mike Thomas (Neil A Casey). Why are they joined by a couple of cops? Because the elderly concert pianist who lives above the salon, Isabel Czerny, has been murdered, and both the workers of the salon and the customers have possible motives for wanting to see Isabel Czerny dead. The twist comes in that as part of the audience, you help in the reconstruction of what happened, you question the suspects, and you solve the crime.
The play deftly mixes topical humor into its performance, and since much of the play relies on improvisation, no two performances will ever be the same. In addition, the writers have done a good job of coming up with plausible reasons for each of the suspects to have committed the crime.
I will say that you should get to the theatre early, as our 9:30 performance truly started at about 9:15. There is no real speech going on at this point, but there are plenty of laughs. Being there early will also help you find the real killer. Missing the smallest minute detail can result in you pointing the finger at the wrong person.
When the body is discovered and the fact revealed, the police show up. At this point, the police ask for your help. They have the suspects re-create everything that happened in the timeframe where the murder could have occurred. If a suspect changes any part of what really happened, it is your job to notify the detectives that the suspect is lying. By carefully observing the suspects' movements, you can solve the crime, and put the murderer in jail. But just remember that things are not always as they seem.
The actors and actresses that I saw in my performance were terrific. Rick Park played perhaps the most stereotypical gay man I've ever seen, and he was hysterical. Laura Given Napoli's performance as the female hairdresser was also solid. Both Paul Dunn and Mary Klug were great in their roles as well, though for the most part they played straight men to the exploits of Park and the two cops.
I can safely say that Shear Madness was well worth the cost of my ticket ($37 online, $34 at the box office). The cast was great, and they struck up conversations with the audience during the intermission. The improv was terrific stuff, including jokes about J-Lo's latest marriage and a few Jessica Simpson jokes as well, among much else.
The play is currently running in Boston at the Charles Playhouse (where Blue Man Group also is on the other stage) as well as in Washington DC at the Theater Lab Cabaret at the Kennedy Center. The play has also run in cities like Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco, while also going overseas for adaptations over in Spain, Italy and South Africa. So check it out.
Related review:
Blue Man Group
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
MattA75
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 - Top 50 |
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Member: Matt Aucoin
Location: South Berwick, ME
Reviews written: 1162
Trusted by: 465 members
About Me:
Gonna be a daddy, April 2010!
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