Review of: Around the World in 80
Days from
the Schenectady Gazette
Curtain
Call's wacky ‘World'
is wonderful By
Paul Lamar
Ben
Turpin, Red Skelton, and John Belushi:
Jack Fallon is channeling all three
in this fresh adaptation of Jules
Verne's "Around the World
in 80 Days" by Mark Brown, now
in a wacky production at Curtain Call
Theatre.
Many will remember the 1956 Oscar-winning
movie, starring David Niven, (and
the 2004 version, with Jackie Chan)
and wonder how five performers on
a nearly bare stage could pull off
such a spectacle.
But when the performers are as adept
as this quintet, and when the music
and the lighting convincingly conjure
up one exotic locale after another
- well, the mind's eye
sees it all, including the elephant.
Brown has fun with the story of staid
Phileas Fogg (Steven Leifer), who
bets three associates at the Reform
Club of London that he can circle
the globe in 80 days. This is, mind
you, 1872. He heads east, accompanied
by his new French manservant, the
appropriately named Passepartout (Carter
Harris), and pursued by Detective
Fix (Joe Russo), who thinks Fogg is
a thief. Of course, they all have
numerous adventures with rather stereotypical
characters during their globe-trotting,
and it's up to the protean Fallon
and Russo to flesh them out in an
instant. They do, to great comic effect.
Obstacles present themselves -
the typhoon scene is especially well
done - but Fogg is unflappable:
this punctual man has calculated his
arrivals and departures to the minute.
Egypt, India (where he meets Aouda,
played by Monica Cangero), Hong Kong,
and Yokohama are featured in the first
act, and Act II hilariously chronicles
Fogg and company's travels across
the United States.
Casey Cieszynski, William E. Fritz,
and Joanna Palladino have managed
props, lighting, and sound, respectively,
very well. If there's any criticism,
it's the look of the set, which
is cleverly designed and sturdy, but
unpolished.
The performers, however, have been
polished to a fare-thee-well by resident
director Steve Fletcher. Whether negotiating
an accent, changing clothes quickly,
or popping their heads in and out
of windows, they play at top speed.
Cangero successfully adds a third
dimension to Aouda throughout, so
the proposal scene is touching. Harris's
Passepartout fusses and fumes Gallically,
but he is, at heart, a dear. An auspicious
CC debut.
Russo scores with Monty Python nuttiness,
which his multiple roles call for.
Leifer's rich voice is one you'd
walk a mile to hear, and he matches
his fine line readings with a physical
restraint that holds the center of
the play, as it must, when everyone
else is excitable.
Finally, Fallon. Mug meister! Sunday's
audience couldn't wait to see
how this old pro would spin his next
character. Part of the fun was watching
him have fun performing, and this
is the kind of whimsical show that
allows for just such a double lens.
Fallon never failed to deliver.
Verne had a great imagination. I hope
he had a sense of humor, too.
