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Are the reviewers brilliant or drunk?
Mayberry Live!
Reviewed By Dave DePino, Backstage West
Presented by Scott MacDonell and Steve Brewster at the
Second City Theatre, 8156 Melrose Ave., West
Hollywood. Thu. 9:30 p.m. Aug. 4-25. $5. (323)
395-5754.
The Andy Griffith Show is no doubt a treasured slice
of Americana, and the players at Second City pay
respectful homage in a delightful visit back to
Mayberry. It is a treat to see the Mayberrians we all
know and love: Andy (Andreas Olavarria), the
philosopher of homespun wisdom; a cuter than pie,
inquisitive Opie (Heather Klinke); a lilting and
strapping Aunt Bee (Steve Brewster); a spinsterish
Miss Crump (Kerry Anderson); a spastically blundering
Barney (Scott MacDonell); and a winningly droll Gomer
(Chad Fifer). "Gahhh-leee."
The group of zanies performs a new episode every week,
with total improvision of character traits or quirks
suggested by each new audience and the caveat that
they must work within the character everyone is
familiar with. Some of the suggestions: Aunt Bee's
coping with menopause, a unibrow for Opie, and an
obsessively self-gratifying Barney.
It's difficult to review improvisational work, as the
show I saw isn't necessarily the show you will see.
The quality of the work is determined by the skill of
the performers and their concert work with their
director, here a marvelous job done by Todd Stashwick.
If the characters are solidly drawn, the episode will
fall almost fluidly into place, even with the
curve-ball suggestions thrown by the audience.
Nothing is 100 percent, but Mayberry Live!--as far as
improv-comedy goes--comes very close. All the players
(including K.J. Middlebrooks and Stephen Millunzi as
crooks this week) do fine work, but MacDonell and
Fifer deserve an extra bow for being terrific. Also
outstanding is the improvised sound design by Glenn G.
Grassi.
LASplash.com: Theater
Mayberry Lives At Second City
By Michael Montroy
Each week, a new episode featuring the classic TV
series’ favorite characters is improvised, driven by
audience suggestions, which is asked for in the very
beginning. The ensemble seeks an object, a moral
dilemma for Opie, something for Aunt Bee to fret
about, Barney‘s expertise, an obsession for Gomer, a
subject for Miss Crump to teach, and a new song title.
Of course, these were topics that found their way into
the countless shows of the original series. And, along
the way, they had to deal with the criminals that
tried to find an easy mark in the town of Mayberry and
Andy‘s search for a wife. It worked for the series
week after week because the characters had connected
with its audience and the show always remembered its
audience and stayed true to the characters.
The presentation at Second City takes its audience
into a Mayberry they have never seen before in any of
the televised shows. Well, that’s not exactly true.
The story line is the same as driven by the audience
suggestions and it wraps up nicely as every show used
to do week after week. And, the characters are etched
in stone. Therefore, the place and situation is quite
familiar but this stage show presents its own
refreshing take on the matter. Of course, its take is
something purely adult and would never find its way to
certain television standards.
An improvised show works only as well as the
characters that are presented. In this case, the
audience knows all of the characters and the show
starts off wonderfully. The various characters that we
have come to know and love are presented with the same
style and charm that won us over in the first place.
Heather Klinke is especially charming as Opie and
maintains the character throughout the episode, never
veering off course. Even when Barney lost his
character for a moment, Scott MacDonell was a joy to
watch and had some of those wonderful nuances of Fife.
Steve Brewster was fun to watch as both Aunt Bee and
Floyd. Kerry Anderson’s Miss Crump captured her for a
moment but didn’t hold on to her, perhaps because the
character wanted to stray from the audience’s
suggestion as opposed to simply going with the flow.
The same thing can be said for Stephen Millunzi’s
Gomer. He had it in the beginning but the energy
faded. Andreas Olavarria’s Andy provided a nice anchor
as Andy always did. Chad Fifer and KJ Middlebrooks
added nice touches as criminal element who visit
Mayberry.
If all of the actors had kept the same high energy
then the cast wouldn’t have had to ask how long can we
keep this up on stage. It could be that the cast
wasn’t sure how to place the object that the audience
gave them at the beginning into the show. This was
really the only stretch during the evening, although
it would have worked had the actors been committed to
it, whether than working around it. Mayberry will
always be alive and well and that is true because they
made it all very believable. This production is very
close to doing just that. Aside from the problems, the
presentation delivered some wonderful moments and
lines to match those moments. And, seeing the nuances
of the various characters being nailed also was a
delight.
There are two major problems with the show. One, it
only runs to the end of August, and it really deserves
more time to be seen. Second, they only present one
episode for the evening. With the strength of the
characters, they could easily entertain the audience
with another episode. But, as it is, the time is well
spent on a Thursday evening.
The direction has allowed for the presentation to be
true to the original series and gives the actors a
framework in which to move from one moment to the
next. Mayberry Live is directed by Todd Stashwick, a
writer and performer with Second City Chicago from
1992 to 1996.
The Second City Studio Theatre is located at 8156
Melrose Avenue, one block West of Crescent Heights, a
few blocks east of La Cienega. The parking lot belongs
to The Improv and it is not permissible to park there.
Street parking is available. Be sure to read the signs
carefully! The improvised episodes of The Andy
Griffith Show runs through August 25. Thursdays only
at 9:30p.m. $5. 323-395-5754
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