Theater review: Running in the Red

by Gina Robertson of John Garcia's The Column

The scene is the 1934 living room of an upscale New York City apartment, handsomely decorated and serene until the arrival of a cast of zany characters who bring mayhem to the stage at ONSTAGE in Bedford's production of Running in the Red (now playing at the ONSTAGE Trinity Arts Theater). The apartment belongs to Eve Williams, a radio celebrity who makes up one half of the comedic partnership "Eve and Jerry," to which she is the Gracie Allen to his George Burns.

She returns from Los Angeles to find that her cousin has turned communist and donated all of her money to the Party, her servants have quit for lack of pay, and there's a nosy reporter snooping around who's determined to report all of this in the newspaper. To make matters worse, she wants to quit the act to finish her doctorate degree, her fiancé thinks she's an idiot, while Columbia University has sent an agent to finalize the contract for a book she has written on abnormal psychology.

Jerry and Eve work together to pull off all the complicated deceptions in this fast-paced look at America's golden age of radio. With colorful, authentic period costumes and a talented cast, this show plays like a comic book come to life. Each moment finds the characters in increasingly funny predicaments that snap together with perfect timing and clever staging.

Amanda Brundett plays Eve with the comically elastic face and physical absurdity of Lucille Ball. She nails the idiot/egghead routine and provides the perfect complement to Rich Wiltshire's sharp, sarcastic wit. Both are hilarious, and they bring out the best in each other.

Watch out for the other comic duo, Kyle Trentham and Todd Camp, who play Charley and Joe, Jerry's comedy writers who show up to add more fun to the evening. These two play each other like tambourines as they deliver classic slapstick and corny one-liners.

Vince Connor is the hapless Massie, a radio sponsor who must not learn that Eve is broke and brilliant. His best moments have him covered in ice cream and losing his clothes to reveal those old, ridiculous-looking sock suspenders and high-waisted boxers favored by men of the last century. He hardly needs to do anything but stand there with a pained expression on his face to get a laugh.

Scott Daffern takes on the straight man role of Eve's fiancé Warren, a pompous professor who insists on defining every other word he says so that his darling ditzy girlfriend can comprehend it, little knowing that she is more intelligent than he. Deborah Dennard is Edwina Holcomb, the publisher from Columbia who stumbles into the mess and delivers laughs when she repeatedly gets knocked unconscious and falls to the floor. Chris Keil, as Eve's maid Nellie, seemed a bit nervous as she rushed through her opening scene, but her performance smoothed out when she reappeared later. Her costume is priceless.

Kevin Lefebvre is brand new to the stage as news reporter Packer, but you'd never know it as he holds his own with the veterans. His timing is excellent, and his performance is smooth and confident. Nick Mann as Rudy is delightfully troublesome as the cause of the entire charade. Whether he's trying to sneak away, impersonating the butler, or rallying to the Party cause, he's energetic and fun. David Willie makes a late appearance as Officer Kennedy, and it's a shame there isn't more of him in the show. His funny lisp and silly-looking mustache are terrific as he superbly executes the classic "bumbling cop" character.

Directors Joe & Wendy Savarese, with stage manager Fletcher Thomason, have done a super job coordinating the acrobatic activities and the colorful personalities in this production.

They've made good use of doors, furniture, props, and costumes, and even the apartment's rear window is responsible for a good share of the laughs.