Comedy is Halloween treat
There is some pretty batty stuff going on at The Butler Little Theater as it opens its season with “A Vampire Reflects” by Frank Semerano.
The comedy is a bumpy ride of bizarre buffoonery. The twists and turns are enough to keep even the most attentive audience member guessing.
With vampire sagas all the rage, be warned this is no “Twilight” ... more like moonshine if you ask me.
The show is reminiscent of a campy B-movie that keeps the actors hopping from one punch line to the next with nary a breath in-between. Contrived misunderstandings abound among the players as they trade the copious double entendres.
Alison Carey was a gem in all of her roles and delighted the audience with her physical humor and soft shoe during the set changes. Her comedic timing was impeccable as was the line delivery and rapport with Count Zescu, played by Robert J. Snodgrass Jr.
Snodgrass handled the role of the exasperated and overrated vampire deftly. His chemistry with Carey was a delight and he handled the awkward situation with the Colonel … well, awkwardly believable. His attempts to rebuff the coed were equally convincing.
The coquettish coed Mattie was played by Emily Fellenz, whose efforts to woo the vampire seemed like the clumsy realistic attempts from a teen. She portrayed smitten and swooning with ease.
Thom Bennett as Col. John Puddlepont was hysterical. Not all the lines were neat and tidy but when it counted, Bennett poured it on … thickly.
As always his facial expressions tell the story often before the words can make their way out. He's a funny guy in this one for sure. He and his wife, played by Cecilia O. Snodgrass, would make interesting dinner guests.
The villain of the show, Dr. Wolfbaine Gunter, played by Thom Hilliard, was less than sinister until the end of the second act when his experiments turned fatalistic. Hilliard rocked the accent and the toupee! Oops, sorry, spoiler alert. His lab buddy was Amy Evans, who is a doppelganger for Debra Messing minus the hair. Evans was enjoyable in her role of lab assistant and major.
Overall, the show was well cast and well directed by Rikki Henderson-Stupka and produced by Dan McCarty, and enjoyable for those who love this sort of genre. Some of the PG-13 sexual overtones in the production might be awkward for a younger audience.
Tickets for “A Vampire Reflects” are on sale now, weeknights from 7 to 9 p.m., and during performances.
<B>WHAT: </B>Butler Little Theatre’s Production of “A Vampire Reflects” by Frank Semerano.<B>WHEN: </B>8:15 p.m. Fridays – Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and 2:30 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 5-13<B>WHERE: </B>The Butler Little Theatre, One Howard Street<B>TICKETS:</B> $10 Available by calling 724-287-6781 M-F 7 to 9 p.m.<B>INFO: </B>www.bltgroup.org
