TheatreSquared’s Boeing Boeing is a fabulous, funny freefall | OU Review

Boeing Boeing

Nadine Baum Studio
505 West Spring Street
Fayetteville, AR 72701-5027
(479) 443-5600

Tickets are $22 to $28; $10 if you are under 30

Runs through September 25

Rating: 4.5 airline peanuts out of 5

The Good:

• Hilarious and smart source material evokes the free-wheeling Paris of the 1960s with an international flair
• The actors’ impeccable comedic timing and heavy doses each of witty wordplay and slapstick physical humor make this two-hour theatrical treat fly by.
• Chris Crawford’s Robert – who was drenched-in-sweat and at the end of his rope for much of the play – would have stolen the show if the other actors weren’t so talented.
• It’s a smart RomCom. Take a date. Take two. Maybe three … just not on the same night

The Bad (The Nitpick):

• I’m stretching here, but the accents were muddled. The German accent was humorous and over-the-top while the Italian accent barely registers.
• The blue branding of one of the girls in the promotional material was changed to green for Italy’s Alitalia on stage.

A good romantic comedy is hard to find.

Too often the eternal Boy Meets Girl tale is sickly sweet in tone or depicts characters living out a paint-by-numbers plot that is predictable from the opening word.

Luckily, this season’s best iteration of  the much-maligned genre is viewable in downtown Fayetteville as TheatreSquared opens its sixth season at the Nadine Baum Studio.

Boeing Boeing (1960) is 50-years-old, but doesn’t show its age. It’s a spry tribute to the age and the location, 1960s swinging Paris. The dialogue still sparkles and the romantic pentagon (not merely a triangle) in play still feels edgy in 2011.

There’s a reason Marc Camoletti‘s Tony Award-winning romantic farce is considered to be the most widely performed French play in the world.

It’s really well-written. Combine that with six actors who each turn in a stunning performance, and you have a season opener that should pack the house each night.

Director Morgan Hicks put together a must-see show.

Meet Bernard (Jim Goza of Zombie Go Boom fame), a British architect living in Paris who lives by his own version of the Little Black Book, a timetable of international flights. He is engaged to three airline stewardess and juggles their comings and goings with the help of his timetable and his much-put-upon French maid, Berthe (Erika Wilhite, a founder of Artist Laboratory Theatre).

“This is no life for a maid,” Berthe laments repeatedly as she deals with three airline stewardesses arrivals and departures and different gastronomic needs.

Goza and Wilhite are both local actors and turn in amazing performances. Goza’s sophisticated yet clueless portrayal of Bernard keeps the audience from hating, and indeed rooting for, the would-be polygamist. Wilhite’s Berthe is a co-conspirator at her wit’s end and the quirky and deeply wronged tone she strikes with the maid pairs well with every other actor she shares stage time with during the two-hour production.

Into this precarious arrangement comes Bernard’s old friend Robert (Chris Crawford) who alternates between horror and fascination for his school boy chum’s “international harem.”

Among this stellar cast, Crawford stands out. The actor has a talent for making anxiety and worry visible and hilarious as the three airline stewardess start to unravel Bernard’s lie.

Little lines – like Robert’s many women’s airline bags where he keeps his “little things – are never thrown away with this actor. Instead, the precise timing of his delivery means audience laughter comes rapid fire as he struggles to maintain Bernard’s illusion of monogamy against mounting pressure to confess.

The timing was polished throughout the performance, obviously honed by long hours of practice. And the timing must be precise, as the set’s many doors provided much of the comedic tension as Lufthansa’s Gretchen (Jenny Guy), Alitalia’s Gabriella (Paloma Nozicka) and TWA’s Gloria (Niccole Thurman) pop in and out like cuckoo birds.

Each air stewardess had distinct personalities brought to life well by the actors. Guy’s Gretchen had the most material to work with and her passionate German spirit stands out.

Some of the best scenes are between Robert and Gretchen and the two actors use every inch of the stage to show the tortured and hilarious results of their meeting.

It’s this blend of physical humor and sharp wordplay with unexpected comedic beats that make Boeing Boeing a revived classic.

Trust me, for a true romantic comedy that shows the best of the genre, skip the movies or Lifetime, and get to TheatreSquared.

Take a date … or three.

Giveaway

Ozarks Unbound is a partner with TheatreSquared and is currently offering two free tickets to the 7:30 p.m. performance, Saturday, Sept. 10. All are invited to enter to win.

Christopher Spencer

Christopher Spencer, 36, is the publisher and owner of Ozarks Unbound and the food news site, The Fayetteville Food File. He is the chair of the Fayetteville Creative Economy Action Group and the social media chair of the Northwest Arkansas Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He's also the founder of WordCamp Fayetteville. You can always contact him at cspencer@ozarksunbound.com

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3 Comments

• Dgold says:

  September 4, 2011 at 7:34 am

  I got video, audience reviews of Boeing-Boeing TheatreSquared opening weekend. Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lJduX0JjgA now on YouTube!

  Thanks for your review Ozarks Unbound. I linked back to your review in the video description on youtube.

  DGold
  colbruce on youtube
• Christopher Spencer says:

  September 4, 2011 at 2:36 pm

  I embedded the link in my review. Thanks for drawing my attention to it.
• Katherine Barnhart says:

  September 14, 2011 at 4:49 pm

  I have heard many great things about this play, and I can hardly wait to see it. Free tickets would be a good thing, but I’ll go one way or the other. Thanks for posting this, Christopher!

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