Jack Wefso and Karen Erickson
If you like memory plays that are strong on character and
that have a dynamic sense of place you will love “Amateur Night at the Big
Heart.” The play, penned by Terry Dodd, is currently on view on the main stage
at Aurora Fox Arts. Dodd is at his best with this play filled with what he does
best: Homespun Americana. Playwright Dodd spent a lot of time as a young man
going along with his father who was a cop in Pueblo assigned to a beat that
involved “all things alcohol.” The characters and their activities and the bar
itself, feel like a composite of a lot of mostly happy memories from that time.
Dodd has said that the play was inspired by his viewing of a production of
William Saroyan’s “The Time of Your Life” that he saw at The Denver Center a
number of years and then spiked with a nod to “Cheers.” Shaun Albrechtson has
designed a gorgeous replica of a bar right onstage. It’s the genuine article
and it’s the first thing you’ll fall in love with upon entering the auditorium.
Lighting designer Shannon McKinney provides the professional work Denver
audiences have come to expect from her. Likewise El Armstrong gives us his
usual ear-pleasing sound design. What you will fall in love with most though is
the cast. Jack Wefso’s portrayal of Stacker, the birthday boy who is just
turning 35 and thinks he’s hit middle age is thoroughly engaging. Jack
Casperson plays the world’s oldest busboy, whose intentionally unfortunate ventriloquist
act is charming. It’s a treat to
get to see Karen Erickson back onstage again. Her portrayal of cook and
accountant Jo (hopefully she’s not cooking the books!) lights the place up. Erickson's slow dance with Mr. Casperson at final curtain is the perfect emotional night-cap
after this rowdy night of drinkin’ and reminiscin’ at The Big Heart. Rhonda
Brown is most memorable as bar owner Marge. Her character is as close as it
gets to the voice of reason in this play and she gets to nail some of the
funniest lines. Nils Swanson is fine as an early evening drunk who crawls in
already soused before the party has even begun. Brian Brooks turns in his best
work to date as an honorable guy whose identity is mistaken to be that of a
shady character on the lamm by these rustic characters. Lisa Rosenhagen
sparkles as Shirley, a woman who has just lost her boy friend to a woman “who
collects lighters.” Rosenhagen’s acting duet with Kurt Brighton, who plays
Shirley’s ex boyfriend, Ron is one of the best moments of the evening. Another
is a tete a tete involving Jack Wefso as Stacker being stricken by Diana Dresser’s
mysterious Marie. Seein’ this play is kind of like going into a bar you’ve
never been to before. It’s a little uncomfortable at first, not knowin' anybody there. Then you sit back and start getting to know these characters. In very short order everyone’s kind of like
family. You laugh at their cornball jokes and cry with em over their
heartbreaks. Dodd’s heartfelt country western memories could just get to you with a big heartbreak. As you take this journey with playwright Dodd and his characters you
could just find that leaving them behind is kind of sad. To paraphrase a song once sung by Burl
Ives, “A little bitty tear might let you down.”
Karen Erickson has always been a gem.
ReplyDelete