As the primary purveyors of farce hereabouts, the Lyric Stage Company under Spiro Veloudos treats this classic form with the care it deserves, without attempting to find a contemporary rationalization for the exercise. The results may not suit every taste, but local theatre would be the poorer if such efforts were left solely to community or dinner theaters, not to mention "Shear Madness." The grotesque has a venerable place in drama, one worth honoring every once in a while. Playwright Jack Neary, whose "Kong's Night Out" is currently having its world premiere at the Lyric has the antic imagination necessary for the form. There are still moments to be refined, but the overall laugh quotient is more than sufficient.
The effectiveness of this current production is due largely to the experienced ensemble assembled for the occasion. At the center of the action, which takes place in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression, is Larry Coen as Myron Segal, a hapless Broadway producer. He's about to open his big comeback show, "Foxy Felicia," a frothy musical when his arch-rival, the nature photographer Carl Denham, schedules the unveiling of his latest attraction, "the eight wonder of the world" on the same night. Myron has sunk his mother Sally's life savings into this show. Sally Charmaine, a former stripper, is played with her usual flair by IRNE winner Ellen Coulton, who was in Neary's last effort at the Lyric, "Beyond Belief," a serio-comic take on recent scandals in the Church. The Lyric also present Coen's farce about grand-scale movie making, "Epic Proportions." Myron's actress wife, Bertrille, is played by willowy Rachel Harker, a New Rep stalwart last seen at the Lyric as the ambitious soprano in "Lend Me a Tenor." Bertrille is carrying on a secret affair with Denham since Myron didn't cast her in the lead of his current show. And to add to the uproar, Myron's niece Daisy from Buffalo has shown up ready to break into show biz. She's brought an important letter from her sister which Myron keeps putting aside. Daisy marks the return of Lordan Napoli to the Lyric, having appeared in both "Lend Me..." and "Epic..."
Outside the family, there's Little Willie, Myron's gun-toting gofer, played by newcomer Steve Gagliastro. He and Daisy hit it right off and become surprisingly central to the plot. There's also M.J.J.Cashman as Siegfried Higginbottom, the show's other investor, a toupeed foreigner with a yen for Sally. Cashman was seen earlier this season as the Emperor in Lyric's production of Sternheim's vintage farce, "The Underpants"--as adapted by Steve Martin. And from the plot of the original "King Kong", there's Redfeather's Timothy Smith as Carl Denham, whose family background is intertwined with Segal's; BU grad Sarah Abrams as Ann Darrow, the object of Kong's affection; and from the Gold Dust Orphans, Christopher Loftus as Jack Driscoll, the First Mate, Ann's fiance. Kong himself makes only a partial appearance.
The art deco set for the show was designed by Robert M. Russo whose sets for the Lyric have included "Lend me..." and "Noises Off." The back wall is predictably doors, with entrances left and right down front. The New York skyline is visible beyond. Costumes were created by IRNE and Norton winner Gail Astrid Buckley. She's given the women appropriately glamorous garb, while providing the men with period outfits from the shoes up. Lighting designer Scott Clyve is new to the Lyric, but has no problems with its three-quarter stage. Props and furniture are also excellent, giving the piece the air of a period film. Besides this effort, author Neary is about to open a new musical, "Ring a Ding Ding" at the Firehouse in Newburyport. As in the past he's got an entry in the Boston Theatre Marathon, May 21. And in about a month he's directing his adaptation of Henry James "The Turn of the Screw" at the New Century Theatre in Northhampton. Maybe he'll turn the potential for confusion in such a schedule into another comedy.