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CONNECTICUT CRITICS CIRCLE |
The Little Dog Laughed A Searing Spoof of Hollywood By Amy J. Barry Don't expect a little dog, but you can expect some laughs in this spoof on celebrity and greed a Hartford's TheaterWorks. If you blush easily and have issues about raunchy language and take-it-all-off sex scenes between men, The Little Dog Laughed is probably not the play for you. But if you're fairly open-minded and looking for an offbeat diversion from the seriousness of the times, you'll likely enjoy this contemporary (hotel) bedroom farce with its cast of kooky characters. The show by Douglas Carter Beane, who wrote the book for the hit musical Xanadu, premiered last year on off-Broadway, quickly moving on to Broadway where it received a Tony Award nomination for Best New Play. Directed with well-paced energy by the theater's artistic director Rob Ruggiero, the ensemble of four features the cutthroat ambitious Hollywood agent Diane (Candy Buckley) who will go to any means to get a starring role for her acting client Mitchell (Chad Allen). Diane is put to the test and bears her razor sharp teeth when the handsome Mitchell crosses the line of their agreement to stay in the closet and begins to fall in love with Alex (Jeremy), the sexy young male prostitute he hired for a quickie in his New York hotel room. Meanwhile Alex, who is also in denial about his sexual orientation, spends evenings with his adorable girlfriend Ellen (Amanda Perez) rationalizing about his "day" job. That is, until he starts to experience reciprocal feelings for Mitchell. A fast-moving well-designed set by Adrian W. Jones takes us into Mitchell's hotel room, which then recedes into the back of the stage to a thumping rock score and a spotlight is cast on Diane, who delivers monologues about the developing situation with the gay playwright they're trying to win over. The tall, red-haired Buckley is well cast as the intimidating, despicable Diane, delivering quick-witted quips, but she is purely a stereotype and becomes predictable with her constant sarcasm-drenched responses. It's a shame Beane didn't scratch the surface any deeper and tell us more about Diane's character than she's a lesbian with no time for a relationship. The same can be said for Ellen. Why is she in a relationship with a guy she knows is gay and unavailable? In a funny, endearing monologue, Perez gives us a peak at what makes Ellen tick when she talks about going home to Westchester to visit her mother, who she calls "the screecher," and finds her bedroom has been turned into a craft room. But even though she intrigues us, that's about all we learn of Ellen's past. The chemistry between Mitchell and Alex, as skillfully portrayed by Allen and Jordan, is intense and believable, and we feel empathy for their predicament but again, we want to know more about where they come from come-which is only vaguely alluded to-that has led them to the choices they've made and the lonely, shutdown places where they both find themselves. There are some nice twists and mounting tension in the second act and we at least we finally find out what the name of the play means, even if we're not sure what the play means to us personally, besides being an enjoyable night out. The Little Dog Laughed is at Theaterworks, 233 Pearl Street in downtown Hartford through March 9. For tickets call 860-527-7838 or online at www.theaterworkshartford.org. (ran in Shore Publishing Community Newspapers Feb. 13-14) |