BOY MEETS GIRL
by Samuel and Bella Spewak
MY MEMORY: We had created a tradition at The Play House of producing big, classic comedies for the Holiday season. I wanted the show's beginning to feel like going to the movies back in the 1930s (as the review below describes). I had a great company including Bob Phillips, designing his third set for me, and our friend Evan Pappas returning to The Play House for the third time.
A first-rate production! If you like '30s screwball comedy films, you will like this show. Director Roger Danforth takes us on a nostalgia trip into movieland, starting with a Betty Boop cartoon, a newsreel, and opening credits.
The comedy unfurls with deft precision on designer Bob Phillips's hilariously Art Deco set. Much of the show's energy comes from Evan Pappas and Jonathan Bustle, a pair of writers, effervescent clowns given to scams and practical jokes, [who] work as a comedy team.
Jane Krakowski is delicious as Susie, blue eyes big as Betty Boop's and a voice like lemon creams. The scene where she and Rodney (James Ludwig) meet soars into comic bliss. -- Cleveland Plain Dealer
THE CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE, Cleveland, OH,
December 1994
Sets by Bob Phillips
Lighting by Kenneth Posner
Costumes by Patricia Doherty
Sound by Jordan Davis
Featuring Jane Krakowski, Evan Pappas, James Ludwig, Jonathan Bustle, Jordan Clarke, Catherine Albers, Glenn Colerider, Wayne Hoffman, Ray Iannicelli, George Ede, Paige Thompson, Gregory Violand and Farnham Scott.
Photos by Richard Termine