'Barefoot' walks away with laughs

By Lisa Millegan
lmillegan@modbee.com

E-Mail

Comments (0)

Text Size:

tool goes here

SONORA -- If you ask me to name my all-time favorite romantic comedies, Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" would have to be near the top of the list.

The 1967 film version, which runs constantly on cable, stars a young Robert Redford and Jane Fonda as naive newlyweds starting their life in New York City. Redford and Fonda are so achingly beautiful and charming, it's impossible not to love them.

When Stage 3 Theatre announced that it would present the play, I wondered if director Maryann Curmi would be able to reproduce some of that magic with a local cast. Happily, she and her crew pulled it off and then some.

Rich Miller - "Barefoot in the Park" at Stage 3 Featured are (from left)Michelle Woodall, Michael Lynch, Rob Smittle, Francine LaMeire, Al Lemke. Credit: Rich Miller.

Not only are stars Rob Smittle and Michelle Woodall appropriately gorgeous and adorable, they and the other four cast members have spot-on comic timing. I've rarely heard an audience laugh as long and as hard as the one that attended Friday's opening night performance.

The play opens as Paul and Corie Bratter have just finished a blissful six-day honeymoon in the Plaza Hotel. They've just moved into their new apartment and are trying to make it a home, which is not such an easy task considering it has no heat or working stove and the roof leaks.

While practical Paul would just like to get comfortable and rest up for his demanding job as a lawyer, free-spirited Corie wants to stay up late, have adventures and enjoy life.

Smittle is quiet and cautious while Woodall is full of vitality. Though the two squabble from time to time, you can always tell that the characters genuinely love each other.

They get into a variety of hilarious situations with their wildly eccentric neighbor Victor Velasco (Modesto Junior College theater instructor Michael Lynch) and Corie's nervous mother Ethel (Francine LaMeire).

Lynch clearly has a ball with his part, showing a lot of dramatic flair. Velasco is a 58-year-old bohemian who enjoys exploring mountains, preparing exotic dishes and flirting with young women. He has one of the funniest moments in the show when he laments that he isn't a decade older. If he was, he says, he would be a dirty old man and could get away with more. As it is, he is at "that awkward age."

LaMeire is sweet and self-conscious as Corie's single, empty-nester mother. Conservative and afraid to take risks, she gets out of her shell in a big way thanks to Corie and Velasco's encouragement. It's fun to watch her loosen up and try new things.

Al Lemke and a rotating cast (Mal Perry on Friday) round out the cast as long-suffering repairmen who help the young couple set up their apartment.

Set designer Ron Cotnam transforms the theater into a hip 1960s pad complete with an especially cool period sofa that will be up for auction after the run of the play. Costume designer Diana Newington outfits the cast in fashionably mod clothes.

If this sounds like something you would enjoy, I'd advise you to buy your tickets quickly. This delightful show probably will sell out fast.