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Review: “Room Service” delivers the comedic desserts
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Theatergoers seeking studious explorations on the nature of human existence would do well to steer clear of the Theatre in the Round Players’ latest production, Room Service. Those in need of a break from grim cerebral ruminations, however, will find relief in this zany piece of screwball comedy that depicts the outlandish actions taken by an unscrupulous producer and his co-dependent crew determined to launch a production of Godspeed, their new play, before they – and their 19 member cast - are evicted from their hotel lodgings for failure to pay one cent of their ballooning debt. Scrambling to stall persecution by an outraged hotel manager until a potential financial backer comes through with a check, the producer and his cohorts will employ any ruse to stay, no matter how implausible, including the feigning of a life-threatening tape-worm infection.
Developed by the celebrated playwriting team of John Murray and Allen Boretz, Room Service became a Broadway sensation upon its 1937 premiere. All these years later, the farcical comedic touchstones of the era remain firmly imprinted on the material. The dialogue remains crisp and snappy, rife with one-liners delivered with heightened vocal flourishes. Pratfalls still abound as characters bumble from one potential catastrophe to the next. Remaining true to the source material, director John Gaspard does an admirable job of bringing era-specific traits to life. And while some of the banter does occasionally fall flat, the majority still connects, due in no small part to the game performances of an exuberant cast.
To say cartoonish shades color the play’s characters is not to dismiss the roles, but to laud their hilariously animated personalities. The ringleader of the chaos, producer Gordon Miller, exemplifies the larger-than-life optimism of a career huckster. Deft evader of creditors, proud to have never paid a hotel bill, Miller is a swindler for the arts. Played with mischievous relish by Joel Raney, these characteristics are presented with a charismatic confidence that convincingly draws in other characters – and the audience - like moths to a flame.
Of the supporting roles, each is defined by endearing eccentricities that bounce off one another with all the scintillating zip of razor sharp dialogue. Each member of the talented cast seems to understand the spirit of the piece and projects accordingly; that is, with delightfully absurd panache. Particularly memorable in this regard are the co-conspiratorial bill dodgers consisting of Godspeed’s director Harry Binion (Scott Eric Gilbert), the general assistant Faker Englund (Ricky Carlson) and aspiring actress Christine Marlowe (Emily Dussault).
Two more figures that strike a particularly bright spark are Godspeed’s naïve young playwright Leo Davis, portrayed by Dietrich Poppen, and the hotel secretary Hilda Manney, played by Hannah Steblay. The relationship between the two is as close as the play comes to romance, albeit one forged around neurotic showbiz insecurities. Dietrich Poppen is terrific as the wide-eyed country bumpkin who journeys to the city and is by turns thrilled, then shocked by the lax morality and easy virtue of the Broadway world. His nerves are further inflamed by Hilda, an admirer of his work who also hopes to get a member of the staff, a former Russian actor named Sasha Smimoff (played with dignified gusto by Robert Larsen), cast in a role. Considering the effusive vivacity that Hannah Steblay brings to the part, it’s easy to empathize with Leo’s smitten condition.
No consideration of the performances would be complete, however, without mention of the central antagonist, the hotel manager Gregory Wagner. Played with irrationally rigid resolve by Scott Keely, the character becomes a classic example of a daft agent of social order impeding artistic creation. Keely creates an adversary worthy of being duped, the-by-the-books authoritarian whose loss of control is cause of celebration.
With so many character dynamics spinning at once, the play maintains a frenzied pace that seldom lingers on any one scene. Such rapid pacing walks a fine line between enthralling and exhausting, but whenever the play teeters toward the latter, a new plot point almost always pulls the audience away to another wacky mishap. Under such pacing, the clever dialogue is given an ideally streamlined delivery that keeps the audience from every straying.
If pressed for subtext, one could convincingly argue that the play depicts the bizarre circumstances wrought by marriages of art and commerce, but delving too deeply into such a thesis robs the story of its madcap fun. And, in the end, Room Service is content with being exceptionally fun summer entertainment. It might not be a square meal, but you would be hard pressed to find a more delicious dessert on the theatrical menu.
For more info: Theatre in the Round Players
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