Last night, I witnessed a magnificent opening for “my” historical farce “Philosophus” at Alleyway Theatre of Buffalo, New York!
I say “my” in quotations because a quick glance at the wonderful set, the colorful, period costumes, and – you can even get a sense of this in the picture below – the extraordinary acting talent of the marvelous actors and actresses who brought the show to life give me only part ownership in a truly effective and collaborative endeavor.
From the very start, the actors kept up a great pace with the show and the deft directing of Neal Radice, longtime Artistic Director of Alleyway Theatre, milked and squeezed as much comedy as possible out of every single moment. Neal’s idea to cast one of the two female roles with a man (Christopher Standart as the redoubtable Frau Schmidt) ended up proving to be a high point of the show and a casting option which I will permanently and officially write into the script. Also much thank goes to Samantha Vakiener, Dramaturg at Alleyway, for working with me on aspects of the script during rehearsals – and, hopefully, there will be a little more post-show refining to come!
As for the actors, it is difficult to express how well they performed without seeing the play for yourself (which I hope you do!). Chris J. Handley was a hoot as Voltaire, spraying out self-important speeches like a sprinkler without any seeming need to think or second-guess a single word. Emily Yancey was on her own planet as Voltaire’s “niece,” bouncing around the stage in a state of near-constant innuendo. Andrew Zuccari (who impressed me with the fact that he’s relatively new to acting) wonderfully balanced two characters across two different accents, juxtaposed so tightly together it’s a wonder he didn’t get vertigo. James Cichocki was wonderfully maniacal – yet also gloriously whiny and petulant – as the villain of the piece, and Christopher Standard was so rafter-shattering as Frau Schmidt that he could suitably terrify anyone within a 3-mile radius.
From left to right: Andrew Zuccari as “Dorn” (in this scene!), Emily Yancey as “Mademoiselle Denis,” Christopher Standart as “Frau Schmidt,” and Chris J. Handley as “Voltaire” (missing is James Cichocki)
Tonight, “Philosophus” will be a part of the Curtain Up! festivities in Buffalo, NY – the annual opening of the professional theatre season – where I will attend a gala dinner, the show, and then after-show festivities.
For tonight’s performance, tickets are already sold out – never unfortunate to see!
For future shows, you can get tickets here!
“Philosophus” runs through October 6.