BWW Reviews: SUITE SURRENDER at the Carrollwood Players

"World War Two is a bad thing; THIS IS MUCH WORSE!" --Mr. Dunlap (Ray Zacek) in SUITE SURRENDER

There's nothing better than a good old-fashioned celebrity catfight. Playwright Michael McKeever obviously knows this and has created a doozy of a mud-slinging feline fight fest in SUITE SURRENDER, the Carrollwood Player's latest farce. The premise is simple: Two divas, singer Claudia McFadden and movie star Athena Sinclair, hate each other to rip-roaring heights. In fact, they loathe one another to the point where they can't even have a room on the same side of a hotel. Far away is not far enough away. But what happens if a hotel makes a mistake and books these two queens of mean in the same luxury suite? That question, in a nutshell, is what happens in SUITE SURRENDER.

It's May of 1942, and the two demon-divas are accidentally assigned to the same room of the exclusive Palm Beach Royale Hotel. Add to this beleaguered assistants, klutzy bellhops, slamming doors, frantic hotel owners, snoopy gossip hounds, secret love affairs, swinging doors that knock people out, and a dog named Mr. Boodles that is treated better than most of the staff (and also has a shocking surprise about two-thirds of the way into the play).

The Carrollwood Players, one of the better community theatres in the area, has done as much as they can with Mckeever's script. The performers are fine, with Jan Brown and Susan Dearden effective as the celebrity enemies (it's like the real life Joan Crawford versus Better Davis feud played for laughs). You don't want to get on the bad side of either of these rabid ladies. The bellhops, Francis and Otis, played by Zach "Hippie" Griswold and Larry Weglarz, have many humorous moments, and Griswold's Francis even has romantic eyes for Ms. Sinclair's assistant, Murphy (played by the lovely Joie Marsh). The official general manager of the hotel and unofficial referee of the suite's zaniness, Mr. Dunlap, is portrayed with just the right touch of keeping-the-peace charm by Ray Zacek. Petra Sussman does a nice job as Mrs. Osgood. And Penni Willen attacks her part with gusto and is wonderfully annoying as the in-your-face gossip rag reporter, Dora Del Rio.

Best of all is Jim Moss as Mr. Pippit, McFadden's exasperated assistant/servant/punching bag. Every line of his, every horrified sigh, every groan of harried horror is delivered with crack timing. Mr.Moss has been away from the theatre for a long time, and seeing his performance here, it's good that he's back in top form! I look forward to watching future shows with this talented performer.

The SUITE SURRENDER set is another James Cass Special. Cass is one of the most innovated and perfectionistic set designers in the area. His suite at the Royale looks like a Palm Beach Versailles. Ornate, decadent, bathed in aqua walls--it's an overfed feast for the eyes. Once again Cass is showing other community theatres how to correctly design and decorate a set. Simply breathtaking.

However, there are some major qualms with the show. I could have done without the singing of such classics as "Someone to Watch Over Me" or "I Get a Kick Out of You." They seemed to unnecessarily pad the play, which usually runs 80-90 minutes, into two acts. Had the songs been sung well, then maybe this occasional break in the action could be forgiven. But it sounded at times like drunken karaoke at an Applebee's Open Mic Night, and it didn't move the story forward or spotlight a character. One duet proved a long way from something like Chicago's "Nowadays"; the actresses seemed unsure of the lyrics to some of the world's most famous songs. If they were supposed to be bad in a Waiting for Guffman type of way, then it would be one thing; but these are supposed to be world-renowned divas. They should be show-stopping spectacular, especially with classics like these George Gershwin and Cole Porter gems; instead, the performances of these songs come across as a glaring error.

A stuffed animal "plays" the part of Mr. Boodles. I understand why this is the case, but I think it hurts the show. A real dog would have worked much better. For instance, I have yet to see a decent version of Annie that used a stuffed animal (or a kid dressed in a canine costume) as Sandy; it's not the same without the "awww" factor of a live pup. Mr. Boodles, SUITE SURRENDER'S precious pooch, could be a scene-stealer that everyone talks about at the end of the play; with just a stuffed animal (that even with suspension of disbelief, it never made us think of it as the real thing), it seems like there were missed opportunities here. A real dog, though understandably more difficult, would provide a much bigger payoff.

Still, even with these issues, it's best to surrender to SUITE SURRENDER'S madcap hilarity and memorable characters. Director Michael Cote's show brings back the style of those classic big screen farces of the 1930's and 1940's and provides an entertaining night at the theatre. So make sure to get your tickets now and enjoy the cutthroat antics of these wicked celebrity witches of the east and west.

SUITE SURRENDER runs through October 25th, 2014. For tickets, please call (813) 265-4000.

Photograph courtesy of Picture This of Palma Ceia.