Stagecrafters Delights Audience with RUMORS thru March 29

By: Mar. 15, 2015
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A lawyer, politician and financial advisor walk into a room. They tell lies all evening long. It all sounds plausible to me.

Now on stage at the Baldwin Theatre in Royal Oak is Stagecrafters' production of the Neil Simon farce, "Rumors." Set in the late 1980s, the comedy features social interaction among highly affluent Jewish movers and shakers, wearing sparkly, elegant couture and kibitzing in a fabulous home complete with foreign domestic help. Four couples gather to celebrate the New York deputy mayor's anniversary only to find their host has been shot and his wife is missing. First to arrive at the party, Ken and Chris try to hide the wounded mayor from the other guests. While rumors abound, the situation takes on comedic confusion as nobody can remember who has been told what and about whom.

The Baldwin theatre was a delight to visit on opening night, when Pronto catered a delicious pre-glow of complimentary light hors d'oeuvres and wine. There were wonderful bruschette, hummus, strawberries and grapes on a lavish banquet table for guests to enjoy à volonté. Doors opened at 7:30, when the gracious and lovely Jenn Murray escorted me to my aisle seat in the beautiful Waterford-blue theatre. While waiting for curtain, the sound engineers delighted the audience with a playlist of songs each containing the word "rumor" in the title. That set the stage for an amazing evening.

Kendall Doman of Bloomfield Hills (playing Chris Gorman) opened the show wearing a divine gold and bronze dress with an exquisitely styled blonde coif. The original actress playing Chris, Christine Baranski, won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play in the Broadway version. Kendall Doman gave Baranski a run for her money. She was stunning.

Eric Roman of Clinton Township played Ken Gorman, the host's lawyer and confidante, with great aplomb and panache. Each couple wore outfits in matching color schemes, which made it easy to remember which character was paired with whom.

Aaron Kurilik (starring as Len Ganz) showcases the epitome of taLENt during the exuberantly entertaining monologue as he explains to the constabulary how a series of events resulted in multiple gunshots being fired at the upscale residence. Of course, in a post-Martha Stewart era, no one would dream of talking to cops just because they came knocking on the door.

Don't miss the theatrical highlight of the show when Deborah Landis-Sigler and Nick Szczerba (as the Cusaks) show us their hot and sexy dance moves as they fling caution to the wind and get down with La Bamba. Ay caramba!

During intermission, a very dapper Rich Wilson and Randall Wrisinger, wearing tuxedos, greeted patrons. It was as if the staged evening party extended directly into real life. That was so classy! It was a thrill to be there.

Rumor has it Stagecrafters is about to announce its 2015 2016 season. Keep your eyes open for breaking announcements at http://www.stagecrafters.org/.

Friend Anton Anderssen at Facebook.com/teddybears

Follow him on Twitter @Hartforth


Stagecrafters presents Rumors thru March 29



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