Review: THE HAUNTING OF HOOVERTON HOTEL at Alleyway Theatre

Buffalo's Alleyway Theatre continues it's mission to foster new playwright's and this go around two Buffalo pals have the honor of seeing their work produced.  Jacob Albarella and Jason Kaiser  were selected as a semi- finalists for  the  Alleyway's Maxim Mazumdar Award, and  now find their play THE HAUNTING OF HOOVERTON HOTEL  on stage through November  14, 2026.

The two act comedy is loosely based on the familiar Scooby-Doo series and Archie comics, and audiences can sit back and relax for an evening of comedic silliness in cartoon character style. Albarella and Kaiser have workshopped the play with Buffalo's Second Generation Theatre and since have made cuts, slashed characters and pruned jokes as needed. There are multimedia aspects, an opening film with built in laugh tracks and a colorful cartoon inspired set that ensures that this is a farcical vaudevillian affair.

When 4 young students from Mystery University's car breaks down outside Hoovertown, they must spend the night in the eerie haunted Hooverton Hotel. Inside the vampirish innkeeper, a verbose  groundskeeper, and  three random guests make for an odd bunch.  Soon enough a ghost is traipsing about and hijinx ensue.

Our co-eds include Johnny Frederick (the smart one), Nobert "Skeeter" Hammerstein (the goofy one), Rosemary Guilderstein (the smart one) and  Daisy Drake (the sassy one). 

Ayden F. Herreid is the wide eyed Johnny who leads the gang and is smitten with Rosemary. Ryan Okun is appropriately silly as the not too bright and super nervous Skeeter. Janae Leonard is the book smart and slightly bossy Rosemary while Gabrielys Rosa Lozada is the glued to her cell phone Daisy. This quartet of crime solvers were gung  ho from the start if not always spot on with their timing or projection. This youthful pack nimbly handled the many chase scenes and pratfalls. As a group they had some great physical comedic scenes, especially when hiding in a bedroom ( You’ll see!)

Zachary Kushner finds great joy in his popping in and out like a bat as Victor Spoils, the hotel concierge. He sets the tone for the creepy hotel that may or may not be haunted. 

Scott Borish may be the most successful “human” cartoon  character. He plays Buck Buckington, the man who maintains the hotel and has way too many stories. Borish's over the top performance was a smattering of the best of  Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd, including a death scene that was to die for. Vernia Sharisse Garvin was a powerhouse as Ms Deborah Chisel who suffers  no fools  to achieve top bid for the sale of the hotel. Garvin was saucy and strutted like a peacock in her quest.

Caitlin Coleman was pompously grandiose as The Widow Hooverton. And whenever Kerrick Woyshner was on stage as Big Boss Holiday, all eyes were on him. Woyshner revelled in his southern drawl and platitudes. He simply was a joy to watch.

Connor McGuire as the Drifter is as kooky as you would expect for a village idiot type, and he runs with the oddities of his part. His howling is truly a hoot.

The convoluted nature of any good mystery can be a bit head scratching at first. Act One  of THE HAUNTING OF HOOVERTON HOTEL is long on exposition and it takes a while to get into the mystery solving. And when a ghost appears flapping it’s arms, try to remember you’re in a cartoon fantasy land, as daffy as it may appear. But once you suspend disbelief, if you are able, and allow the silliness to wash over you, you may appreciate the teenage humor. 

The short Act Two was much more satisfying as the clues laid out in the first act now started to come together and made sense. The absurd nature of the story was perfectly fitting for the genre and the conclusion was satisfying. The issue becomes, does this genre really translate well to the stage or should it remain on the TV screen.  

Scenic and Projection Design by Evan Frank was clever and allowed for creative turntables and flipping set pieces that magically appeared. Director Daniel F. Lendzian has set up a good pacing for the action, with an attempt to give the throwback feel to 1969 TV.  There are huge amounts  of moving parts to contend with, and  the cast has lots of business to keep track of, but at times  their various levels of theatrical experience  made for an uneven production . Perhaps with some more time to settle in, the absurdity of the plot can be played out to greater advantage and more smoothly.

Reader Reviews

To post a comment, you must register and login.

Buffalo News

Get the latest news, discounts & more