Review: GREATER TUNA at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre
Beef & Boards Dinner Theater kicks off its 45th season with "Greater Tuna". The show is set in a small Texas town in the 1980s where a bevy of local rednecks live. Playing more than a dozen characters, Eddie Curry and Jeff Stockberger perform the entire show.
The comedy relies heavily on the two actors donning dresses and wigs, rapid costume changes, and over-the-top accents. The problem is, nowadays there's not much to laugh that when the joke is about censorship or a local gun salesperson touting the incredible killing properties of her wares. Instead of accentuating these stereotypes, it might help to start 2018 off highlighting our similarities with people who come from a different point of view.
The stage is simple; diner tables with a backdrop of cornfields and telephone poles. Audience members must use their imagination as Curry and Stockberger mime drinking a cup of coffee or answering an invisible telephone. The two actors are long-standing regulars at Beef & Boards and audiences will surely clamor to see them highlighted in this show. I think both performers have had better roles to showcase their talents. They both handle the comedy well, but the material isn't ideal.
A night at Beef & Boards is always fun, but I have higher hopes for some of the other shows in the upcoming season. "Mamma Mia!" kicks off in February, just in time to chase those winter blues away.
Don't Miss the Show
Performances: The show runs until Jan. 28. Doors open for evening performances at 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The buffet is served from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. For Wednesday matinees doors open at 11:30 a.m. and the buffet is served from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The show begins at 1 p.m. For Sunday matinees doors open at 12 p.m. and the buffet is served from 12:15 to 1 p.m. The show begins at 1:30 p.m.
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