Review: THE ANGEL NEXT DOOR at North Coast Repertory

Footlights-loving comedy delights in Solana Beach

By: Sep. 19, 2023
Review: THE ANGEL NEXT DOOR at North Coast Repertory

North Coast Repertory and playwright Paul Slade Smith appear to have formed a match made in comedic heaven. Two of Smith’s previous plays have been mounted at the Solana Beach company, and the company commissioned Smith to create a new work to kick off NCR’s 42nd season. That play, THE ANGEL NEXT DOOR, directed by Artistic Director David Ellenstein, is a kick and a hoot. Maybe that makes it a kick-oot.

Adapted from Ferenc Molnar’s PLAY AT THE CASTLE, THE ANGEL NEXT DOOR basks in the craft of old-time theater-making, 1940s style. A husband-and-wife playwriting team enter the room, talking to each other about how this experience would go “if this were a play,’ and the theatrical meta references start to flow like a warm shower on a frigid evening: too many doors, where’s the fourth wall, explaining who people are and where they came from, establishing the scene. On and on it goes, not exactly with the greatest amount of subtelty, but it’s delightful nonetheless. Smith provides an on-stage stand-in for the audience, a maid with a Russian (maybe?) accent named Olga who is portrayed by a scene-pilfering Erin Noel Grennan. Olga repeatedly sneers, “theater people,” but by evening’s end, she’ll be won over. As will the rest of us.

It's 1948 and the aforementioned playwrighting team of Arthur and Charlotte Sanders (James Newcomb and Barbara E. Robertson) arrive at a seaside mansion in Newport, Rhode Island along with bright-eyed novelist Oliver Adams (Taubert Nadalini) whose about-to-be-published book, The Angel Next Door, they hope to adapt into a Broadway play. The book is a 300-page ode to Oliver’s inamorata, the actress Margot Bell (Elinor Gunn), who is also staying in this mansion, in the room adjacent to Oliver’s. Only a connecting door separates the lovebirds. The Sanders’ plan is to give the young couple a happy evening together, ink Margot to act in the play version, and make all concerned happy and wealthy.

But hitches, there are several.

Oliver and Margot have only met in person once, and they have been carrying on a sorta kinda romance through letters ever since. He’s head over tails smitten with the woman he believes to be a modest, chaste… well, a living angel. She doesn’t know the book exists, and Oliver won’t sign the contract until she reads it.

And whether she returns his affections or not, Margot is not entirely the paragon to demureness that Oliver envisions her to be. In fact, she’s at this mansion to perform in a concert with Victor Pratt (Thomas Edward Daugherty), a dim-witted lothario and  self-described “Broadway’s greatest baritone.” Margot had a fling with Pratt previously and he wouldn’t mind reigniting the flame. The walls in this mansion are thin, and when Oliver, Charlotte and Arthur hear what’s going on between Victor and the not-so-angelic Angel next door, well, mayhem and misery ensue. Shrewd Charlotte figures she can fix everything in a manner that only a wordsmith can. Through it all, Olga the maid shuttles through, delivering food, libations and strategic exhortations of “You crazy!” to those who deserve it. Which is everyone.

Make no mistake, all of these characters are screwball comedy tropes who Smith has laced with dollops of contemporary self-awareness. The theatrical inside baseball of the proceedings could easily get warring, but Ellenstein is careful not to overcook it. The actors are game for gusto, but they’re also terrific. Newcomb’s sardonic, “all-is-lost” suffused Arthur is, at times, a vocal dead ringer for Nathan Lane while Daugherty’s dopey Don Juan is channeling about four different Kevin Kline roles (Here’s wondering whether Kline and Lane would cancel each other out if they ever took the stage together in a comedy).

As the play’s engineer/ringmaster, Robertson delivers plenty of solid girl Friday chutzpah. Gunn’s Margot is a late entry to the party, but she knows how to bring some salt to the ingenue role (The actress, by the by, is unrecognizable from her work as a musical Ariel at the recent Antaeus Company’s rift on THE TEMPEST. Talented lady!) And with her cockeyed glances and expert comic timing, Grennan’s Olga  is the cherry on top of this sundae.

Molnar’s THE GUARDSMAN and THE PLAY’S THE THING are constantly staged. With any luck, this THE ANGEL NEXT DOOR will start lighting up playhouses as well. North Coast Rep does it up smartly.

THE ANGEL NEXT DOOR plays through October 7 at North Coast Rep, 987 Lomas Santa Fe, Suite D., Solana Beach.

Photo of Barbara E. Robertson, Elinor Gunn, James Newcomb and Erin Noel Grennan by Aaron Rumley


BroadwayWorld Awards Voting

RELATED STORIES - Los Angeles

1
Nations Only Unionized Strippers to Stage Unfair Labor Practice Strike in LA Photo
Nation's Only Unionized Strippers to Stage Unfair Labor Practice Strike in LA

Seven months after dancers employed by the Star Garden Topless Dive Bar voted unanimously to become the nation’s only unionized strippers, the club’s dancers will go on strike over unfair labor practices.

2
LANPP Awards Celebrate Winning Playwrights and Producers for 2023 Grants Photo
LANPP Awards Celebrate Winning Playwrights and Producers for 2023 Grants

Discover the recipients of the LANPP awards for local playwrights and producers, celebrating the support of nine new plays. Learn about the impact of LANPP grants on the theater community and their commitment to nurturing original writing.

3
Review: LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE DIOS INANTZIN at Latino Theatre Company Photo
Review: LA VIRGEN DE GUADALUPE DIOS INANTZIN at Latino Theatre Company

It feels like a slight to write about this piece as just another theatrical performance offered this time of year. The community clearly comes out in droves to hear the choral narrations, see the beautiful artistry of Vanessa M. Gomez’ tilmas, and celebrate a treasured story.

4
Review: SANTASIA – A HOLIDAY COMEDY at Whitefire Theatre Photo
Review: SANTASIA – A HOLIDAY COMEDY at Whitefire Theatre

Santasia is a must-see sketch comedy take on the glory and insanity of the holidays at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, created by and starring Brandon and Shaun Loeser.  Ongoing for 24 years and frequently sold out at every show, with performances in Los Angeles and Off-Broadway in New York, Santasia is a phenomenon. 

Videos


Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff in Los Angeles Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff
Walt Disney Concert Hall (3/07-3/07)
Green Umbrella Series: Pan-American New Music in Los Angeles Green Umbrella Series: Pan-American New Music
Walt Disney Concert Hall (4/30-4/30)
Ballet Hispánico’s Doña Perón in Los Angeles Ballet Hispánico’s Doña Perón
The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (7/13-7/13)
Real Estate in Los Angeles Real Estate
Edrington & Associates (5/23-12/31)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Los Angeles Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
A Noise Within (2/11-3/17)
LA Phil's Chamber Music and Wine: Lunar New Year in Los Angeles LA Phil's Chamber Music and Wine: Lunar New Year
Walt Disney Concert Hall (2/27-2/27)
A Faery Hunt Amazing Adventure in Los Angeles A Faery Hunt Amazing Adventure
Orcutt Ranch (1/13-1/13)
Dudamel Conducts Bruckner in Los Angeles Dudamel Conducts Bruckner
Walt Disney Concert Hall (1/26-1/28)
Rent the Perfect Sports Car Show in Los Angeles Rent the Perfect Sports Car Show
Breathing Storytellers (4/28-5/03)
SooBeen Lee, Violin in Los Angeles SooBeen Lee, Violin
Raitt Recital Hall (4/14-4/14)
VIEW ALL SHOWS  ADD A SHOW  

Recommended For You