BWW Reviews: Beane's Fizzy SHOWS FOR DAYS Recalls The Drama of Community Theatre

"On stage, ginger ale is champagne," observes the lead character of Douglas Carter Beane's funny and sentimental new comedy, Shows For Days. And while his nostalgic look at the backstabbing and bitchery at a 1973 Reading, Pennsylvania amateur theatre company may not exactly be of an exceptional vintage, there's plenty of fizz; especially if you were once there.

Michael Urie is our genial host as Car, a successful Broadway playwright recalling how his life changed when his 14-year-old self stumbled upon a small playhouse in an abandoned storefront and somebody threw a brush in his hand and told him to start painting.

That somebody was Sid (wonderfully deadpan Dale Soules), the overworked and decidedly butch technical director who regularly performed low-budget miracles and served as the rock of stability among a gang of artistic eccentrics.

And what a coup that the most eccentric of them all, artistic director Irene, is played by Patti LuPone. Oozing brassy charm, Irene frequently drops major names when talking of her time in New York as a promising young actress and is now determined to be the local star who brings culture to this financially struggling town.

Always quick with the trademark Beane quips ("If theatre was easy, the goyim would do it."), Irene leads the charge against elected officials who would have her playhouse destroyed by the wrecking ball and the threat of a professional theatre company moving into the area, promising to offer Broadway quality productions featuring soap opera stars.

It's Irene who first encourages Car to write a play after the funny bios he pens for their production of The Great God Brown get a better review than Eugene O'Neill.

Rounding out the company are Lance Coadie Williams as a flamboyantly gay black actor, Zoë Winters as the needy leading lady and Jordan Dean as the hunky young leading man who contributes to Car's sexual awakening. (Having the adult Urie playing young Car serves as a distraction from their age difference.)

With Jerry Zaks directing, those sharp Douglas Carter Beane one-liners ("Many are called, but few are called back.") land mightily, but there isn't enough plot to keep the evening chugging to the final blackout. At one point Irene lashes out at the young writer for entertaining his audience but not giving them enough substance, a point that similarly keeps Shows For Days from ranking up there with Beane's best work.

But as a warm and enjoyable diversion, Shows For Days offers a swell time.

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