Review: MOON OVER BUFFALO Brings Classic Laughs at Saint Vincent Summer Theatre

Earlier this summer, I had a chat with Greggory Brandt, producing artistic director at Saint Vincent Summer Theatre. We both laughed about how almost every year he produces a Roger Bean musical and a Ken Ludwig farce, because time has proven that these shows never fail. You always know what you're getting with Ken Ludwig, but that's because Ken Ludwig knows exactly what you want. His success as a master of modern farce (and Saint Vincent Summer Theatre's success as an annual provider of farce) is not a coincidence, but purely logical. Moon Over Buffalo, Ludwig's spiritual sequel to Lend Me a Tenor, runs like a well-oiled machine, and as soon as the plot is in motion, the laughs just pour right out.

Much like Tenor, the show revolves around a famous performer aging out of leading-man status (George Hay, played by Lawrence Lesher). George is a ham, a philanderer, and a bit of a drunk, though he remains perpetually eager to please and to reclaim his status as a great celebrity. His wife Charlotte (Erin Seaberg) has been his personal and theatrical partner for years, though time has reduced them to touring a miniature repertory company presenting old plays to small houses. A chance call from Frank Capra gives the Hays a chance to get back into the spotlight, but this is a farce, so it comes at the same time as a visit from their daughter Rosalind (Sarah Hennessy) and her hapless fiancee (Justin Massetto), a proposal from lovesick lawyer Richard (Daniel Krack), and the pregnancy of George's ex-lover Eileen (Sarah Chelli). Wackiness ensues.

Theatre nerds will remember that Moon Over Buffalo was conceived as a star vehicle for Carol Burnett in the role of Charlotte, in which she was encouraged to mug, improvise and play to her heart's content. There are moments in the show which certainly suggest the piece's lineage as a Burnett project; the role of Charlotte is slightly underwritten to allow the leading actress a chance to play and put her own stamp on it. Erin Seaberg does this skillfully, never going full Burnett but using her little moments to really work her expressive face and the absurdity of her situation. Lawrence Lesher, by now an old pro at Ken Ludwig farce, has the meatier comic role as the ridiculous but oddly endearing George. Combining the enjoyably pompous self-aggrandizing of Kelsey Grammer with the addlebrained dissolution of Christopher Lloyd by the show's end, Lesher is a natural farce expert and the show is in highly capable hands with him and Seaberg at the helm.

The rest of the show is primarily full of familiar faces for Saint Vincent patrons: Sarah Chelli, Daniel Krack and Justin Massetto all appeared in larger roles here just last summer. Though their parts are slight, these are skilled comic performers and it's great to see them continuing to build a working relationship with this company. We do have two new faces to call out, our ingenue couple Sarah Hennessy and Thom Brown III. As Rosalind and Paul, the two ooze chemistry but decidedly equal their elders in terms of comic timing and farce ability: there's a risque sight gag with Brown that I'm PRETTY SURE has never been done on a Saint Vincent stage before, but the Wednesday-night blue-hairs laughed appreciatively and nobody walked out.

Absent a huge star personality like Carol Burnett, does Moon Over Buffalo feel slightly redundant after last year's Lend Me a Tenor? Perhaps a little. But I still left with a huge smile on my face, and so did the rest of the audience. Farce isn't gonna win a Tony or change the world. It's comfort food. And Saint Vincent Summer Theatre is the mom-and-pop restaurant in your hometown that you love, even though you always order the same thing, and you hope never goes out of business. (It's my Vincent's Pizza; if you know, you know.) The world, and Westmoreland County, is better for Saint Vincent existing. May they never change.

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