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November 12, 2009

Review: ‘House’ is best of Mainstage’s season

Production full of good-natured jabs at community theatre

By Scott L. Miley, Herald Bulletin Associate Features Editor

ANDERSON — Mom, dad and daughter Smith are checking out their new condo with its plush furniture, relaxing green walls and soft yellow lights.

Sound cozy?

It won’t be, not in Anderson actor/playwright Rick Vale’s world of farce.

The Smiths’ living room, it seems, is shared with the Comstock Repertory Artists Performance (check out the acronym) community theater and equipped with 250 audience members (that’s us, by the way, watching those on stage — and they know we’re there.) There’s also a live band next to the kitchen, led by Vale.

The playful jabs at local, live theater are good-natured in “Open House,” making its world premiere at Anderson’s Mainstage Theatre and providing a superb finish to the theater’s 50th season.

“Open House” is reality TV meeting community theater, making for one

surreal life.

The comedy-musical opens with actress-turned-real estate agent Vonnie VanDerloo (Julie Dutcher, vibrantly driving the performances) bouncing into this condotorium, as it is called by the Smiths’ daughter, Margo, portrayed by a credible, wise-beyond-her-years, Alyssa Williams.

VanDerloo is also the theater chairperson trying to recoup a $1.5 million deficit by renting the facility as a home. She just failed to mention that the Smiths must be in the home for weekend performances. The Smiths are a well-matched couple, performed by Rhonda Tinch-Mize and Eddie Franklin, though their backstage banter was too low at a recent rehearsal. Tinch-Mize’s initial, off-putting shyness loosens up once alcohol is in hand and she shares a comical moment with the cantankerous housemaid played smartly by Julia Dotson.

At first, Mrs. Smith is against the arrangement but husband Jackson notes, “We could be happy here ... We have our own band.”

The comedy builds in a logical, funny fashion.

Without giving too much away, be ready for glistening vocal performances by Denise Hummer and Butch Copeland. And remember, Vale is senior pastor at Central Christian Church in Anderson, so there’s going to be folks in choir robes shouting about opening up the house of the Lord.

Vale’s sharp wit and love for local theater is the driving force behind “Open House.” Vale understands how to balance live performance, taped TV commercials and a three-piece band without ever overwhelming or confusing the audience.

Though short with a quick wrap-up, “Open House” is a truly original work tailor-made for other community groups. Thankfully, Anderson got it first. “Open House” is Mainstage’s best production of the season.



If you go

What: “Open House,” a musical, comedy, not-quite-reality, play directed and written by Rick Vale

Where: Anderson’s Mainstage Theatre, 124 W. 9th St.

When: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 12-14 and Nov. 20-21.

Tickets: $10; 644-5111; www.mainstagetheatre.org

Reception: The Anderson Center for the Arts, 32 W. 10th St., offers light refreshments and a chance to talk with cast members and listen to musical excerpts from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. Reception admission free for ticketholders and arts center members.

Mainstage 2010 season announced: “High School Musical,” June 17-19 and 25-26; “Geppetto and Son,” July 29-31 and Aug. 6-7; “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Aug. 19-21 and 27-28; “Oliver!” Sept. 30-Oct. 2 and Oct. 8-9 and “Camelot,” Nov. 11-13, 19-20.

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