by Terrance Mc Arthur

Farce is a kind of comedy that often includes slapstick/physical action, leering innuendo, mistaken identities, and outrageous situations. One way to judge a farce is by how many doors are on the stage, and how often they slam open or shut. Count the doors on the set of The Good Company Players’ 2nd Space Theatre production of Ken Ludwig’s 1995 comedy Moon Over Buffalo—It’s a five-banger!

Cast of GCP’s production of “Moon Over Buffalo”

In 1953, a touring troupe of actors, headed by George Hay (Patrick Allan Tromborg) and his wife, Charlotte (Tracy Hostmyer), are in Buffalo, New York, with alternating productions of Noel Coward’s Private Lives and Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac. They get word that Oscar-winning director Frank Capra is flying in to see their matinee, with possible starring roles for the husband-and-wife team. Rosalind (Jessica Rose Knotts), their daughter who left the stage for the more normal world of advertising, arrives with her fiancé Howard (Erik Bako), a weatherman. A put-upon stage manager (Benjamin Geddert), the pregnant product of one of George’s affairs (Kylee Leyva), a love-struck lawyer (Joel Gurss) pursuing Charlotte, and Charlotte’s nearly-deaf mother (Mary Piona), and all the aforementioned go in and out of the doors at varying rates of speed.

There are similarities to Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor, including a famous person in the audience, a drinking/womanizing star, a missing person who is passed out, and a setting in the U.S. Northeast. The original Broadway production showcased Carol Burnett; others who have starred in productions of the script included Robert Goulet, Lynn Redgrave, Frank Langella, and Joan Collins.

Cast of GCP’s production of “Moon Over Buffalo”

Tromborg leers, growls, roars, plays drunk, and seldom stands still. It is delightful to see him at full-tilt boogie. George is lecherous, unrepentant, narcissistic, and delightful, an objectionable character you can root for. Tromborg smoothly slides into the lines of Cyrano, a part he once played for GCP. Last year, he lit up the 2nd Space stage as Teddy in Arsenic and Old Lace, and he increases the wattage, shuffling off to Buffalo.

Hostmyer, cool and elegant as the long-suffering wife of the philandering George, gets to indulge in lively swordplay and frisky romancing. Some lines in the script were meant to remind Broadway audiences of Burnett’s career, but Hostmyer is able to summon up some steely stares that rival Burnett’s.

Cast of GCP’s production of “Moon Over Buffalo”

Knotts, tall and slender, is lovely as the daughter dragged into filling in on the play within a play. She gets to wear a stunning costume, thanks to costume designer Ginger Kay Lewis Reed. Geddert gets to be harried, exasperated, and frustrated, while looking debonair at it (I still think he looks like Cary Elwes in The Princess Bride).

Bako has a manic air as the weatherman mixed up in the chaos and confusion. Leyva is teary and worked-up as the young mother-to-be. Gurss is stuffy but genial in his attempts to lure away Charlotte with money and faithfulness (things George does not provide).

Then, there’s Piona. Acerbic, with split-second perfect timing, she can provoke laughter by simply pointing. A pocket powerhouse, a not-so-secret weapon in the GCP arsenal, she steals any scene with the greatest of ease, but always in the service of the play.

Cast of GCP’s production of “Moon Over Buffalo”

(This production seems like a mini-reunion of the cast of GCP’s 2022 production of I Remember Mama, which included Knotts, Bako, Leyva, and Geddert.)

Denise Graziani’s direction keeps the action going at a brisk pace. David Pierce’s set stands up to all the door-slamming. Ginger’s costumes lovingly evoke the styles of the Fifties and the stage costumes of Cyrano and Private Lives.

Laugh, and you will not be alone. You could call this a laugh-a-minute show, but that short-changes it. There are a lot more laughs than that, and far more frequent.

Moon Over Buffalo plays at the 2nd Space Theatre, 928 E. Olive Ave, in Fresno, through April 14. For tickets and further information, contact gcplayers.com, or call (559) 266-9494.

Check out more theatre reviews & other local entertainment articles in our Arts & Entertainment section. You can also find more theatre coming up on KRL’s Local Theatre event page.

If you love local theatre, be sure to check out Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast, which features mysteries read by local actors. You can find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and also on podbean.

Terrance V. Mc Arthur worked for the Fresno County Public Library for three decades. He is retired, but not retiring. A storyteller, puppeteer, writer, actor, magician, basketmaker, and all-around interesting person, his goal is to make life more unusual for everyone he meets.