by Kimberly Harper
Sometimes you just need to shake your head at life’s absurdities, which is something retired singer-songwriter Tom Lehrer excelled at in the 1950s and ’60s. In 1980, Cameron Macintosh created a revue of some of his most popular works called “Tomfoolery,” and this not-oft-performed bit of political incorrectness is showing for one more weekend at Jenks Auditorium, courtesy of The Community Players.
Directed by Lee Rush, this production features the talents of singers Vivienne Carrette, Alyce Hagopian, Christopher Margadonna, Ken McPherson, Paul Oliver and Michael Thurber, along with brilliant musical direction by Maria Day. Day, along with the orchestra, is on stage with the cast, creating a fun, lighthearted bar atmosphere. She pokes fun at the singers, drinks like a fish, and manages to keep everyone in line and the show moving along with aplomb. While some of the songs are terribly dated (were large, fake Mexican mustaches ever really “in?”), a lot of the numbers still stand up to the test of time, and much of the language has been updated to reflect current events. (Lehrer, though a man of great intelligence and talent, could not possibly have predicted that the present political freak show we’ve got going on would be more ridiculous than anything he could have written, but never fear, that’s what artistic license is for.) Regardless of what kind of humor you enjoy, there’s truly something for everyone in this production.
There are songs about the Boy Scouts, songs rife with double entendre, songs about the Pope, songs about Spring. Early in Act 1, Thurber and Hagopian look like a charming couple in the park, until they start gleefully singing about doing in a flock of pigeons. Speaking of Thurber, he especially excels with the material, carrying off a truly remarkable song about the Periodic Table in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Modern Major General,” and then delighted the audience further during the song “The Old Dope Peddler.” McPherson, who has been on stage many times with the Players, had a chance to show off his extensive tenor range in several numbers, including “The Irish Ballad” and “The Masochism Tango,” which, oddly, is a song for one. Margadonna and Carrette, the youngest in the cast, play off each other very well, and Oliver carries off his tunes with a dry sense of humor, which fares especially nicely in his song about a hunting trip gone horribly awry.
Lehrer’s songs and commentary serve as an important reminder to us all not to take life too seriously. After all, as he wrote in one grim piece about the atomic bomb, life is short. Spend a little of it this weekend in Pawtucket and try not to get whatever Carrette sings about getting from her friend Agnes in Act 2.
“Tomfoolery” runs through Sunday at The Community Players, Jenks Auditorium, Division Street, Pawtucket. Saturday’s curtain is at 7:30, Sunday’s matinee is at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $18 for students with ID, and may be purchased at the door or online at thecommunityplayers.net. Reservations may also be obtained by calling 401-726-6860.
