The Reviews Are Coming In

The first reviews for Weasel Erotica are in and I just couldn't wait to share them with you. I am amused that both reviews mention that the show is neither Shakespeare nor Moliere. Oh well, I guess that teenagers and theatre students hundreds of years from now will not be required to read excerpts from The Collected Plays of King Talent.

Let's start Fred McKinnon's review from onoffoff.com:

WEASEL EROTICA
Genre: Comedy

Reviewed for OnOFFOFF By: Fred McKinnon

A Shakespearean comedy it is not. Nor is it in the realm of Molière satire. Oscar Wilde's wit is nowhere to be found. It, indeed, is what its press material promises it to be: "madcap farce." Baby Hippopotamus Productions' "Weasel Erotica" is-without a doubt-wacky, zany and frenzied with an implausible plot, outlandish characters and copious amounts of comic shtick.

As the play opens, zoo employee Harry is attempting to drum up business for his boss when Mr. Grimm, the bad guy, reveals that he wants to close lovely Alison's animal enterprise so that he can use the property for greater financial gain. Enter wealthy widow Ms. Rittenrotten, who is nothing like her name suggests, and a plan is hatched to acquire two Brazilian Trouser Weasels (double entendre?) to generate customers and prevent the struggling animal park from folding. Professor Wagstaff, whatever his name suggests, is then enlisted to take care of the rare animals (Kitty and Ray-Ray), who eventually-in the guise of puppets, enthusiastically manipulated by Kimi Winkler and Jennifer Sandella-perform a mating ritual dance during which Roy (Allison's boyfriend) does a striptease. But that is not before Wagstaff, for perhaps some hidden meaning, relates "The Story of the Haunted Ship." There is also a scene in which the Monster-From-Under-Your-Bed makes an appearance, disrupting a romantic encounter.

These are just a few of the entanglements in Act I of this theatrical romp under the unpredictable direction of Melissa Jo Talent, who also had a hand in the chaotic script, along with King Talent and Daniel Guyton. The cast of nine do a fine job in what, I suppose, they are supposed to be doing, but particularly outstanding for me (unambiguously a high point) was Ms. Rittenrotten's (Rebecca Sponseller) singing rendition of the Gershwins' "Embraceable You."

After free refreshments being offered during intermission, Act II resumes where the play left off and swiftly (in less than a half hour) comes to a happy, if not completely logical, ending with a coda of a dancing musical finale.

Earlier in the evening I had asked the couple sitting next to me what brought them to this particular not-so air conditioned subterranean theater on a steamy summer night. Their answer sang the praises of Off-Off-Broadway. "This is the New York tourists don't know about. You're never sure of what you might see, but the actors and actresses give it their all. They always seem to be having fun." After my experiencing this production, that seems like the most reasonably rational conclusion for wanting to attend "Weasel Erotica."

Next, M. Stefan Strozier reviewed the play for The audience Review, a new quarterly journal of short stories, poetry, plays, reviews and interviews ... find out more at www.worldaudience.com. It reads, in part:

The Talent Brothers’ production of Weasel Erotica was very professional, and it was well acted and directed. My only criticism is with the script, which contained too much exposition, though this is a flaw of practically all playwrights, at every level. The play was written by King Talent, with additional material by Daniel Guyton and Melissa Jo Talent. The desire to speak to the audience, and to explain to the audience what is happening, rather than letting the characters explain what is happening, exclusively through action, is a harder habit for a playwright to break than crack cocaine (though I’ve never partaken). I have seen very few (modern) playwrights able to break this habit. Weasel Erotica’s plot, centering on the closure of a zoo, is complex and its scenes fit together well. However, the scenes were very different from each other, which caused the main theme, or plot, to become unglued from the sub-plots, at times. But again, who am I to criticize, as I don’t know where the balance exists, between plot and zaniness. And, I’m not convinced anyone else knows, either. The Talent Brothers are admirably wresting with this conundrum. Still, the funniest scenes were the ones that were the most zany, even if those funniest scenes seemed to temporarily, altogether disregard the plot. Perhaps, that’s what made those scenes funnier than their brethren: A funny scene was so flippant and spontaneous it threw the plot out the window and cared not about it. Weasel Erotica even featured a few song and dance routines. The song and dance scenes worked very well with the action and I wished there had been more of them. Naomi Austin is the choreographer. In fact, Rebecca Sponseller has a marvelous voice, and sang her number with amazing passion. Melissa Jo Talent, the director, clearly understands farce, and all its nuances. The actors’ business was un-ending and always funny, from various objects being pulled out of woman’s bra (and then being returned to their receptacles), to lots of curvaceous, scantily clad women getting sprayed with water and becoming wet, or at least “hot and bothered.” The actors were funny and the blocking and timing and tempo were all precise and well-orchestrated. All of the actors were top-notch and put forth valiant effort and art: Amy Kersten as Alison; Anne McDaniels as Flo; Jennifer Sandella as Ray-Ray; Rebecca Sponseller as Ms. Rittenrotten; Jeremy Sykes as Gergory Grimm; Kimi Winkler as Kitty; Tony King as Roy; Matt ‘Mo’ Talent as Harry; and, King Talent as Professor Wagstaff. Additionally, the lighting design, by Raven, was excellent, and it balanced well with the action. The animal wrangler was Kelly Heaton, although the only animals in the play, as far as I could tell, were the trouser weasels, which granted, were wrangled. I went to see this play, in part, in search of those weasels; and, I found them. All in all, this was a bold, professional production, well acted and well directed. If the script gets a few dings for not being consistent, well, at least The Talent Brothers are putting forth the effort (and money) to present farce to an audience of New Yorkers. Perhaps, this is just want that audience needs. And, I had an enjoyable time at this play. I wish it the best of luck.

So, much thanks to Mr. McKinnon and Mr. Strozier for the coverage. It is greatly appreciated and good to know there are folks out there who feel it important to cover, review and give credit to NYC's off-off Broadway theatre.