Service with a smile
Filled to the brim with pants falling down, feigned measles and everything in between, Syracuse University Drama’s latest production, ‘Room Service,’ is a successful slapstick comedy.
This latest production is a feel-good romp about a Broadway producer putting on the show of a lifetime. He’s got the script, the actors, the ideas — the only thing he doesn’t have is money. This is a problem, seeing as he’s living in a hotel room with a bill that would make Bill Gates cringe. When the hotel catches on to the producer’s inability to pay up, chaos ensues. It creates a hilarious string of events.
Charles Kirk, a sophomore acting major, leads a talented cast in his portrayal of Broadway producer Gordon Miller. Kirk’s character holds the play together, acting as a Ricky Ricardo in a sea of Lucille Balls. Kirk is at his best when he’s prancing around like the pompous man Miller is, though his cartoony vocal choices can be a little too reminiscent of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Snagglepuss.
Luckily, most of the actors’ voices are a little more soothing, such as the sultry Lori Pasqualino, a junior religion and acting major, as Christine Marlow. Pasqualino owns the role in part thanks to her made-to-perfection costume, but more so to her commanding stage presence. There’s no wonder the Miller made her his star, let alone his girlfriend.
Breaking away from the other admirable efforts, Chris Dwan, a junior musical theater major, as playwright Leo Davis stands alone as the strongest performance. Davis is a small-town guy who has just given up everything to come to Broadway and make it big. He’s naïve, little and has the demeanor of someone who’s never been kissed. When he’s not getting laughs at his own dispense, he’s helping someone else find a way to do the same.
An ensemble of other enjoyable actors is what makes the play so entertaining to watch. Amos VanderPoel, a sophomore acting major, plays Sasha Smirnoff, a Russian room service waiter with Hollywood dreams. VanderPoel’s accent is hilarious, making him an audience favorite every time he walks on. He’s got competition only in Robert Simpson, a junior acting major, who plays Miller’s stage manager. Simpson’s New York City accent is just annoying enough to make it adorable.
Together, Simpson and Harry Binion, Miller’s director (junior acting major Brad Koed), act as Miller’s right-hand men. They often are more hindering than helpful, which makes the plot that much more of a riveting mess.
The stage design of Gette Levy, a senior scenic and lighting design major, is gorgeous. It gives a distinctly 1930s feel to the play. Marc Fisher, a junior design and technology major, sets the scenes with grand lighting that transforms the entire production into a relic of years past. And without the craft of senior theater design and technology major Caroline London’s costume design, the play would be significantly less spectacular.
Ultimately, Robert Moss’s direction of ‘Room Service’ is a peppy treat from beginning to end, perfect for students looking for a feel-good performance at SU Stage.
Published on March 28, 2010 at 12:00 pm
