Review: 'The Play That Goes Wrong' Tour at Waterbury Palace

Waterbury, CT - The tour of THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG stops at Waterbury’s Palace Theater Nov. 5 - 7 before it moves on to The Shubert in New Haven. The opening night at the Palace had a wonderful time as they laughed their way through the two acts of this hysterical comedy of a play within a play within….

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG is like NOISES OFF on steroids and proves Murphy’s Law, the facetious proposition that if something can go wrong, it will, often at the worst time. It is a never-ending stream of disastrous mishaps, some of which make the audience gasp, all of which make them laugh. I enjoyed every minute of the two acts and did not stop laughing.

Described as the illegitimate Broadway baby of Sherlock Holmes and Monty Python, the comedy (although word seems like an understatement) is the gift that keeps on giving. I suppose it qualifies as a classic murder mystery, but it is delightfully overshadowed by theatrical mishaps and madcap mania that a non-stop and hysterical. This play was written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields of the probably aptly named Mischief Theatre Company, and the original B’way direction was by Mark Bell.

It is opening night of “The Murder at Haversham Manor” where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. The experience begins with actors in the audience as they find their seat (the audience, that is) looking for the dog who is supposed to appear in the show. I got to speak to the actress who plays the stage manager of the play from my seat and delighted in seeing her character arc on the stage. There are doors that do plenty more than slam, an unconscious leading lady a corpse that has great difficulty playing dead, and overacting actors who trip over everything (including their lines,) and every conceivable costume, set and prop malfunction that can go wrong, does go wrong.

I believe that performers and backstage crew persons would probably enjoy this show more than other patrons, but I fear that seeing it might cause them even worse theatrical nightmares. The show often reminded me of one mishap-filled performance that I squirmed through as the lead, but now I was able to laugh aloud. All of the actors/characters in the doomed play firmly believe that they should just keep going as all costs, when most actors would probably improvise more believably...but then it wouldn’t have been as funny. I enjoyed the slew of missed cues, the stage directions read aloud, the mispronounced words, and the onstage fire, but any director would certainly not. I also loved the sly Broadway title wordplay and just about everything else about this clever script.

The tour director is Matt DiCarlo and probably deserves combat pay for directing what this talented cast must master.

The cast members have to master overacting, as well as the most demanding physical comedy I have probably ever seen, and every single one carried it off with delightful aplomb. Kudos to one and all on working together to bring it to hysterical life.

Jason Brown, who was a member of the Broadway cast, played the “role” of Trevor Watson, purportedly the light and sound operator. From his seat in a box house right, he made us laugh as he frequently bungled his cues and was horrified by the trainwreck of a performance. I enjoyed every minute of his time on and off the stage. Bianca Horn was very memorable in the role of Annie Twilloil, the doomed stage manager of the production.

The rest of the credits will be a bit hard to follow, due to the play within a play thing. Todd Buonopane (SPELLING BEE on Broadway) played the role of Dennis Tyde, who portrays Perkins the butler of the manor. Chris French played Jonathan Harris who plays the role of Charles Haversham in the play. Jacqueline Jarrold (THE CHERRY ORCHARD on Broadway) nailed the physical demands of the role of Sandra, the scenery-chewing actress who plays the role of Florence Colleymoore in her 11th season with the drama society producing the mystery.

Chris Lancely (who was in TPTGW Off-Broadway) played Chris, the newly elected head of the drama society who takes on directing and just about everything else for the production, as well as playing the lead role of Inspector Carter. Adam Petherbridge takes on the earnest role of Max Bennett who attempts to play Cecil Haversham in this first production; let’s just say the character/actor is green to a fault. Michael Thatcher, who was in this play on Broadway, played Robert, who portrays Thomas Colleymoore, who I am pretty sure was the first murder victim.

Costume design was spot on in nature and delightfully detailed, especially the ones that I got to see up close and personal. Lighting designed by Ric Mountjoy and sound by Andrew Johnson (and not really run by the character Trevor Watson) was impressive even in its malfunction.

I was not surprised to discover that the Broadway production of THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design in a Play.The scenic design by Nigel Hook is deserving of every prize in the theatrical realm for its cleverness and (mis) functional moves, for move it does, with always hilarious results.

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG is part of the Webster Bank Broadway Series at The Palace Theater and the two remaining dates are Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7:30pm and Thursday, Nov. 7 at 7:30.

Nancy Sasso Janis, writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, posts well over 100 reviews each year. In 2016, her membership in the Connecticut Critics Circle began and her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted not only in the Naugatuck Patch but also on the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theatre Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the NEW CCC Facebook page.

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