Review: 'Rumors' at Community Theatre at Woodbury

Dedicated to Tim Phillps “Thank you places”

Watertown, CT - RUMORS is a well-known comedic play written by the beloved Neil Simon. Ed Bassett is the guest director of this very funny piece for the Community Theatre at Woodbury production that opened on Friday and runs through Jan. 19, 2020.

I probably wouldn’t put RUMORS at the top of my favorite comedies, but there is no denying that the rapid-fire wit of Mr. Simon keeps the audience laughing. It is a long-time favorite of the guest director. When Board Member Maureen Denver asked if there was a show that he would like to direct in this space for CTAW, Mr. Bassett writes in the program that he didn’t take a full minute to respond with RUMORS. In the hands of the guest director and this wonderfully-talented Woodbury cast, the large opening night audience laughed generously and I developed a new appreciation for what is Mr. Simon’s most-produced piece.

I was interested to read that RUMORS opened in the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego back in Sept. 22, 1988 and the cast included Christine Baranski, Jessica Walter, Rob Leibman, Joyce Van Patten, and Ken Howard. Now THAT is a cast I would have loved to see.

Coincidently, the first time I ever saw RUMORS was on my very first visit to the Clockwork Repertory Theatre back in 2012; Phoenix Stage Company, where Mr. Bassett is managing director, is now located in the former Clockwork Rep. I was shocked to discover that one of my first reviews I ever published of the Clockwork production is still available online; reading it reminded me that the fabulous Bill Wilson played Len, Timothy Cleary was Ernie and Mike Ritts took on the role of Glen.

In Mr. Bassett’s debut as a CTAW director, he nailed the quick entrances and exits required, the interactions of the various couples, and just about all of the moving parts in the two acts. The pace was very quick and the laughs often came so quick that the rest of the actor’s line was drowned out. The best one-liners were all landed perfectly.

This show is an actor’s show. An opportunity for the performers to fully inhabit their characters, and this cast does just that. The fast-paced action and “thinking on your toes” dialogue is challenging, the timing essential and communicating without saying a word is a true test.

"Considered to be Neil Simon's funniest and most successful comedy, RUMORS concerns a group of friends gathering at the home of the Deputy Mayor of New York to celebrate his tenth wedding anniversary. However, when the first guests arrive, they find the Mayor has been shot (just a flesh wound) and his wife, as well as all the domestic help, are missing. As each new couple arrives, they enter into a plan to keep things out of the headlines, and the RUMORS start to fly. One by one, they pile up until one of the guests must pose as the Mayor and explain, to the police, 'just what the hell is going on here tonight!' What ensues is the funniest ending to a play ever devised!"

While all members of the cast rose to the challenge, many performances rose to new heights in my opinion. Just when I think that Roger Grace (IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU and DROWSY CHAPERONE in Goshen, Farquaad in SHREK at Richter) could not give a more memorable performance, this wonderful actor proves me wrong. I honestly would enjoy watching Mr. Grace read the telephone book (now there is a dated reference,) but seeing him bring Lenny Gantz to life was a special treat. The patron seated behind me immediately acknowledged the talent of “the guy with the neck” injury and I had already made this note in my program. This experienced performer was at his comedic best in that he never broke character and delivered some of the best lines with a sly touch. I enjoyed every single second of his time onstage in another yet stellar performance.

Right there is the starry sky was the talented Lana Peck as Lenny’s wife Claire in her very first show at CTAW, but certainly not her first show. I have enjoyed her work as Frau Blucher in YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, Kate Keller in THE MIRACLE WORKER and on many episodes of the NUTMEG JUNCTION radio show. As Claire, she too was at her comedic best and was the perfect foil for the Lenny of Mr. Grace. I hope to see Ms. Peck in many upcoming productions.

I usually see Michael C. Accousti of Prospect on the Goshen stage, where he was in I LOVE YOU, YOU’RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE and LEND ME A TENOR, but here he appears in his second production with CTAW. He was a riot in the role of the frenetic (and temporarily deaf) Ken Gorman. Missy Cowan played very well the role of his wife Chris Gorman in her third CTAW show wearing a lovely purple gown. In her bio, Ms. Cowan cleverly writes: “We all are familiar with the adage ‘laughter is the best medicine…’ Here’s hoping you leave this performance feeling ‘heavily medicated.’”

I haven’t seen Tony Benedetti (THE LARAMIE PROJECT at CTAW, PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN at PSC) in a while, so it was fun to see him on the CTAW stage again in the small role of Officer Pudney. The twenty-year-old Jacob Rogotzke (SHREK, THE ADDAMS FAMILY) looked to be having fun in the role of investigating Officer Welch. Another young actor named Jack McKeever, who has taken improv classes at Sea Tea in Hartford, made his theatre comeback since he was in the fourth grade in the role of Glenn Cooper.

Terence McDonald, recently retired from the Theatre/Film faculty at SUNY in Buffalo after 43 years of teaching (!,) was very cute in the role of Ernie Cusack and Liz Jaffin (CALENDAR GIRLS,) who grew up in England, brought a lovely British lilt to the role of Cookie Cusack. Dana Comerford Bruton, who appeared in THE DIXIE SWIM CLUB at CTAW, gave what I thought was a very professional performance as the sultry Cassie Cooper.

If the rapid-fire pace slowed just a tad in spots, it was not the fault of the stage manager Tim Phllips. Dennis Walsh was the show’s producer, Bill Geddes designed the lighting and Kathy Doyle was in charge of the props on the lovely set with five doors and an extended stage. There was some incidental music and loud music plays into the action and the uncredited costumes fit the setting very well, with Ms. Peck’s dark blue gown my favorite.

Be forewarned that there is some strong language in the script. The opening night audience felt a bit like a Phoenix Stage Company, with Mr. Phillips and his wife Laurie, Jeff Savage, Jane Coughlin, Lauren DeRosa Woolf and the dapper Mr. Bassett himself in a snappy black suit. It was because of the Phoenix Stage Company that I began my theatre review passion and it will always have a special place in my heart. I also was able to check in with Rep-Am critic Joanne Greco Rochman during intermission.

Next up at CTAW will be THE REALISTIC JONESES directed by Sarah Robards (LOVE LETTERS) in March and NUNSENSE in May directed by Maureen Denver with musical direction by Lynne Kearney.

The Community Theatre at Woodbury is an all-volunteer organization. CTAW presents their work at the Woodbury Historic Town Hall located at 5 Mountain Road in Woodbury, CT. There is some on street parking near the theatre, but I always park across the street at the Post Office and cross at the crosswalk. Click for tickets.

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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