Theater Review: 'Cheese Fries & Chili Dips' at Seven Angels Theatre

Review by Nancy Sasso Janis

“Cheese Fries & Chili Dips” is the unique title of the one man show that can be enjoyed at Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury through Sunday. The two-act play is written and bravely performed by Chris Fuller, a competitive golfer whose “fall back career” is actor/stand up comedian. Perhaps now it is the other way around.

Fuller grew up in Weston, Conn. and now has taken up permanent residence in Arizona. At the age of six, he was diagnosed with ADHD and then at 23, shortly after becoming a professional golfer, he was diagnosed with bipolar two mental disorder.

In the printed program, original director Mark S. Graham notes that Fuller set out to achieve “a humorous look at his life story that could help others better understand his struggles with mental illness.”

Suzanne LaTulipe stepped in to get it ready for its premiere in Waterbury. LaTulipe credits Graham’s development and workshop productions for shaping the show, but she writes that “it is very much Chris’ story and enthusiasm that you will see during this performance.”

Fuller’s writing and performance exhibits his struggles with finding a life path while dealing with bipolar’s extreme changes in mood, often self medicating and learning from the supportive people around him. All of his non-linear story is told with liberal doses of humor. Much of his early history is explained as he acts out snapshots of a seven day stay in a hospital psych ward.

Throughout his performance, the actor takes on the personality of his coach, psychiatrist, family members and others that played a role in his life. He likens his long-time golf Coach Mike to the gentle PBS star Mister Rogers. He plays his doctor as Dr. Evil, Mike Myers' character in the Austin Powers films. He includes his father, a nonfiction writer, and his mother, a psychic and writer and also his stepfather in his heartfelt story.

Fuller is on the stage alone, delivering the lines that he wrote at a relaxed rate, for almost all his performance. However, he does have a bit of help, both onstage and off, from his assistant stage manager, Jessi Cohen. The adorable Cohen is a graduate of West Conn. who has worked at Goodspeed, ACT of CT and Thrown Stone Theatre Company. She helps make the audience participation scene work, moves some set pieces, assists with costume changes and plays an EMT.

The costumes for Fuller and Cohen were designed by Dianne Bernhard, who notes in her bio that she has known Fuller since he was a young boy. His golf attire features hot pink shorts and cap.

There is plenty of helpful multimedia (designed by JD Clayton) that is projected above the set featuring blooming saguaro cacti designed by Miggs Borroughs of Westport. Fuller drives a golf cart onto the stage and often uses it as a large prop. LaTulipe serves as the multimedia board operator, with Peter Petrino serving as lighting designer. Jimmy Donohue is the play’s production manager that can be heard introducing the show and calling Fuller to the stage for the second act after the intermission.

This show is not just for people who know a lot about golf. Seven Angels Artistic Director Semina De Laurentis admitted that she did not and still very much enjoyed the performance. I noticed that the Sunday matinee audience laughed more during the second act. By the end of the story, the playwright explains the meaning of both parts of the title of his work and even dons a costume of one of them.

There is a bit of foul language in the script. Fuller’s two golf humor books “Goodnight Putter” and “Goodnight Golf” are on sale in the Seven Angels lobby.

“Cheese Fries & Chili Dips” closes on Sunday. Use code "birdie" to unlock $25 tickets to any of the remaining performances at SevenAngelsTheatre.org.

All photos by Paul Roth for Seven Angels

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theater reviews since 2012 as a way to support local venues, and she posts well over 100 reviews each year. She became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle in 2016. Her contributions of theatrical reviews, previews, and audition notices are posted in the Naugatuck Patch as well as the Patch sites closest to the venue. She is also a feature writer and theater reviewer for the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column IN THE WINGS and theater reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and Connecticut Theatre Previews and on Twitter @nancysjanis417 Check out the CCC Facebook page.