Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 15, 1994 TAG: 9402150138
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A nearly sold-out Sunday matinee audience laughed in the all right places and appeared genuinely captivated by the lively on-stage shenanigans.
The show is set in 1961 at Alan Baker's bachelor apartment in New York City. The costumes and set don't evoke the '60s mood, but the pre-show music features tunes that were on Billboard's Top 10 list the week "Come Blow Your Horn" opened in New York.
The story centers on 21-year-old Buddy Baker, played by Christopher Jones, who has summoned the courage to leave home for the first time and go live under the wing of his swinging, playboyish, older brother, Alan, played by Michael Mansfield.
Both sons work in their father's artificial-fruit business. But head honcho Harry Baker, played with admirable wrath and humor by Doug Patterson, views older his son as a shiftless bum and his younger son as a promising protege.
The family havoc that ensues after Buddy pens a Dear-Mom-and-Dad letter and packs up for brother Alan's bachelor pad pits older generation against younger, parent against parent and eventually brother against brother. The resulting comic complications are inventive and hilarious.
The play's premise is ageless, and director Laban Johnson pulls off a crisp production that has style and humor. Johnson last worked with Patterson and Beth Ramos, who plays a mildly meddlesome Mrs. Baker, in Showtimers' successful production of "The Foreigner."
Johnson has the cast working together smoothly so that each player gets a chance to shine in the spotlight. Performances are balanced and dynamic. Mansfield and Jones as the brothers play off of each other's lines particularly well.
Mansfield, who appeared on Showtimers' stage in "Blithe Spirit," "Deathtrap" and "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," has improved on his previous acting experiences to deliver his best performance yet in the role of Alan Baker.
Michele Affronte and Robbin Nuckolls play Alan's girlfriends, who show up at all the wrong times and further complicate the brothers' lives. Affronte is comical and convincing as the gullible, sexy bimbo, Peggy Evans. And Nuckolls is smart, no-nonsense Connie Dayton, who wants something more serious than a casual fling.
"Come Blow Your Horn" promises to deliver a polished and entertaining run through Feb. 20. Because of icy weather, Showtimers cancelled shows on Feb. 10-11 and will make up those performances tonight and Wednesday. Curtain is 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $8 for adults, $4 for students.
by CNB