Review: Leave it to Beverly at the Off Center [theater]

Closer scrutiny of the sets, the dialogue, the costumes, and the gender roles actually reveals nuance aplenty. German knows his subject well and part of the joy of watching this production is paying attention to the very many details he gets just right.

Episode One: Leave it to Beverly, finds our protagonist Beverly (Heather Huggins) being pushed by her (unnamed) Husband (Chris Gibson) to do his bidding because he’s the man, and that’s that. Enter Bev’s neighbor Minerva (Stephanie Denson) once Hubby’s off to work and, uh-oh, ladies can be so dangerous when left to their own devices—more than a little bit of I Love Lucy here. Suffice it to say, sans spoiling, that canned laughter quite literally plays a role in this episode.

Episode Two: Trixie Knows Best, is a send up of I Dream of Jeannie, that Barbara Eden vehicle of old, in which a magically powerful babe has her powers greatly dampened by her man—except when it serves his purposes. Lisa del Rosario could not be one drop more adorable as she dances and twinkles around the stage, working to please the Commander (Jacob Trussell) and fighting the urge to mess with nosy neighbor Mrs. Krabbitch (Rhonda F. Kulhanek). This episode also offers a large whiff of Bewitched, courtesy of Trixie’s meddling, magical mother, played to the absolute Endura-ble hilt by Jude Hickey in a performance that is award-winning and then some.

Episode Three: Make Room for Lorraine, shines brightest among the acts, because this is where German really cuts loose. It is also where all of the characters from the preceding episodes wind up together in the home of Lorraine Peachtree (Michelle Brandt) and her husband Sven (Scott Roskilly), who bears more than a passing resemblance to a very famous, very clean man. While Lorraine also pops up in the earlier episodes, this is her moment to shine, shine, shine. No way to explain how without giving it all away, and we are not going to give it all away.

The culmination of a multi-layered, uber-goofy plot finds our gang dancing up a storm, breaking up into teams for a hilarious competition that leaves several of them all quite literally wrapped up in truth-telling, and indulging in some rather unusual party snacks.

Does all this sound a bit confusing? Well, it is tricky to explain the overlapping parodies, but actually taking in the performance is not confusing at all. Nor is there some heavy duty message or moral to the story, beyond the obvious: a) all those old TV shows sure were damn sexist and b) women aren’t really stupid after all! Which is to say don’t look for surprises in the storytelling, but do delight in the way the stories are told. This play ranks as light and fluffy as the shows it parodies—welcome fun, pure and simple. Truly an ensemble piece, Leave it to Beverly gives each character numerous opportunities to take center stage. Each, in turn, seizes the moment, delivering lots of memorable moments. The only drawback—and this is a minor complaint—is that, with a run time of two hours (plus a fifteen minute intermission) it could potentially do with some tightening. That said, there are no particular lulls that merit cutting—you’ll definitely find plenty of laughs in every scene.

Leave it to Beverly runs through November 21 at the Off Center.