 |
"Good fun... Mertz is quick on the draw, Schlossberg is appropriately shadowy, Peter B. Brown is appropriately cardboard as the "good" Dr. Hackemore, and it's always fun whenever Hill is on stage... IT'S FUNNY MOST OF THE TIME, SILLY ALL OF THE TIME, AND FRIGHTFULLY ARTFUL PRACTICALLY EVERY MINUTE... irreverent kitsch, served up by masters!" -- Martin Denton, NYTHEATRE.COM "The soap opera from hell... tightly scripted, very funny, entertaining, lots of good comic moments... Brown tackles his tasks with the flexibility of a contortionist... Schlossberg is a zany zaftig feast of femininity, and the revealing of her shoulder flesh will bring out the sexual hunger of any redblooded male!" -- Carlo Fiorletta, Stage Press Weekly Welcome,
ladies and gentlemen, to Kookamonga Falls… Not too close to where you live. Upstate. Tucked
away in the forests, up in the mountains. Some
folks around here say the woods are haunted.
It is said that at night, when it’s late and you’re all alone, you
can sometimes see the spirits of our gorilla ancestors, drifting through the
woods… Oh, look, there goes one
right now. Oh, and there’s the e-ville
villain, Rudolph Von Hackemore, cunningly disguised as an unusually hirsute
woman with an adam’s apple and an eye patch!
And his long lost love, the otherwise quite frigid Dr. Ilsa Gruenwald,
and her brilliant and terribly repressed husband, the brilliant and terribly
repressed Dr. Peter Von Hackemore… the brother of the e-ville Rudolph!
And just who is… the Mysterious Woman?
No, seriously. Who is she??
Oh, and did we mention the chainsmoking narrator with the bad attitude?
Or the popcorn-eating gorilla? Or
the movie theater that shows only intermission loops?
Or—Nah. Forget it.
You wouldn’t believe us if we told you. It’s all business as usual for Kookamonga Falls, the looniest long-running soap opera you’ve never seen, presented for your delectation and baffled bemusement by playwright Todd Miller, who brought you Mose The Fireman and Das Presley who wrote this madcap comedy exclusively for DMTheatrics, making this the world premiere of this surreal farce. Presented as a live television production, complete with warmup acts and studio audience, this charming, madcap romp is exactly the kind of material audiences have come to expect from DMTheatrics: unhinged, unpredictable, and highly unusual. Peter B. Brown, praised for his performance in DMTheatrics' The Stranger, is Dr. Peter Von Hackemore, trapped in a loveless marriage, hounded by his evil twin brother, and worshipped by his least favorite patient. Moira Stone, electrifying in DMTheatrics' 2000 production of Wilde's Salome, is his wife Ilsa, who falls for the new girl in town, not knowing she's a he, but finding a new lease on life all the same. Bryan Enk, memorable from Bitch Macbeth and the original Fugitive Girls!, is the e-ville Rudolph Von Hackemore, who, in highly unconvincing drag, makes his brother's life a living hell, and stirs the spirits of the Kookamonga forests. And director Michele Schlossberg appears as the Mysterious Woman, who mostly spends her time, well, being pretty damn mysterious. Your guides to this travesty -- er, tragedy, are Ian W. Hill, downtown NYC theater legend, lending his distinctive presence and authoritative manner to the role of Narrator, who can't seem to control any of the action as he'd like, and is not above expressing his displeasure over it; and Josh Mertz, newest member of the DMT troupe, fresh from glowing notices for The Stranger and The Fugitive Girls!, who warms up the audience with extemporaneous comedy, helpful hints, and general abuse. In short, it's how you'd figure we'd do comedy: completely cracked. SPECIAL ADDED ATTRACTION! Before our
long-running soap opera begins, enjoy our opening entertainment, America 2.0, a
puppet show extravaganza about the adventures of Brad, former actor, now
salesman, and his determined efforts to return home from a wrong turn in
Mexico. See him befriend South American supervillains, Tyrannosaurus
Rexes, and many others! Longtime DMTheatrics collaborator Ian W. Hill
designs and directs this delightful slice of sublime ridiculousness -- a kid's
show most definitely not for kids, and most definitely not your average kiddie
show... HEAR THE INFAMOUS HOOLER TAPES!!! DANSE MACABRE THEATRICS in
association with HORSE TRADE THEATER GROUP presents KOOKAMONGA FALLS Starring
PETER B. BROWN BRYAN ENK
IAN W. HILL MICHELE SCHLOSSBERG
MOIRA STONE Produced
by FRANK CWIKLIK and MICHELE
SCHLOSSBERG A NEW COMEDY WRITTEN BY TODD MILLER DIRECTED BY MICHELE SCHLOSSBERG with special opening attraction... AMERICA 2.0 Written by TODD MILLER Puppet construction by BERIT JOHNSON * Sound Design by IAN W. HILL and YOUTHQUAKE! * Performed by IAN W. HILL and BERIT JOHNSON Designed
and Directed by IAN W. HILL PRESS MATERIALS: Stage Press Weekly Review * NYTheatre.com review FIRST PERFORMANCE: The Red Room, 5/10/02 / LAST PERFORMANCE: The Red Room, 6/2/02 |
 |
||