Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Column
Plan ahead: 'Tuna' will be delicious
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published June 24, 2006
If you're looking for a reason to keep yourself healthy and alert, here's one: The two-man comedy Greater Tuna is coming to the Show Palace Dinner Theatre Aug. 31 to Sept. 23, 2007, and you absolutely don't want to miss it. Set in the mythical town of Tuna, Texas, it has two actors playing 20 different characters, all of them hilarious. The linchpins of the show are radio station OKKK personalities Thurston Wheelis and Arlis Struvie, who lounge around an imaginary microphone talking about the big doings in town. From there, the two actors metamorphose into 18 other characters: the profane used-gun merchant Didi Snavely and her dense husband R.R., busybody Bertha Bumiller, mild-mannered Petey Fisk, portly Aunt Pearl Burras and a host of others. Often, the performers have less than 10 seconds to change costumes, and, more difficult, change age, gender, attitude, and, at one point, species. Many of the characters appear several times throughout the show, making things even more complicated and presenting an even greater challenge for the performers. There isn't a plot, just a loving send-up of the quirky characters that populate the tiny town of Tuna. It played for ages off-Broadway, was made into a movie and spawned two sequels, A Tuna Christmas (my all-time favorite comedy) and Red, White and Tuna. Show Palace favorites Matthew McGee and Candler Budd have already signed up to do the show. The duo set attendance records and wowed audiences and reviewers when they did The Big Bang at American Stage in St. Petersburg this year. Even with a month to go, they've already broken the June/July attendance record at the Show Palace in their terrific rendition of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple. The show is one of eight shows in the June 2007 through May 2008 season just announced by theater owners Nick and Sal Sessa. The season also has Neil Simon's comedy-farce, Rumors (June 1-July 8, 2007); the Fats Waller tribute Ain't Misbehavin' (July 13-Aug. 26, 2007); Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic, South Pacific (Oct. 5-Nov. 17, 2007); A Show Palace Christmas (Nov. 22-Dec. 25, 2007); the naughty The Full Monty (Jan. 4-Feb. 24, 2008); Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate (Feb. 29-April 13, 2008); and Joe Camper's Big, Bad, Bawdy Burlesque (April 18-May 25, 2008). Season ticketholders can purchase tickets between July 10 and Aug. 7. Starting at 9 a.m. on Aug. 8, all unsold seats for the 2007-08 season will be up for grabs. Strangely, the Show Palace has opted to run Greater Tuna for only four weekends, instead of the usual six or eight. That's why I'll be standing in line to get my ticket when the new season goes on sale. nnn Still another Show Palace alumna has gone on to Broadway. This time it's Kristie Kerwin, who recently joined the cast of the blockbuster, Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot at the Shubert Theatre. Ms. Kerwin played the title role in Gypsy at the Show Palace in February 2003. Her sister is Katie Kerwin, who frequently choreographs shows at the Show Palace (Viva Vegas!, Brigadoon) and may be remembered as Annie in Annie Get Your Gun and Velma in Chicago, among other roles. nnn Another Pasco County venue has announced a season of dinner shows for 2006-07, this one at the Polish American Pulaski Association's place on Darlington Road in Holiday. Ticket prices and the date the tickets will go on sale will come later this summer, but people who like comedy and variety shows might want to pencil these dates into their calendars now. Oct. 6: "The Godfathers of Comedy," Joe Beddia and Pat Capuzzi. Nov. 3: Comedian-singers Timothy Hawkins and Ginger. Dec. 1: Tommy O and Marilyn do a Las Vegas-style show with impersonations of Elvis, Pavarotti and Marilyn Monroe. Jan. 5: Singer-songwriter-comedian-pianist Cahal Dunne. Feb. 2: Rob Garret's tribute to Neil Diamond; opening is impressionist Christopher John March 2: Mariachi band and singers in "A Night in Acapulco." April 6: P.J. Leary's tribute to Louie Prima and Keely Smith. The dinner is served buffet style, with a choice of roast beef, chicken, pork from 3:30 to 6 :15 p.m., and the show starting at 6 p.m.
[Last modified June 24, 2006, 07:40:11]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
