By James V. Ruocco
From October 12, 1950, to September 22, 1958, "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" was broadcast at 8 p.m. Mondays (and then Thursdays) on the CBS Television Network before an at-home audience of nearly 30,000,000 people. Filmed first without canned laughter, then screened before a live studio audience to elicit real reactions and real responses, the half-hour sit-com became an immediate primetime hit, dubbed by "Variety" as "dizzying and unique" and "laugh-out-loud, unmistakable bliss" from "The New York Times."
In "George & Gracie: The Final Bow" - a scrumptious, refreshing spring tonic of charm and kitsch - Seven Angels Theatre lovingly turns back the clock to the bygone days of 1950's television at Hollywood's General Service Studios to pay homage to one of the entertainment industry's much-loved married couples, their writers, their humor, their weekly running sitcom gags, their camera crew, their kooky storylines, their supporting players and lastly, their prestigious sponsors - Carnation and BF Goodrich.
Chock full of cheer-worthy ideas, formulas, ambitions, details and nostalgic retrospect's, it overflows with laughter, immersive tilt and lots and lots of effervescent, contagious, immersive comic substance.
It is 5 STAR entertainment.
It is briskly stirred and shaken.
It is witty and irresistible.
It is shrewd and sparky.
It is committed and twinkly eyed.
It mindful of its origins.
It bounces up and down.
It's such good fun, you really don't want it to end.
Conceived and created by Semina DeLaurentis (Artistic Director of Seven Angels) who also stars in this production as Gracie Allen, "George and Gracie: The Final Bow" makes good on its title, magnificently citing the broad-stroke challenges, aesthetics, mindsets, timelines, gags and history associated with television sit-coms of the 1950's. Her engagement, sculpted with definitive research, contrast, characterization and story arc evolution, gives the production its verve, its snap, its tingle, its tilt and its archival thrust.
Moreover, DeLaurentis is a sublime storyteller. She knows how to brainstorm. She takes chances. She knows what works and what doesn't. She's an original. She gets comedy. She understands comedy. She knows how to play comedy. She also knows when to pause, when to take a breath, how to get a laugh and how to deliver and play a line without missing a beat.
Here, she pulls some of the best written moments from "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" - dialogue, jokes, commercials, sponsorships, monologues, cockeyed ideas, asides to the audience - and crafts not only a two-act comedy well worthy of watching but one that sweeps up the audience in its giggle-upon-giggle merriment and one that not only leaves them wanting more, but upon conclusion greets and gallops toward a rousing standing ovation.
Julia Kiley, who staged the theater's earlier "George & Gracie" comedies including 2017's breezy, laugh-a-minute "The Early Years" is back in the directorial chair for "The Final Bow," which, she mounts with assurance, inspiration, sweetness, tilt and swagger. Other Seven Angels directorial credits include "Laughter on the 23rd Floor," "It Had to Be You" and "Souvenir." Well versed in the mechanics, maneuvers and staging techniques associated with both comedy and drama, Kiley is in her element - process, analysis, exploration, genesis - bringing laughter, involvement, zing and snap to this crafty comic elegy to the golden, old, forgotten days of live television programming.
Completely knowledgeable of 1950s television, its stars, its concept, its innocence, its audience, its preparation and its actual performance, Kiley time travels to the CBS studio backlot - script in hand - and seamlessly creates an atmosphere of actual live studio actor-audience immersion that complements, indulges and merrily replays the era from whence it actually came.
As "George and Gracie: The Final Bow" evolves, Kiley, working with set designer Daniel Husvar and lighting designer Nathan Avakian, moves the story forward with skill, interest and rope, offset by the same staging techniques and blocking maneuvers concurrent with the 26-minute episode conceit of "The George Burns and Gracie Show" including set ups, scene changes, stage curtain openings and closings, commercials, and finally, pauses or interruptions in the action with Burns chatting directly with the audience. It's all timed, diced and spliced to perfection, aided by the nostalgic ambience of the theater itself, its handsome period lighting fixtures, its proscenium stage backdrop and a seating design reflective of CBS studios itself.
Kiley, as director, also makes great use of an hilariously orchestrated, well-cemented running gag from the actual sitcom, which involves actors sidestepping past doors and entrance ways to get to a given scene faster without any abrupt halt to the storytelling. As with the original "The George Burns and Gracie Allen," pacing and great comic timing play a major role in the proceedings, which here, is replicated with dizzying finesse, aesthetic and playful adaptation.
It's a role she was born to play and play it she does.
As Gracie Allen, a woman and wife whom the real George Burns once said, "would shorten the cord on an electric iron to save electricity," Semina DeLaurentis delivers the comic performance of the season stamped and inked with a honeyed presence, a zesty twirl and a gleeful, comic abandonment that personifies the observational, comic prowess, rhythm, truth, nuttiness and signature buzz and motivation that was Gracie Allen herself.
Here, the actress's ability to conjure up the character's naivete, innocence, corny sensibility and frequent bouts of misconception and miscommunication is not only a genuine source of continued hilarity throughout the two-act comedy but one that celebrates the real-life comedienne's innate genius and individuality as both actress and star of the long-running CBS sitcom.
Allen, per "Variety" could "charm and dazzle audiences with a uniqueness that made her truly special." In "The Final Bow," DeLaurentis does exactly that mixed and sprinkled with that daft, intuitive, trademark pizzazz and zing she has brought to so many Seven Angels Theatre productions including the hilarious "Nunsense" musical series created by Dan Goggin.
That said, "George & Gracie" also takes DeLaurentis on a decidedly different journey. It's one she has great, great fun with particularly since much of the humor - like the sitcom itself - is based on the jigsaw madness that finds Gracie Allen gathering and scrambling up bits and pieces of the puzzle, which, for entertainment purposes, she deciphers in ways that humorously adapt to her own way of thinking and idiosyncrasy.
Since comedy is her forte, DeLaurentis segues from scene to scene with thrill and spill, spin and verve and patter to patter. Dressed in splendid, fashionable period costuming much like the real Gracie Allen would wear, she blazes across the Seven Angels stage motivated by the slap and tickle of the script, the comedy mayhem itself, and the big reveal of the aftermath that follows. This, coupled with her talent for physical comedy, gallop and line delivery prompts immediate, sustained laugher at every lofty twist, turn and surprise. Amazing. Yes, indeed.
Arched eyebrow, trademark cigar in hand, R. Bruce Connelly invests his starring role of George Burns with a keen vaudevillian showmanship and stand-up style and engagement that intuitively reflects the real-life persona of the late comedian during his glory days at CBS while working alongside the love of his life, comedienne and wife Gracie Allen. Acting wise, he gets George Burns. He understands George Burns. He respects George Burns.
But he's no copycat. Here, as in the 2017 production of "The Early Years," he puts his own decisive spin on the character. He's got the moves. He's got the voice. He's got the smile. He's got the twinkle. As interpreter, he invests "The Final Bow" with a charismatic, personable, honest portrayal of the comedian and much like Burns, takes his place in the spotlight knocking you over with jokes, one liners and humor that is relatable, honest and in sync with 1950s storytelling. He also has great fun with the show's comic hijinks and treasured reenactments from the sitcom itself. And as the show's leading man, he is much enamored and in completely in sync with DeLaurentis, much like George was with Gracie.
As Harry Von Zell, the put upon straight man to the show's full-on straight man George Burns, WATR radio showman Tom Chute, in a comic role that suits his talents perfectly, brings the popular sitcom character to life with understandable charm, lampoon and charisma. It's a part he invests with second banana wit and gait and delivers with the sure-fire inventiveness that made the real Von Zell a household name. His great sounding broadcast voice is also put to great use in the production's staged commercial moments and splendidly channeled voiceover commentary throughout the show.
In the role of Blanche Morton, Gracie's best friend and next-door-neighbor, Sarah Knapp turns her sitcom sidekick character into an amusing character portrait of 1950s housewife and confidante, laced with glamour, drive, giddiness and pioneering flashpoint. It's a multi-layered performance commandeered with flawless comic timing, expert line delivery and entertaining will and spark.
Cast in a variety of multiple roles - Eye Doctor Bradley, Waiter, Man at Table, Lt. Dixon, Jimmy - Jimmy Donahue takes each and every one of these five different characters and puts his own unique comic spin on them. He is funny. He is natural. He is real. He is personable. He's unique. He's a comic chameleon with such impeccable coming timing, daring physical energy and in-the-moment craftiness, if Burns and Allen were still alive today, they would swoop him up immediately and add him to their television comedy in a heartbeat.
A great-looking, smartly performed piece of theatre with ingenious, breakneck exercises of silliness designed to make you laugh hard and loud, "George & Gracie: The Final Bow" slides and glides with smart moves, staggering sitcom titillation and breezy intoxication.
DeLaurentis and Connelly are a dream team worth remembering. They are also true originals who absolutely love exactly what they are doing.
Thomas Gordon's savvy spin on vintage, period costuming explodes with colorful pops of fabric, line couture and capsule. The play's background music is perfectly in sync with the soundscape of the period it recreates. And lastly, anyone anxious or looking for laughter, "George and Gracie: The Final Bow" is megawatt, full voice entertainment respectful of the origins its recreates and the dynamic duo it so lovingly salutes, portrays and remembers.
Photos of "George and Gracie: The Final Bow" courtesy of Paul Roth
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