Four Old Broads
The Mesquite Arts Theatre production of Four Old Broads is a hoot. It’s the Golden Girls on steroids and set in a nursing home. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and sorta sweet, too. It’s like visiting your fun Grandma, the one who baked those requisite cookies, but then let you stay up late to watch the scary movie with the curse words on way past bedtime. Be forewarned, the four central characters in this tale might be living their golden years but, they’re not girls, they’re broads with a capital “B”.
But just what is a broad? I like this definition from actress/comedian Susie Essman who defines a broad as "a real woman. A woman who can hang with the guys when necessary but is still the best friend her girlfriends could ever wish for. A broad likes to eat and drink and laugh out loud. A broad is not offended by ribald or salty humor. In fact, she can curse with the best of them. A broad knows who and what she is and although some people may say she's crass or unladylike, she knows exactly when and how to use her feminine wiles—and when and how to tell those same people to go shove it.”
Emily Reyna Croy’s Beatrice has no filter and a rapid-fire hair-trigger bazooka of a mouth that shoots out barbs, bombast, or back-up, depending upon which she thinks her friends need most. And make no mistake, these Four Old Broads do become the closest of friends. Croy’s Beatrice and Doris Villarreal’s Eaddy are an amazing comedy duo, in the best tradition of Laurel and Hardy. You believe in their longer-term friendship, and you equally believe just how much they get on each other’s nerves. One recurring gag, which works every time, are the heartfelt prayers that Villarreal’s Eaddy is perpetually offering up on behalf of Beatrice or, occasionally, her other friends. Meanwhile, Mary Briscoe’s Imogene is a sweet and slightly confused newer member of the retirement home, whom Beatrice and Eaddy have recently taken under their wings. The ladies are planning a vacation away from the Magnolia Place Assisted Living Center in Petula, Georgia. Perhaps it will be a cruise? However, overhearing the planning, and deciding to invite herself, is the delightful Audrey Medrano’s Maude, a tv soaps addict who is consumed with planning her own funeral. Medrano’s Maude is an unmade bed of a character and a later makeover engineered by the other three is great fun and leads to some great physical comedy from Medrano. Briscoe’s Imogene has a suitor in Sam, a slip-disked slinky hipped over the hill Elvis impersonator, played by Briscoe’s real-life husband, Tom Briscoe, with Vegas showroom flair and Elvis’ signature moves. Watching their romance blossom right in front of us is moving and inspiring!
Janel Cooper’s Pat, the would-be director at the center, is just not a nice person! But is she a true villain? Cooper is mysterious and compelling, and she makes you fear for our four old broads as they investigate some mysterious goings on. Kimberly McClenney’s Ruby Sue is that sweet and kindly nurse we all hope to find at the assisted living center, but her behavior seems odd as well. Just what is going on?
Well, you’ll need to rush and buy a ticket if you want to figure that out. Scott Croy has directed a laugh-out loud laugh riot of a show that got a boisterous standing ovation at the end of the performance I saw from an audience who’d fallen in love with Four Old Broads. Croy not only has all his central actors keeping the pace fast, furious, and fun, but he’s fleshed out the center’s atmosphere with other members of the staff and residents, who might not have a speaking part but adding so much interest and reality to all the happenings. Emily Reyna Croy was also the Costumer/Props Designer and handled Set Design as well. The costumes suited each of the broads’ differing temperaments and sensibilities, and there’s one comic costume created especially for the show by Croy that Medrano wears to great effect. Croy’s set is excellent, taking full advantage of the space, and chock-full of architectural interest, and the games, books, and tchotchkes you'd expect to find in a center like this.
I love these Four Old Broads and I’m more determined than ever to make it to the retirement home with my original hips, as I now know that old broads can really party!
Comments
Post a Comment