I’ve likely said this in earlier posts or elsewhere, but
in my not so humble opinion, Northville’s Tipping Point Theatre ranks among the
area’s top professional theaters when it comes to consistently producing shows of the highest quality. Under the leadership
of producing artistic director James Kuhl, I know before walking into the
theater that the following expectations will be met in
full: The show will be well cast and expertly staged; all of the technical
elements will be first rate; the house staff will be friendly and courteous; its
longtime beloved stage manager will once again avoid the eye of my camera; and I’ll
have a very entertaining evening.
That was certainly true of the performance of “A Comedy of Tenors” by Ken Ludwig and directed by Angie
Kane Ferrante that I attended last week.
It’s what I learned after
the performance that impressed me even more!
“A Comedy of Tenors” is your typical door-slamming farce,
with pretty much each of the familiar accouterments that comes with the genre.
So I knew to expect a love-triangle or two and a series of mistaken identities and other mishaps –
which means it’s the type of show Tipping Point does well, and one its
audiences seem to love.
It’s also a breathtakingly fast-paced show, and with this
particular genre, it means entrances and exits must be made very quickly, as
must changes from one costume to another. There’s no time to screw up or slow down.
As anticipated, all went well throughout the performance.
Not a single miscue was noticed. But after the performance I heard that the
actor playing world-famous opera star Tito Merelli, Richard Marlatt, was not
feeling well that night. Without giving much away – and hence, not requiring a spoiler
alert – it’s a major role, and a difficult and juicy one at that for an actor
of Marlatt’s caliber.
Yet not once did I ever get the feeling Marlatt was
giving less than 100 percent. He seemed to be at the top of his game (and
having a blast, quite frankly) from the moment of his first entrance through
his final bow at show’s end.
So, too, was everyone around him – especially the always
wonderful Sarab Kamoo who plays his beautiful and loving wife, Maria, with an
equal amount of Italian fire and fury. They were wonderful together.
Because split-second timing is so important to comedies
such as this, anything less from Marlatt would have been detrimental to the
show. (Even more so would have been an understudy filling in for him!) But
being a professional actor means you give it your all despite whatever adversity
is placed before you – and that’s exactly what he did. And as a result, his
Saturday night audience was treated to yet another laugh-filled night of
theater at Tipping Point.
As I fully anticipated.
(As an aside, last
weekend was an unexpected “Dave Davies weekend” for me, as on Friday evening I
saw a show he directed, on Saturday a show he was in, and on Monday a show for
which he did some voiceovers. He seems to be the busiest thespian in town right
now, and deservedly so!)
SHOW DETAILS: “A
Comedy of Tenors runs through Dec. 23. For complete show information, CLICK HERE!
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| Richard Marlatt, Sarab Kamoo Hope Shangle, Nick Yocum |