Jason watches Dr Strangelove: Live!
At the
Dark Room. Yeah,
they do stuff other than Bad Movie Night there. In fact, they do bad
movies and good plays, often (as in this case) based on good movies.
DR
STRANGELOVE is, of course, a classic. And this play reminded me why
it's one of my favorite movies ever. They do a pretty straightforward
take on this, not a lot of jokes that aren't in the film. Often such pop
culture plays are parodies of the original, but this is more accurately
an homage by people who love the film (it was written and directed by
Dark Room owner/operator Jim Fourniadis, who not only claims this as his
favorite movie, but met his wife at their first production of DR
STRANGELOVE: LIVE! some number of years ago).
The
stage is pretty bare and simple, but the energy is excellent, and the
cast is spot on. Particularly high marks for Sean Kelly as the titular
Dr. Strangelove, Damien Chacona as General Buck Tergidson, and Tim Kay
as Group Captain Lionel Mandrake. Even more than the rest of the cast,
they became Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, and...um...Peter Sellers.
The
only thing I missed from the original was the closing song of "We'll
Meet Again." Jim told me they had tried it in earlier productions but it
was too somber and he prefers ending on an upbeat note. So instead they
played "Dr. Love"
It plays Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays until the 17th. Tickets
here.
Oh yeah, and see pics of the performance from my friend Ira
here.
