Thea Brooks (Lucy), EuriamisLosada (Ricky), Kevin Remington (Fred), and Lori Hammel (Ethel), in I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE. PHOTO BY: Ed Krieger
I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE: Comedy. Adapted for the Stage and with new material byKim Flagg and Rick Sparks.Staged and directed by Rick Sparks. SHN Curran Theatre, 445 Geary St, San Francisco, CA.www.shnsf.com and 888-746-1799.
November 11, 2014 – November 23, 2014
I Love Lucy: Live on Stage is hilarious nostalgic look at 1952 TV icons. [rating:5]
I Love Lucy: Live on Stage had its beginnings in the year 2000 as an exhibition that traveled around the country to state and county fairs called “I Love Lucy 50th Anniversary Experience.” It was so successful it became the seed for the stage show that is producing gales of laughter and applause at the Curran Theatre. It is cleverly wrapped up with the theatre audience witnessing the live taping of two episodes of I Love Lucy TV show at the Desilu Playhouse soundstage.
For the younger generation unfamiliar with black and white TV, I Love Lucy shows starred husband and wife team red-headed Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. Their neighbors were Fred and Ethel Mertz who drifted in an out of the storylines. The two episodes selected for the play are “The Benefit” and “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined.”
In “The Benefit” no talent Lucy (Thea Brooks) agrees to coax talented singer/band leader Ricky (Euriamis Losada) into performing at Ethel’s (Lori Hammel) Fine Arts Club benefit. The stipulation being that she, Lucy, would share the spotlight. Lucy’s rehearsing to improve her non-melodious voice is actually ear piercing since she can hardly sing on key. Ricky rigs the performance giving Lucy minimal lines and not equal billing. No one turns the table on Lucy who steals the punch lines and the duet ends on a happy note.
In the second episode, “Lucy Has Her Eyes Examined,” Ricky invites a producer home to dinner. Lucy, Ethel and Fred (Kevin Remington) discover the producer will be auditioning for a new Broadway show. Lucy, Ethel and Fred are not to be denied their chance for fame. Lucy hires a jitterbug teacher (fantastic Richard Strimer) and they put together an acrobatic dance that has the audience cheering with Ricky’s terrific band as backup. Ethel and full-bodied Fred in a lavender outfit are a kick and a holler with their “Varsity Drag” song and dance. When the eye doctor puts drops in Lucy’s eyes that blur her vision, the audition dance becomes hysterically hazardous.
Although the interaction between all involved in each episode is terrific comedy, the fill in between scenes involve commercials that almost steal the show. Members of the Crystaltone Singers are superlative with their over-the-top renditions of the jingle-driven commercials for Brylcreem, Alka-Seltzer, Halo shampoo and Chevrolets. Then too you can enjoy (or laugh at) the1950s costumes that are changed for almost every scene. The women of a certain age will surely ask, “Did I wear that?!!”
Euriamis Losada (Ricky Ricardo) and the company of the national tour of I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE. Photo: Hyra George
Added to all this is the fine singing of the Euriamis Losada and the terrific Tropicana Nightclub Latin Band complete with drummers pounding bongos that appear at appropriate intervals. The 90 minutes without intermission flies by. Highly recommended.
CAST: Thea Brooks as Lucy Ricardo; EuriamisLosada as Ricky Ricardo; Kevin Remington as Fred Mertz;Lori Hammel as Ethel Mertz. With Sara Jayne Blackmore, Sarah Elizabeth Combs, Gregory Franklin, Jody Madaras, Carlos Martin, Denise Moses, Cindy Sciacca, Kami Seymour, Richard Strimer, Mark Christopher Tracy.
THE BAND: Andy Belling, Musical Director, Conductor and First Keyboard; Bryan Miller, Alternate Conductor, Second Keyboard and Conga; Ron Barrows, Trumpet; Dave Lotfi, Drums/Conga; David Olivas, Saxophone and Flute; Nicholas Stankus, Banjo and Bass
Kedar K. Adour, MD
Courtesy of www.theatreworldinternetmagazine.com
Thea Brooks (Lucy), EuriamisLosada (Ricky), Kevin Remington (Fred), and Lori Hammel (Ethel), in I LOVE LUCY® LIVE ON STAGE. PHOTO BY: Ed Krieger
