Lauren Frost Blue group

Lucky Stiff and lucky you too

What would you do for six million dollars? English shoe salesmen Harry Witherspoon would do anything to get away from the boring life he calls his own, including carrying his dead uncles body around Monte Carlo for a week. Lucky Stiff describes human greed perfectly, all the characters in the play are after the money of Tony Hendon who was shot dead in this own apartment. Lucky Stiff, a musical put on by Montgomery College opens with the song Something Funnys going on which describes what you dont see in the play that a man named Tony Hendon, (Olavi Takala) who lived in New Jersey has been murdered. The scene changes and shows the boring life of Harry Witherspoon (Liam Allen), and English shoe salesmen, then one day he gets a telegram telling him of the death of the uncle he has never met and asked to come to New Jersey to hear the last will of his uncle, Tony Hendon. Hendons last will is strange to say the least, he is promises his whole estate, and life savings to the nephew he has never seen on one condition, and then the lawyer brings in the body of Tony Hendon. Take the body to Monte Carlo the will says, everything is paid for already, and there is a set schedule. Carry the body around Monte Carlo and do everything scheduled for a week and the estate and six million dollars would belong to Harry Witherspoon, and if he didnt want to do it the money would go to Herndons favorite charity, the New Jersey Home for Dogs. After much contemplation Harry decides that anything was worth six million dollars was worth anything even carrying a body around Monte Carlo. In Monte Carlo, Witherspoon meets Annabelle Glick (Aurora Beckett), one of the devoted members of the Home for Dogs, who valiantly tries to catch Harry doing anything wrong which would breach the will thus giving the money to the Home for Dogs.

Also in Monte Carlo after the money is Rita LaPorta, played by Awa Sal Secka who was having an affair with Tony Henderson, and gave the money to him after she embezzled it from her husband. She was also the one who shot and killed him after seeing a woman come out of his apartment. She and her brother Vinnie DiRuzzo, a mild mannered optometrist played by Jacob Meile are chasing Harry and Annabelle trying to find their money and save themselves from Ritas husbands wrath. The combination of these characters all trying to fill their need for the money create a hilarious situation that with a surprise ending that cant be matched. The main cast of Lucky Stiff really is amazing. Liam Allen who plated Harry Witherspoon was great, he really adapted the character physicality and became Harry Witherspoon, including the English accent, he strongly emoted all of his feelings and the viewer really feels what he is feeling. Besides his acting his singing was on point, he hit every note and even showed emotion in the songs. Aurora Beckett was also good at adapting the physical traits of the character. She became a shy, uptight, and determined woman, who did not care for anything but dogs. Both of the characters worked really well together in the songs Dogs versus you and Nice, the contrasting sounds of their voices, and their characters characteristics worked amazingly well with each other, and through their songs and actions it was extremely easy to tell that their characters had feelings for each other but were shy about it. The most dynamic character and actress in the play was Awa Sal Secka who played Rita LaPorta, the woman who caused all of the events to happen when she had an affair with Tony, stole from her husband, and then shot Tony. Her character was head strong, sometimes sweet, and sometimes frightening, and she did an amazing job of showing that. When she had a gun in her hand I genuinely felt afraid for my life and when she cried about how her only love was gone because of her I wanted to wrap my arms around her and cry with her. Her

beat changes were on point and you can tell when her characters motives changes from greed, to for love. She was also a strong singer, in her first song Ritas Confession which she sings with Vinnie her brother her strong vocals are really showcased. Jacob Meile who plays her brother was also a character who used his characters motives and beat changes in a positive way. He also was a strong singer, one of his best songs was Phone call where he speaks to his wife about going to Monte Carlo, what is really amazing is how quickly he goes from sweet and caring to furious. One of the most interesting parts of the play is that they had n actor who was on stage but dead the whole time. Olavi Takala who played Tony Hendon was a great dead guy, from the audience you could not tell that he was actually a living person. The set created by Roger Bridges, and Dennis Mulligan was simple, yet effective, there was a small house like structure that was used as Harrys flat, the bedroom in Monte Carlo, the Casino and everything they needed. When they were in Monte Carlo they added a giant roulette table around the edge of the stage which was a constant reminder of where they were, and that they were after money , it also symbolized how everything all of the character was a gamble, and something that they could not count on. The director Bobby Smith did a fantastic job with the staging and choreography, there was never a dull moment in the play and the character never upstaged each other. It was evident that he really worked on the relationships that each character had with each other because I was always able to tell what they characters meant to each other. Smith and Jay Crowder the music director also made sure that the music was on point and reflected the tone of the play at the time. The costuming was also simple although I felt it didnt always reflect the character effectively, Zakutansky the costuming director had Annabelle Glick in a somewhat childish outfit although her character was anything but childish.

The play ends with the song Good to be alive which was a strong performance by all of the characters. I was thoroughly pleased with this performance, and especially impressed by the acting and singing. If you want to see a play that has mystery, music, dancing pictures, tiny trains and planes, love, greed, and everything in between I highly recommend Lucky Stiff at Montgomery College.