Laughing by the side of the road

I'm the last person who should write commentary on baseball, or a play about baseball broadcaster Ernie Harwell. But I have to admit Mitch Albom's one-act tribute to the Voice of the Detroit Tigers is an entertaining evening even for non-baseball fans like myself. Harwell, who died in 2010, was a likable character and Albom's play, Ernie, which opened last night at Wealthy Theatre, captures him very well. Michigan actor Will David Young bears an uncanny resemblance to Harwell and has his sorta southern drawl down pat. Albom's script is packed with Harwell quips like "two for the price of one" (double play) or "that one's long gone" (home run.) So to paraphrase Ernie, don't "stand there like a house by the side of the road" and watch this one go by. Performances continue through next weekend.

Grade A laughter

Laughing is my life's work. And I was working overtime tonight at "The Dixie Swim Club" at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre. This show has some hilarious lines such as "You couldn't wear that dress to a phone interview." In my job as a theater reviewer, I see all sorts of humor. Slapstick. Campy. Insulting. Vulgar. But my favorite is witty repartee. Sassy barbs bouncing back and forth like a tennis ball. The kind of lines that sneak up and slap you silly. That's what you'll find at "Dixie Swim Club." And not a curse word in the bunch. Just good clean fun. Dive in. The water's fine.

Laugh lines

I'm not in any hurry to grow old, especially after getting a preview recently of what I will look like with a few more wrinkles. In preparation for "Dixie Swim Club," the season opening show at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre, several of us were invited into the dressing room to use makeup to accentuate our wrinkles instead of covering them up. We learned some of the techniques that makeup artists will be using to help the five actresses in the show to age 33 years in two hours. In this photo, the laugh lines of talent agent Malinda Petersen have been accented with dark makeup. That's me, right behind Malinda. I'm a little concerned that I may have even more serious laugh lines since I've been Laughing for a Living for more than a decade. Oh well, every job has its downside. Check out some more photos from our evening of aging on Mlive. "Dixie Swim Club" opens Friday and continues through Sept. 22. It's about five women whose friendship survives 50 years, pregnancy, divorce, hurricane and dementia. Now that'll give you some worry lines!

Laughing at the City Club

Everyone always expects my book, Laughing for a Living, to be hilarious even though the title refers to my great luck to have a job that causes me laughter. But laughter is contagious and when I gave a presentation today at Women's City Club for a good crowd of about 70 people, we were all laughing at the life I've led. It was my first try at supplementing my presentation with Power Point, and I was afraid we'd be laughing at my technical failure. Thank goodness all went well. What a lovely, exciting place Women's City Club is. I've been there before as a visitor, but I was so excited to sign my name in a speakers book  that spans decades...and naturally, that's only one of many registers spanning the club's history of more than a century. The club is a venue for the upcoming Art Prize so if you haven't visited it before, be sure to stop in. The food is to die for.

"Boeing-Boeing" takes off

There's nothing like a set with six doors to predict a successful farce. And when one of the doors has a little window for peeking, so much the better. Peeking through the door in "Boeing-Boeing," the latest show at Mason Street Warehouse, is a wisecracking French maid who's fed up with her playboy boss who's been romancing three different airline stewardesses. Yep, you guessed it. The playboy and a school chum keep stashing beautiful women behind different doors, hoping they don't run into each other, which of course they inevitably will. Catch my full review on Encore Michigan.

Twinkle, twinkle little star

Remember how Carl Sagan used to talk about the "billions and billions" of stars in the universe? Well, when you're talking about that many stars, one star more or less doesn't make much difference. But when there are only four stars -- as in the rating system used by The Grand Rapids Press -- one star can make all the difference in the world.

Last week, Circle Theatre opened a fantastic farce "See How They Run." If you read my review on Mlive, you know I gave it three stars -- which means it's a great show, recommended. But if you read the review in Sunday's Entertainment section of the printed Press, you saw only two stars, meaning an average show, take it or leave it. 

The printed review had a typo. A falling star, you might say. The Press will print a correction. Hopefully the stellar qualities of the show will shine through the words of the review like billions and billions of little stars. But just in case, be sure to spread the word. Yes, you should "See How They Run."

Laugh-a-minute

Circle Theatre's latest farce, "See How They Run," is a non-stop riot of silliness. How do they run? Through the living room, over a body and out onto the balcony. They run into the kitchen. They run into the closet. They run up the stairs. They run in a clerical collar. They run in a night shirt. They run in bright green polkadot boxer shorts and socks with suspenders. They run circles around Circle Theatre and leave the audience breathless from laughing so much. For more details, catch my review on Mlive or in The Press on Sunday.