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closeFriday, Oct. 30, 2009
Jubilee Theatre’s 'Dance on Widow’s Row’ will slay you
Jubilee Theatre’s 'Dance on Widow’s Row’ will slay you.
By PUNCH SHAW
Special to dfw.com
FORT WORTH — See this show, but be sure you stay clear of the potato salad.
The Dance on Widow’s Row, the killer of a comedy now playing at Jubilee Theatre, will keep you laughing. In fact, given that the quartet of widows who drive the action has combined to bury nine husbands, you may risk dying laughing.
The setting for this comedy is the fashionable living room of Magnolia Ellis (Barbara Woods), where she brings together three other widows (Cynthia Jackson, Stormi Demerson and Michele Rene) with some likely bachelors.
The problem is that the street where they all live, with its pavement worn by a steady stream of hearses, has developed a deadly reputation. So the men (Bill Hass, Lloyd Barnes Jr. and Robert L. Rouse Jr.) are a bit nervous as they flutter like moths toward the flames the women kindle.
What ensues is a frequently hilarious series of exchanges among the principals as they try to cope with deaths past and present to stave off companionless futures.
All the women are sharp and sassy in roles that require them to be both catty and coquettish. And the comedy flows even faster as these widows’ pique peaks in the second act.
The males hold up their end of the bargain well. Rouse, especially, has a part that seems to have been written for him.
Ed Smith’s direction moves the show at the brisk pace it needs. And the set, by George Miller, is fantastic.
The only flaws lie in Samm-Art Williams’ script, which is a bit clunky and heavy-handed in places. But it is also filled with more than its share of gold-plated laugh lines, making the occasional lack of grace easier to overlook.
So if your insurance is fully paid up, check out the action on this deadliest street in town. You don’t have to be a one of the characters to be slain by this show.
8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Jubilee Theatre, 506 Main St., Fort Worth
$10-$24
817-338-4411
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