Scattered Clouds with "The Sunshine Boys"

I think by and far my favorite line of the show comes from Willie, as played by Steve Shelton, and he delivered it perfectly: "I'm gonna drop dead from spite."

In fact, quite a few of Neil Simon's lines were delivered quite well - the pacing between Mike Stewart as Ben, Willie's nephew, clicked right along. The beginning of the show has a very long scene between just the two of them, but it was here that I saw Mr. Shelton deliver more of a variety of emotion/nuance in his voice as he speaks to his nephew - he seemed to lose the nuance as the show progresses, though still does a fine job as the cantankerous Willie. Mr. Stewart was able to maintain levels of variation in his performance throughout the show, and was fun to watch.

Once Charlie Ogar arrives as Al Lewis, however, the pace of the show comes to a near halt.

Although I thought Mr. Shelton did sound like he was from New York, and worked guilt and schtick as much as he could, I had a much harder time understanding Mr. Ogar and placing his accent. It was inconsistent, and his timing was very slow to pick up his cues from anyone on stage. While I realize this is his first performance, and he had a tremendously heavy line load, unfortunately he just didn't have the charisma that the role really needed. He and Shelton had, to say the least, an inconsistent chemistry. These were two vaudeville actors, and they should have slipped right back into their quick-tongued banter; unfortunately Mr. Shelton and Mr. Ogar just couldn't keep the tempo tight.

Director Kerry Waters put together a strong supporting cast - though they were in the show very little. Ron Lott as the Announcer used his voice quite well. Gary Mitchell as the TV Director was spot-on as a no-nonsense let's get this done kind of guy. Garrett Clinard and Faron Supanich were also adequate for what their roles needed.

The pace really picked up and some audible laughs were heard when Ms. Croff took the stage; she knows how to play the dumb blonde and she adds some much needed stimulation to the show, playing well off Mr. Shelton. She knows how to milk a scene - and the audience enjoyed it.

One of the better scenes in the show that could easily get overlooked fell between Marni Holmes and Steve Shelton; it was a great contrast from the over-the-top acting of Ms. Croff, who helped to propel the show along just after the act break. Ms. Holmes brought realism back into the story with the banter she had with Mr. Shelton. She was likeable and very laid back - and she helped to clip that scene along too.

One of the most disappointing thing about the show is the set. Willie is supposed to live in a dilapidated apartment and the set was painted in a mixture of pink and blue, so it honestly looked more like a nursery. More than likely the beige on the one wall where the bathroom was would have worked well for the entire apartment - a dull color, with dull furniture is what was needed. The construction of the set worked well, and the very few scene changes worked quite well too.

Overall I thought "Sunshine Boys" was a fair production; the biggest problem it faced was timing, and losing momentum in the scenes with just Willie and Al. However Ms. Croff, Mr. Stewart, Ms. Holmes and Mr. Mitchell help to jumpstart the show as it goes along and helps to propel the plot forward.

There are a lot of funny lines, and Mr. Shelton and Mr. Ogar get their laughs - but not nearly enough of them. For the most part their performances become predictable and dull when they are together. Perhaps it's just a matter of not having the right chemistry - I'm not sure.

I was also confused about the very end of the show; the director made a choice to make it look like Willie passes away on stage, perhaps hoping for a poignant wrap to the show; however this is a comedy, and the idea that these two old curmudgeons are going to be stuck in the same retirement home is part of the hilarity of the ending, and that just gets dropped. I'm not sure why that choice was made, but it really left me leaving the theatre confused and a little sad that these two never truly buried their demons - the final scene was confusing. Perhaps it was left open to interpretation, but it was too cloudy to really be able to make an assertion either way on the fate of these comedians. Well, except that they weren't quite as funny as I'd hoped.