Review: Centre Stage's "Tomfoolery"

My first foray into the theatre scene here in Greenville was to see "Tomfoolery", a tour of the songs of Tom Lehrer, at Centre Stage ("Greenville's Professional Theater").

Tom Lehrer got his undergraduate degree in mathematics from Harvard, then became the premiere satiracal songwriter of the 1950s, 1960s, and even a bit into the 1970s. Logical progression, no? Both Weird Al and Dr. Demento consider him one of the greats in satire and comedy writing.

Centre Stage is a small theater that holds somewhere between 200 and 300 audience members in a highly raked stadium-type seating with the stage at ground level. The performance space is small with no separation between the audience and the actors. This performance utilized its space wonderfully, often sending the actors into the audience and interacting with the audience many times. The set consisted of a single wall on a raised platform, two stools, a bench, and a piano and keyboard situated stage left for the lone musician.

I've been a Tom Lehrer fan for years, and already owned the cast recording of the original London production, produced by Cameron Mackintosh, no less! A few of the songs on that 1981 recording were missing from this show, to no loss, and some great songs took their places.

With only a few exceptions (Vatican Rag, She's My Girl, The Old Dope Peddler), the writing was outstanding. The main problems with these specific songs is that every other song was so over-the-top and so beyond the pale, these few just felt too normal and conventional. Vatican Rag just really doesn't work, and I don't think ever has. It's a great idea (the Catholic church has updated their liturgical hymnbook with more contemporary song styles: "Two, four, six, eight, it's time to transsubstantiate!") but I'm not sure any actors could pull this song off.

The rest of the show was brilliant, and several songs were updated to make the satire more timely and a couple times localized. The updating was great, including references to the current presidential race. The localization felt forced, as it often does. References to the local river or nearby cities jarred me out of the illusion of the show. With a cast of four plus a keyboardist, who often functioned effectively as a fifth member of the cast, every person needs to be at the top of their game the entire show, and this cast did not disappoint the audience. Special notice needs to go to Debra Capps and Chris White. In a show that requires actors to leave any self-consciousness at the door, Chris and Debra dove into their roles with amazing gusto.

Angie Price pulled off the two most difficult songs in the show with almost no effort. "The Elements", a listing of the elements of the period table sung to the tune of "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General", at tempo, and "New Math", wherein she teaches a lesson in song on subtraction involving borrowing renaming in both base 10 and base 8. Extraordinarily difficult and executed brilliantly.

A great show to see and a great show to perform when there is a small space, limited cast availability, and small band. I can't wait to see the next show at Centre Stage.

BTW: You should scroll back up to the top and click on the Centre Stage link and find the sexy cowboy they are using in their ads this season. Click on the "Season" tab. Definitely worth it!