Lucky Stiff - Seven Angels Theatre

Seven Angels theatre deserves plaudits for staging the little-known musical, Lucky Stiff, the first work by the composing team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Anastasia, Seussical).  This is the first show under the new leadership team of Constantine Pappas (Artistic Director) and Craig David Rosen (Managing Director) since the retirement of the theater’s founder and long-time Artistic Director, Semina DeLaurentis.

Hailey Aviva, Jonah King, Jonathan Zalaski, Abby McGough, Constantine Pappas in Lucky Stiff.

 

The musical, a non-stop comedic romp of fun and delight, is an unsteady production.  The story, based on the novel, The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo, concerns Harry Witherspoon, an unhappy shoe salesman, who suddenly inherits $6 million from his uncle.  The catch - he must tour his uncle's embalmed body around Monte Carlo for his “last vacation” and pass him off as alive to claim the fortune. If he fails, the money goes to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn. Book writer Ahrens has taken the novel’s elaborate plot points and crafted a show that hardly takes time for a breath.  The musical, filled with mistaken identities, tangled affairs, and frantic efforts by characters to hide their secrets, humorously follows Witherspoon and his nemesis from the Dog Home, Annabel Glick, race around the French Riviera.  Complicating their undertaking is one Rita La Porta, who also has her sights on the $6 million.

 

Savannah Stevenson, Paul Rescigno, Constantine Pappas, Molly Mode in Lucky Stiff.

The lyrics and music by Ahrens and Flaherty are full of comedic gems and tuneful numbers.  Their work here provides insight into the scores for their latter and more successful shows.  Highlights include “Mr. Witherspoon’s Friday Night,” “Good to be Alive,” “Speaking French,” and “Times Like This.”

Zayaz Da Camara, Constantine Pappas in Lucky Stiff.

 

While Director/Choreographer Robert Mintz has helmed previous productions of Lucky Stiff, the show at Seven Angels, while, overall, entertaining is not as fast paced or frenetic as one would hope.  The primary set by Scenic Designer David Goldstein is rudimentary – stairs and a sheeted backdrop.  Other production values are simple – an actor holding a cut-out plane or train on a stick to simulate that mode of travel – and could have been more robust. 

Constantine Pappas in Lucky Stiff.

 

The two lead performers  - Constantine Pappas as Harry Witherspoon and Molly Model as Annabel Glick – are an enjoyable team to watch and have a very satisfactory rapport.  They tackle their respective roles with gusto and comedic chops.  Savannah Stevenson, who was marvelous as Grace Farrell in the Sharon Playhouse production of Annie this past summer, is not as sure-footed as the myopic Rita La Porta.  Paul Rescigno, Rita’s mild-mannered brother Vinnie DiRuzzio, is properly agitated and disconcerted with his sister’s hijinks, but is sometimes too over-the-top in the role.

 

Lucky Stiff, playing at Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury through October 12.  Click here for dates, times, and ticket information.