I'm Connecticut - Ivoryton Playhouse

I’m Connecticut, playing at the Ivoryton Playhouse through April 19, has a lot of laughs.  And I did laugh, but I’m someone who is always in stitches at the bean-eating sequence in Blazing Saddles and thinks the Three Stooges are comedic heaven.  In I’m Connecticut, the humor is decidedly of the lowbrow, sophomoric, and scatological variety, but what would you expect from a writer for The Simpsons?

The show is a classic take on boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and finally wins her hand.  The plot centers on Marc, a lonely, lovelorn neuroscientist from the boring state of Connecticut, who begins dating an attractive receptionist, Diane, from a speed-dating business.  The relationship goes smoothly until a lie he used comes back to haunt him.  As he attempts to win her back, Marc is pelted with advice from several people, including his overweight colleague, Kyle, and even Mark Twain.  However, with help from his forgetful grandfather (Alzheimer’s)  and Diane’s shoot-from-the-hip southern mom, Polly, Marc reunites with his true love.  And maybe granddad and Polly do too.

 

Playwright Mike Reiss takes no prisoners in his writing, using the Holocaust as a significant storyline, and mocking, teasing, and taunting Jews, Canadians, Southerners, the elderly, and the genitalia of various states of the Union (it is actually a funny bit).  The characters in the show are more two-dimensional than fully developed.  The play’s structure comes off as a series of connected sketches rather than a fully realized comedic work.  The show, broken up into a 60-minute Act I and a 25-minute Act II, could have easily been condensed into a full one-act, especially when trimmed of some superfluous material.

 

Director Jacqui Hubbard keeps the pacing quick and ensures the set-up for the laughs is secure.  Cultivating well-defined characters is not the mission, but to keep the play thumping forward.  Some of the routines work better than others, such as the aforementioned battle of the states, but others, such as a Connecticut history lesson and the audience participation moments, fall flat.  John Horzen’s colorful projections along the edges of the proscenium stage are playfully reminiscent of the 1960’s TV show The Dating Game, and are satisfyingly incorporated into Scenic Designer Starlet Jacobs’ sliding sets.

 

The affable cast is led by Quinn Corcoran as the ever-hopeful young man from Simsbury. Marc.  The actor comes across as likably bland, which is exactly what is called for in the role.  Deanna Scott brings a cheery disposition to Diane and does manage to inject some depth into her performance.  The featured members of the show provide ample support – John C. Baker as a befuddled Mark Twain; Michael Barra as Marc’s hefty friend, Kyle; Bonnie Black as a feisty wife and the wise-cracking Polly; R. Bruce Connelly as the sometimes bewildered grandpa; and Kenneth Robert Marlo as the tough-talking manager of the speed-dating service.

 

I’m Connecticut, playing at the Ivoryton Playhouse through April 19.  Click here for dates, times, and ticket information.