For its annual musical, Saint Louis University’s theater department put on a production of Lucky Stiff, a comical farce chronicling one man’s ridiculous attempt to honor his uncle’s dying wishes-for profit, of course.
The musical is based on The Man who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo by Michael Butterworth, with the script and lyrics written by Vynn Ahrens and the music by Stephen Flaherty.
Taking a cue from Weekend at Bernie’s, the play revolves around the main character, Harry Witherspoon, trying to fulfill the conditions of his uncle’s will, in which he is required to cart a disguised corpse around the streets of Monte Carlo. Throw in some sexual tension with Harry’s antagonistic love interest, Annabel, a dash of mistaken identity, the glitz of the French Riviera and a convoluted sub-story line, and you have got the recipe for a lukewarm production that left me hungry for more.
While I applaud the valiant efforts of the cast to salvage this musical, there was little to be done. The high energy of the cast and their all-around acting skills are, however, still laudable. Dylan Duke (Harry) gave an enjoyable performance, with his comedic timing and on-stage charisma. His depiction of a down-in-the-dumps shoe salesman turned would-be millionaire was one of the highlights of the production.
The female lead’s, Nichole Fischer (Annabel), portrayal of a tragically single animal rights activist who compares the love of a dog to that of a man, was pleasantly fun to watch. Arguably, the most notable performance was given by Lynn Zimmers (Rita), who played an adulterous Marisa Tomei a la My Cousin Vinny-inspired woman plotting a murderous scheme to gain back the money she embezzled from her cuckolded husband.
The main characters were supported by a slew of talented actors: Katie Consamus (Dominique), Andy White (Vinnie) and Kevin Boehm (Luigi).
The cast made the musical slightly easier to swallow, but they were not enough to distract from the poor production quality, an almost trite storyline and a multitude of less-than-memorable songs.
The quality of the music itself left much to be desired. The company’s opening number of “Something Funny’s Going On” unfortunately revealed some not-so-stellar voices in the cast and a few awkward harmonies.
Besides the singing, the stage and set design also came off noticeably unpolished. While a noble attempt to depict a change in scenery, transparent partitions on casters did not effectively convey an English shoe store, let alone the glamour of the French Riviera. The most ingenious stage decision in the show was “Les Femmes”, four young actresses who personified everything from telephones to roulette tables.
All in all, I left the spring musical disappointed in Lucky Stiff’s predictable story line and some rather uncomfortable musical numbers.
Despite the cast’s solidly respectable performances, I almost envied the “lucky stiff,” as he was oblivious to the stagnant theatrical sea surrounding him.
