Superior Donuts, Dobama Theatre

(From left: Joel Hammer as Arthur and Robert Hunter as Franco)

There’s a simple reason why most of us Americans are overweight. We love sugar, fat and salt, and when we get enough of those staples mixed into our meals, we turn out fat…and happy.

The same rule holds true for theatrical entertainments, as is shown in Superior Donuts by TracyLetts, now at Dobama Theatre. Letts, who crafted the provocative and borderline repellant August: Osage County has in this instance whipped up a froth of theatrical meringue that audiences will happily wolf down.

It’s got everything: A crotchety, depressed old white guy in Chicago, Arthur Przybyszewski, who becomes pals with a funny, outgoing young African-American dude, Franco Wicks, who is a budding novelist. Plus, there’s an ensemble of quirky characters. How quirky? How about a black cop who is a Star Trek groupie, a homeless woman who is stockpiling pearls of wisdom in her battered shopping bag, and an Irish bookie who comes across like a heart-warming Father Flanagan until an off-stage incident.

Before the dissection continues, let’s make one thing perfectly clear: This production directed by Nathan Motta is stellar in all ways. One could hardly wish for a better cast, or better pacing, and the production design is spot-on in every aspect. One just wishes all this fine effort were in service of a more challenging script.

Indeed, SupDo is straining so hard to please someone (the audience? the citizens of Chicago, which is Letts’ hometown? both?) that you can see the veins on the playwright’s neck bulging. Franco (a monumentally likable Robert Hunter) is a young man who is so hot-wired for success he overwhelms the dour owner of the play’s titular shop. Sure, it’s a scuzzy hole-in-the-wall in a poor neighborhood of Chi-town, but Franco is brimming with innovative ideas. And even though Arthur seems a dead man walking (as he helpfully explains, “The core of the Polish character is hopelessness”), Arthur hires Franco to work in the shop.

Their inevitable buddy-movie bonding is accented by appearances of neighborhood eccentrics. Max, the Russian owner of a store next door, is always trying to encourage Arthur to sell his store so Max can increase his holdings on the street. Alan Byrne, who took over the role late in rehearsals, is a breezy riot as Max and earns many of the show’s biggest laughs.

Also excellent in smaller roles are John Busser as the bookie Luther Flynn, Mary Jane Nottage as the homeless woman Lady Boyle, and LaShawn Little as James Bailey, the cop who dresses up in Starship Enterprise drag. It’s not their fault that Luther is written a bit too sweet, Lady is written way too wise and James doesn’t have enough words to register credibly as police officer or a Trekkie.

As for Arthur, Joel Hammer is convincing as a sour old guy living out his nasty little life amidst the icing and sprinkles that make up his day. But Hammer is saddled with several soliloquies—spotlighted asides to the audience meant to flesh out Arthur’s biography and give him depth. Unfortunately, these interludes completely fracture the momentum of the play. It seems a lazy way to build a character (let’s just stop the play and read a Wikipedia entry!), and even an actor with Hammer’s skills can’t make it work.

Yes, some darkness is finally introduced into this happy collection of folks, and thank God for that. But even that is undermined in a fight scene that, although well-executed, defies credibility. Also, a variety of political and sociological issues are brought up, including the Vietnam War, draft dodgers, immigrants, the homeless, racial prejudice. But these touches are too glancing and oblique to be taken seriously.

That said, you will enjoy Superior Donuts because Letts knows how to craft some very funny lines, and the skillful Dobama production is just as eager to please as the script. But it could have been so much better if only Letts had brought more of Osage County to this particular corner of Chicago.

Superior Donuts

Through May 24 at Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-932-3396.

Edward Albee’s OCCUPANT

No, it’s not Occupant by Edward Albee. The playwright’s name comes first in this title, which may indicate a slight insecurity with the material, a desire to make sure everyone knows the writer is that icon of American theater and not some schlub off the street.

Even though his name is above the title, marquee-wise, this play is not an ego-driven work. Instead it is an almost gushing tribute to Tussion-born, groundbreaking sculptor Louise Nevelson, a long-time friend of Albee and a figure of imposing importance in the art world.

The structure of the piece is simply an interview, a historian with an encyclopedic knowledge of la Nevelson is asking questions of the admittedly long-dead artist. They both seem mildly amused by that situation, but they then launch into a Q & A that covers the entirety of Nevelson’s colorful life.

Everything, it seems, is touched on: her hard-working immigrant family, her unpleasant marriage, her sexual dalliances, her son, and finally her art.

With apologies to Mr. Albee, the best thing about this production is the acting. Under the precise direction of Greg Cesear, the two actors spin a sublimely hypnotic aura. George Roth plays the sometimes challenging, often fawning interviewer with just the right touch of deference and devotion.

And as Nevelson, Julia Kolibab is a dark eyed force (Nevelson was famous for wearing multiple sets of sable eyelashes), dispensing truths and fictions about her existence with the same assuredness. Kolibab is a stunning presence, and you wish she’d go on talking for much longer.

This is not exactly a flawless production, however, since the script often seems like a glorified, chronological Wikipedia entry, albeit written with the wit and deft conversational feints that only Albee can concoct. And the insights, such as they are (“If you’re lucky enough, you become the person you are inside.”) sound like bad Rod McKuen poetry.

And one wishes that more time was spent on the struggle of this inspired woman to battle her way through the male-dominated art scene, and on her particular artistic vision.

Ah well, we’ll take what we can get. On a handsome set design by Laura Carlson Tarantowski, replete with Nevelson-like artifacts featuring detailed monochromatic black and gold boxes, the show manages to retain one’s attention throughout.

Ms. Nevelson would have appreciated that.

Edward Albee’s OCCUPANT

Through October 12 at PlayhouseSquare, Kennedy’s, 1516 Euclid Avenue, 216-241-6000.

Annie, Beck Center

 Among all the “fingernails-on-a-chalkboard,” cringe-inducing songs of all time, certainly “Tomorrow” ranks right up there. But that may be just because it’s so damn memorable.

Far from a slam, the status of the song that honors the day that will never come may actually may be a compliment to Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin who wrote the music and lyrics for Annie.

This is a show, now at Beck Center, that can win you over with the right performances and production, and Beck hits many of the right notes even if there are a couple less than stellar elements.

This is a major endeavor for Beck, and a sure-fire lock for many sold-out houses due to the hordes of pre-teen girls and their families who will troop in. And they’re being treated to some admission price-worthy theater.

As Annie, the embodiment of the cartoon orphan who leads FDR out of the Depression, Anna Barrett does a fine job. She displays solid stage presence and a singing voice that, while not exactly stripping the paint of the walls (a la Broadway’s original, Andrea McArdle), is certainly up to the task.

She is backed up by The Orphans, the other little girls who animate their hand-me-down rags with plenty of chutzpah and capable singing on “Hard Knock Life.”

Daddy Warbucks is played by Gilgamesh Taggett with some much appreciated underplaying, throwing away lines that become even funnier as a result. And his strong vocals add to the luster of the proceedings.

A standout in a smaller role is Matthew Ryan Thompson as the con artist Rooster. Moving with sinuous intent as he crafts a greasy, unctuous character with the moral depth of a fruit fly, Thompson almost singlehandedly makes “Easy Street” the showstopper it should be.

Unfortunately, his task is not aided greatly by a rather stiff Molly Huey as his henchwoman Lily. And as for Miss Hannigan, the usually reliable Lenne Snively has wonderfully nasty moments but doesn’t quite knit together a whole character that feels as strong as some of the others.

And it must be said that Leslie Feagan has just the right jut of chin to play FDR, along with the clenched Hyde Park accent.

Director Scott Spence and choreographer Martin Cespedes use the voluminous Beck main stage to excellent effect as they maneuver their battalion of actors through Trad A Burns’ many sets and scene changes.  

This Annie is a worth successor to Beck other recent holiday blockbusters, and is sure to make the little girls you know sing “Tomorrow” for many more tomorrows to come. Hey, relax, it’s why God invented aspirin.

Annie

Through January 6 at the Beck Center, 17801 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, 216-521-2540