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| Broadway Playbill 1974 |
It is a physical comedy with lots of action.
The most unique part of this production was the design of the set.
The entire stage was covered with platforms with a house structures on either side of the stage complete with balconies.
There was a large round cutout in the center section of the platform that mimicked a circus ring.
Upstage of the main platform we set up the risers and the 100 seats from the Lab Theatre across the hall and had audience members seated on both sides of the set.
The set was colorful and there were several café tables on the platforms and members of the audience were invited to sit at them and during the play and they were served Cokes.
In the front section of the platforms that were built out over the first few rows of the regular seats, there was an opening that became a waterless moat complete with a rowboat.
Three of the theatre’s scenery batten pipes were brought down and ran between the two house sets.
An actor walked along the pipes as if it were a tightrope during the play.
The pipes were brightly painted and still have some of their color 25 years later.
Our production was fun in spite of a lead actor who turned out to be a dud.
He could not act or do any of the physical comedy bits that had to be given to two other actors who were happy to do it.
The “Stunt” doubles got to use a pogo stick, ride a unicycle, run, tumble and other fun things during the show.
Either of those actors would have been a better choice for the lead instead of the one the director picked, but he later said that he saw something in the actor during the audition that he never saw again.
During one rehearsal an actor jumped off of one of the balconies and smashed into one of the platforms breaking it apart.
I was never told the actor was going jump from 8 feet down.
When I rebuilt that section of the stage I made sure it was much stronger and it survived the rest of the run.
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Updated 3/3/18
