Flat Rock – The Tony Award-winning romp played ten years ago in FRP’s Playhouse Downtown in Hendersonville, and has a spectacular return flight to the Leiman Mainstage on The Rock.
Boeing-Boeing first played on Broadway in early 1965. French-Swiss Marc Camoletti wrote the play in French. It made the Guinness Book of Records in 1991 as the French-written play performed the most ever worldwide.
The zany plot, characterizations, comedic reactions and timing, costuming, and scene design are all superbly up to FRP standards. Reggie Law directs. Boeing-Boeing runs through this coming Sunday, Aug. 25.
American architect Bernard Lawrence (Keith Rubin) lives alone in Paris, in a plush high-rise apartment with three bedrooms. The devout bachelor juggles dates with three stewardess (“air hostess”) girlfriends, typically two days at a time. This is in accordance with their regular flight schedules. He redecorates the room they usually stay in with a photo of him with the fiancée who’ll next visit. He adjusts maid-made meals to their tastes. Each one has a key to his place.
But Bernard deceives them. He makes each one believe that only she is engaged to him. Handsome Rubin with poise and elocution is very believable as a dapper, cultured, brash ladies’ man.
Robert Evolves
Grayson Powell is sensational as Robert Lambert, the small-town Wisconsin friend from college years. Robert drops by before visiting French relatives. Scott Treadway portrayed Robert in 2014. Powell compares quite well. Powell (Law & Order, Madam Secretary) and Rubin (The Equalizer) made TV guest appearances.
Unlike Bernard, conventionally-oriented Robert yearns to marry and is sincere. He’s initially taken back by scoundrel Bernard’s conniving. Yet loyal friend Robert covers for Bernard, getting immersed into the deceit and thickening the plot. His nervousness and gaffes are a hoot, in improvising as matters get complicated.
Oh, how they do! Overconfident Bernard’s downfall is that he relies on airline schedules to space apart each stewardess’ visit. Considering the current rash of major airline delays, the play’s very timely factor is how flight schedules can suddenly and drastically change due to bad weather.
Thus, the three stewardesses’ schedules and times of visits unexpectedly overlap. This propels the play to Shakespearean and Seinfeld heights in terms of romantic plot twists, and quick thinking to steer characters out of each other’s path and detection.
Bernard’s other deceptive ally is his grumbling, pesky French housekeeper Berthe (FRP veteran Marcy McGuigan). Aggravting, omnipresent Berthe hawks over shy Robert. Her sarcastic quips get laughs.
Similarities, Distinctions
Set in the Sixties, the script stereotypes these stewardesses as dimwitted and emotionally needy and unstable. But this spices up humor. They are insecure, temperamental, and sassy.
They are differentiated by their physiques, and by colors of their stewardess uniforms and matching handbags. We first see short New Yorker Gloria (Jessica Mosher), in a blue uniform of now-defunct TWA. The Canadian native sounds hardcore NYC with a nasal, high-pitched giggle.
Brassy vixen Gloria spouts off about how she is the queen, and all males are to be quietly obedient. “The man makes the money, and the woman has the brains,” she says. Gloria’s inglorious views on relationships differ from those of her two unbeknownst rivals.
Italian Gabriella (Carissa Florillo) is taller than Gloria. Florillo has slender, fit legs from her Rockette dancing days. She has Broadway musical credits. Gabriella’s Alitalia (Air Italy) uniform is red, like her face whenever she’s suspicious. Look out!
German Gretchen (Maddie Franke) is the most intense and tallest girlfriend, with the fullest figure. Her Lufthansa uniform is yellow. Gretchen seems good-hearted, and extra eager to settle down. She mixes roles of pursuer and pursued. FRP Frequent Farce Flier Franke hilariously deploys physical humor with sudden motions, brisk gesturing, and wide-mouthed expressions.
Rotating Rooms, Fiancées
The entire play takes place in Bernard’s large living room. Characters go in and out of bedrooms to freshen up, eventually barely missing each other. The audience must imagine that an air hostess in one room somehow won’t overhear outbursts of another one unexpectedly in the adjacent living room.
As a clever device, a globe opens up to reveal a liquor compartment. There’s also room to stash incriminating evidence there. How long will deceit last? Who eludes who? Once reality sets in, who gets most incensed? Who ends up in whose arms?
It’ll cost you $65, $55, or $45 per adult to find out. It’s well worth it. To purchase Boeing-Boeing tickets and find out about upcoming shows, go to www.flatrockplayhouse.org.