Prolific playwright Paul Rudnick has entertained audiences with Jeffrey, I Hate Hamlet, "The Stepford Wives," and now The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. The current production, under the able direction of Geoffrey A. Cox, is a charming, albeit long, interpretation of the script.
Director Cox has added some very recognizable music and comically created dance by Choreographer Kristina Meek to make the whole production more playful than others I've seen. For example, the show opens with a flight attendant (Fonda Cox) advising the audience of the various exits, non-floating seat cushions, and such.
Rudnick isolates moments in history, beginning in the Garden of Eden, in a total reconstruction of many of the characters in the Bible. We first meet Adam (Jared A. Cox) and Steve (Brendon Slater). Later we meet Jane (Christina Pastoral) and Mable (Brittany Thornton), who were created in yet another Garden of Eden. The whole creation thing works well with the very creative lighting by designer Roy Attridge. In this version of the Bible, all the scenes are called by a stage manager (Patience Winters). From the audience, Father Joseph (Frank J. Stanzione) protests the blasphemy, while Miriam Miller (Ellen Brenner) defends the cast's presentation. Les GrantSmith and Robin Dye, along with Stanzione and Brenner, are responsible for a total of 20 roles—a very formidable foursome.
Rounding out the cast is an outrageously flirtatious go-go dancer (Jeff French) and the enticing Fluffy (Stephanie Jackson) who definitely caught the eyes of the straight men and gay women in the audience.
Director Cox milks the first act for every possible laugh. Act two takes place on Christmas Eve in Adam and Steve's Manhattan apartment. Among their guests are a very pregnant Jane. While the act is placed in a festive time, the realities of the gay lifestyle, for some, contrast dramatically with the first act.
The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, at least as interpreted by Geoffrey A. Cox and the Looking Glass Theatre with Rainbow Action of the First Unitarian Universalist Church, is wild and wacky as well as serious and challenging. The enthusiastic cast gives the audience very good interpretations of the characters.
