What I liked
The actors – every single one was engaged, engaging and pitch-perfect.
The costuming and music, again, pitch-perfect.
The venue, perfect for a send-up of the prohibition days!
Having Robert Benchley (Nicholas Daly Clark) Come out to riff in a particularly Benchley way to cover for a longer scene change.
What I didn't like
1.- Oddly enough, one of my favorite things, the venue — I LOVE Three Clubs, always, and especially for this — but the lack of stage lighting specificity I think made the scene changes longer than they needed to be.
Also, visibility is almost nil in the back row of tables (Maybe a secondary riser for those tables?).
2.- Late seating – I was turned away previously because I had arrived late on a different date – which I understood and abided by happily; and yet at least two people were allowed in late for this performance, which was particularly distracting since the entrance door is also a scene stage entrance for these performances.
These are small enough nits to pick, though. I was delighted by the play itself and the performers.
My overall impression
Came to see some some of my favorite Jazz Age wits exchange barbs, was treated to the turning point in a hero journey for a young writer. All the actors’ performances were nuanced but remained sharp, not falling for the lamentable predilection to drop every bit of writing to the lowest common denominator or make the characters blandly “nice”; particularly Alexander Woolcott (played with beautifully acerbic poison by Steve Brock) and Dorothy Parker (appropriately excoriating while still vulnerable) for this feat I tip my hat not only to the actors, but to the director, Dig Wayne and the writer, Steven Vlasak. The costumes and great piano music and Black-Bottom dance tickled my ever-lovin’ flapper heart.
