Earning a standing ovation on opening night, Cabrini Theater has done it again. On Thursday night, the cast made their debut of the 1988 musical comedy “Lucky Stiff.”
The story consists of an unhappy shoe salesman, Harry Witherspoon, played by junior George Nave, and an unexpected adventure that falls into his lap upon the death of his estranged Uncle Anthony (freshman David Bothwell). Nave’s character is granted the generous inheritance of $6 million, but not without stipulations. These conditions revolve around a pre-planned and pre-paid vacation for Witherspoon and his dead uncle. Should he fail to meet every single requirement of the vacation–including various activities on which Witherspoon must take his uncle’s dead body–the entirety of his inheritance will go to a dog charity. These stipulations are monitored by the close eye of Annabel Glick (played by senior Alyssa Reape) who is a representative of the dog charity and has an oddly intense love of the animal.
The plot thickens with the addition of Rita La Porta, played by senior Anna Giangiulio, and her brother Vinnie Di Ruzzio, played by senior Josh Muska. The siblings each have a special interest in the money as well, and so they race off to Europe to hunt down Witherspoon and his uncle. Meanwhile, Witherspoon and Glick meet several interesting and quirky characters along the way, including Luigi Gaudi (played by junior Danton Moyer), who, along with everyone else, does not seem to take the hint that his presence is not wanted.
Through chases, gun shots, gambling and love affairs, the story was excellently portrayed by the students casted by director Dr. Thomas Stretton. As expected from Cabrini’s cast, hard work paid off to give a wonderful performance.
The music, which is done live, was great and fun and meshed well with the actors who sang along with it. Leads Reape and Nave showed undeniable chemistry on stage through their crazed scenes and beautiful and funny duets. Giangiulio stole the show with her brilliant delivery of her character’s insane tendencies and powerful musical numbers. Muska showed no fear with his character’s outrageous scenes, such as showing up in a maid’s dress, and gave outstanding musical performances. Seniors Se’Quia Bailey and Ty Davis teamed up as Dominique Du Monaco and Emcee to put on the care-free, glitzy show during the night club scene in France. Both Bailey and Davis gave spectacular performances, and Bailey’s beautiful sequin dress drew all eyes to her. Moyer played up his Italian-accented character to its fullest comedic value in his portrayal of Gaudi.
The cast as a whole showed extreme amounts of dedication to the various silly roles and scenes, attributed to by members such as Samantha Murray, Matt Harshberger, David Strouse, Evan Guinessy and more.
If you missed the show last weekend, there are still chances to catch it. The cast will be in action again next week with shows on April 23, 24 and 25 at 8 p.m. and April 26 at 2 p.m.
