Images from Groucho

Groucho: A Live in Revue closed on Saturday, March 23. It was a pleasure to be there.

Groucho

It's been a wild ride in my theatrical life over the last month-and-a-half. In the last two weeks of Beyond Therapy at Bay Theatre in Annapolis, MD, I was also rehearsing Groucho at Wayside Theatre in Middletown, VA, over a hundred miles away -- so I had a few days of rehearsal, performance, and nearly 300 miles total of driving. Beyond Therapy closed on March 20th, and Groucho opened on the 27th, only a week later.

Then Groucho really got positive reviews in the Northern Virginia Daily, and particularly in the Winchester Star -- the Star gave me the greatest kudos I may have ever gotten in my life, when FC Lowe said quite simply, "Peter Boyer is the perfect Groucho Marx."

And then another great review came along on p. 8 of the Warren County Report, in which Malcolm Barr wrote, "Peter Boyer . . . IS Groucho."

And then there was an interview on "Talk of the Town with Barry Lee" on Winchester's ABC station. A very fun interview, with host Barry Lee, director Warner Crocker, and me in character as Groucho -- I get to throw out the occasional Groucho-esque one-liners. I'm quite pleased with how that turned out. The interview is the first 7 minutes of the program, and I hope you'll give it a look, HERE.

And I've received so many compliments from folks involved with the show and folks who've seen the show that I'm quite simply stunned by it all. And I have the great fortune to be working with a bunch of generous and talented folks.

So, it's been a heckuva ride. The ride ain't over yet, though, not quite. We close on Saturday, April 23rd, and if I hope you'll see it if you have the chance. For more info and tix, go to Wayside Theatre's website. And if you'd like to see some of John Westervelt's excellent pictures from the show, go HERE.

Work, Work, Work

I'm preparing to start rehearsals for GROUCHO at Wayside Theatre. This preparation is difficult, painful, stressful, tedious, involving such things as placing Marx Bros. DVD's into the DVD player and . . . watching them. Shortly after this post, I shall grit my teeth and watch The Cocoanuts. Wish me luck.

I also have to learn a few songs, like "Titwillow" and "Lydia the Tattooed Lady." Fortunately, in my youth I saw these two songs performed by the Muppets (I assure you I watched The Muppet Show merely to prepare myself for days like this).

I'm looking forward to the more enjoyable parts of preparation, including highlighting my lines and memorizing them.

Here's a couple of "Lydia" videos, from Groucho, then the Muppets, so you can get an idea of the hellish tedium I currently find myself in. If you're lucky, in a couple of days I'll post a more exciting video of lines being highlighted and memorized.

Attack of the Killer Leaping Groucho Bartlett

About the Killer Whale . . .
Last night I dreamed that a killer whale escaped an aquarium. A dramatic leap (over my head), a slide down a grassy slope and into the sea. A visually spectacular dream, sorry you missed it.

About Groucho . . .
I'll be playing Groucho in Groucho @ Wayside Theatre from March 26 - April 23. Rehearsals overlap the current show I'm performing in (Beyond Therapy @ Bay Theatre) by two weeks, and the theatres are over 100 miles apart, so I'll be in for a few interesting commutes.

About That Guy On The Right . . .
Way in the future, I'll be playing Josiah Bartlett in the musical 1776 @ Ford's Theatre. That'll run March 14 - May 19 -- in 2012.

Another Review

Another review has come out for Beyond Therapy at Bay Theatre. The writing is interesting . . . . reviewer Gerald Fischman of The Capital looks not only at how the play comes across today but also how it'll come across (or not) in a generation or two:

"It's Durang's bounciest and most accessible play, but it has also started to date . . . . Today's theater audience - mostly an older crowd - can cope with this. But in a few more decades, the play will not just be unperformable but will have to be footnoted as heavily as one of Shakespeare's comic scenes."

But he's generally favorable, saying some rather nice things about the cast. Here's my bit:

"Boyer injects enough intelligence and poise into Bob to compensate for the fact that the man usually acts like a baby."

Chewing the Scenery Again

I'm currently performing in Beyond Therapy at Bay Theatre. I play Bob, Bruce's gay lover. Some reviews just came out for the show, and here's a few tasty bits --

"Adding to the hilarity [is] Bruce’s jealous live-in lover Bob (Peter Boyer)" . . . . " Boyer is a master of facial expressions and mannerisms: petulant, bitchy, insecure, manipulative. He is brilliant in the Act I finale." -- Bay Weekly (writer not listed)

"Beyond Therapy is Christopher Durang’s best play, and in Annapolis, the Bay Theatre Company is showing us why" . . . . "These actors . . . play these characters beautifully." -- Tim Treanor, DC Theatre Scene
　
"Bay Theatre's current production of Christopher Durang's 1981 comedy Beyond Therapy is consistently beyond funny, often bordering on hysterical" . . . . "Peter Boyer, another Bay favorite, returns as Bob, investing his character with frustration, hurt and a strong will to survive, all with delightful comic undertones." -- Mary Johnson,The Baltimore Sun

This little show runs through March 20.

Tra-la-la-la-Bah, Tra-la, Humbug

Yes, yes, long time no see.

So -- you have 2 weeks left to see A Broadway Christmas Carol at Metro Stage in Alexandria, VA. I play Ebeneezer Scrooge. Yeah! That guy! A Broadway Christmas Carol is "a delightful and unexpected mix of show tune song parodies and Charles Dickens’ classic tale."


We officially opened two weeks ago to rave reviews, like so --

"A Broadway Christmas Carol retells the Dickens story with the help of only three actors and one pianist, all of them extremely talented performers. Peter Boyer plays Ebenezer Scrooge, the perfect embodiment of the stingy old crank at the beginning of the show. Boyer is a talented, agile dancer as well as a powerful singer and his crisp performance is essential to the success of Christmas Carol." -- Barbara Mackay, Washington Examiner

"There's very little "bah humbug" as this high-wattage, all-star cast tackles a timeless tale and gives it new life in the perfect medium for a musical message of ultimate uplift. Three talented area performers bring their Broadway-big voices and broad comedic talent to the completely audience-friendly intimacy of MetroStage and pull it off with infectious hilarity and brio." -- David Hoffman, Fairfax Times

"It’s a Vaudevillian Christmas tale from Merry Olde England, mined gleefully from Charles Dickens." . . . "Peter Boyer gives us Ebenezer Scrooge . . . played with delicious aplomb" . . . "A tip-top cast . . . ." -- Jordan Wright, Alexandria Times

"Charles Dickens, Broadway, vaudeville and slapstick collide merrily in “A Broadway Christmas Carol”, an early gift from Alexandria’s Metro Stage." . . . "The sets are simple but effective, and the four-member cast is versatile and talented." . . . "[Peter Boyer's] musical range and comedic timing are superb." -- Carla Branch, Alexandria News

"The show’s strong suit is its zany quartet of a cast who milk the laughs out of the material in a manner reminiscent of the parodies which were a staple of 1950s and ‘60s comedy and variety television shows." . . . "Peter Boyer [has] a fine voice and an appealingly sly sense of humor." -- Gary McMillan, DC Theatre Scene

Road Trips Are Good For The Soul

A bit of ol' business first: The Comedy of Errors and Scapin! closed a couple of weeks ago. The outdoor shows were often very hot, occasionally brutally hot; but I had roles great and good, and I worked with some wonderful people.

So -- Road Trips Are Good For The Soul:

Jenny's out in Ohio again, teaching a stage combat workshop. I headed out there for the weekend to visit her and a few friends old and new and to see the latest incarnation of Tecumseh! Go see it, make the road trip, it's excellent.

My road trip was a great little escape. My connection to the world via cell phone and TV and internet was severely and marvelously reduced. Interestingly, that's when I got all sorts of good phone calls -- a staged reading, some commercial extra work, and a film booking(!).

On the way to Ohio, I met some great folks in Grafton, WVa., when I got a flat tire. If your car breaks down, try to break down in Grafton.

While in Ohio, a few of us saw The Expendables, which Josh Katzker perfectly described as "awesomely bad" -- it's dumb and absurd and over the top, resuscitates bad old stereotypes, has excessive violence and multiple explosions and maybe 2 or 3 really good 1-liners. It's a great time if you know ahead of time what you're getting yourself into.

Go see Tecumseh! -- yes, I'm repeating -- it's worth repeating: It's a wonderful production of an excellent story, go see it.

On the return trip, in a gas station restroom I saw a sign that said, "For the safety of yourself and others, please wash your hands for 20 seconds (or sing Happy Birthday twice) after using the restroom, handling money, eating, smoking, or touching an unsanitary object. Don't forget to use the paper towel to turn off the faucet!" No paper towels in the restroom; just an air dryer. And do you think the man behind the cash register washes his hands every time he handles money?

Another Good One

Another review has come out for BSF's The Comedy of Errors and Scapin! , this time on the radio -- 88.1, WYPR's Maryland Morning With Sheilah Kast.

Theatre Critic J. Wynne Rousuck says, "there's plenty of pleasure to be had from taking in both productions," and she calls Comedy of Errors "splendid."

Gratuitous self-promotion moment (@ ~2:00 in the review): "In a cast that nimbly handles Shakespeare's language and high jinks, acrobatic Peter Boyer is a stand out as Dromio of Syracuse."

To hear the review, click HERE .

On Stage Again, In Suit and Verse

In my time away from this here blog, I've been doing the occasional commercial / industrial / extra work, except for that month of February when I was staring at / trudging through / shoveling snow.

But now I'm back on stage again, back with the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival for their summer outdoor productions, because I couldn't resist the idea of playing a very physical role in a full suit in 90+ degrees F and 40+% humidity. Sitting in a sauna always bored me to tears, this is much better. We're doing two shows in rep: The Comedy of Errors and Moliere's Scapine. Comedy opened last week, on June 23rd; Scapine opened yesterday.

A couple of reviews for The Comedy of Errors just came out. Links and a few quotes are below.
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From Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun:

"This summer, the Baltimore troupe offers a breezy, polished staging of The Comedy of Errors, running in repertory with Moliere's equally farcical Scapin."

". . . a high-caliber, tightly-matched cast."

"Peter Boyer makes an amusing mark as Dromio of Syracuse, especially in the scene where the character compares a kitchen maid's body to various countries of the globe — one of Shakespeare's rudest, crudest and, of course, funniest passages, given extra zing here. "
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From Mike Giuliano of the Howard County Times:

"The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival gets most things right with its outdoor staging of The Comedy of Errors. It's a relatively short, slapstick-oriented Shakespeare comedy that plays well on the pastoral grounds of Evergreen Museum and Library."

"This production's extroverted performances acknowledge that silliness is the way to go. [The actors'] manic spirit keeps things moving along."

"The most endearing performances are by [Peter] Boyer and [Mark] Krawczyk as the twin Dromios. Dark-suited and bowler-hat topped, they prove to be delightfully limber as they get kicked around by their irate bosses and seemingly everybody else. Their pratfalls make them seem like they've stumbled in from a slapstick film."