Two rival golf clubs. A prodigy with a broken arm. A priceless vahze. A $200,000 wager. Granny's engagement ring. The Golf Channel. Oprah. Raw oysters. Champagne. There's even a couple putters, a driver and few golf balls knocking about the stage. Sounds like a recipe for a disaster on stage and laughter in the seats!
Ken Ludwig writes sturdy, if not spectacular, farces like "Lend Me a Tenor" and "Moon Over Buffalo." While "Fox" amuses, the plot gets thin; worse, comedic sand traps like "She kissed my balls for good luck" litter the script. I winced; the crowd cheered as if celebrating Tiger Woods marching up the fairway at Augusta in April 1997.
Full credit to director
Paul Bernier. He gets every inch I thought possible out of "Fox" - and then some. The show has it all: visual puns (so many hideous golf outfits); a chase scene; lipstick smears; a drunk woman (with hysterical blindness) using a putter as a cane; Kelly Legarreta stomping around on these tiny little platform wedge shoes.
Paul Kerr brings a bulldog's playfulness to hapless Quail Valley director Bingham. Barking, bullying, then cowering at the first sign of a greater aggression. A drunken flirtation with Serena Vesper's too-sexy Pamela Peabody brings laughs. Their dizzy chemistry and absurd antics (plus Vesper's tight costumes) will have you in stitches.
Jim Heffernan delights as hard-nosed, crooked, mustachioed Dickie Bell, the villain-in-chief at Crouching Squirrel. He sneers. He leers. He mixes metaphors, wears ugly sweaters and even more hideous pants. Every club has seven more like him. You'll love him!
Legarreta comes near to stealing the show as bruising Muriel. From husband-beating entrance to sex-addled exit, she creates a hilarious character. Her mole/beauty spot is a true work of art.
Rachael Endrizzi (Louise) and
Sean Riley (Justin) get to play silly, goofy young lovers, complete with squeals, squawks, tears and fits. The "I flushed Granny's heirloom engagement ring down the toilet" scene is clearly as much fun for the actors as it is for the audience.
"The Fox on the Fairway" (the title is never explained) serves up laughs, putts, champagne, love affairs and more. No shanks, no slices and plenty of nice, easy fairways! And of course, there's a hospitality cart!
Chris Silk is the arts writer and theater critic for the Naples Daily News. To read the longer version of this review, go to: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2013/mar/25/review-broadway-palm-golf-farce-fox-on-the-fairway/
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