Boiling Point Players

Boiling Point Players NEXT OPENING …..

Secrets of a Soccer Mom and Variety Show

May 27. 2014 — Whether or not the very beginning of tonight’s performance of “Secrets of a Soccer Mom” was improvised, the balance between the actor’s lines and voices and the ambiance coming from the other bleachers was quite superb. After the whistle, the lines were a bit halting, like improvisation might be, and there seemed to be some timing problems all around. The acting engine seemed to be having some trouble warming up. The characters of the soccer moms were consistent, well thought-out, well cast, well acted after the first minutes of the play, which seemed to begin after a whistle. By the time there was consoling or crying, the timing issues were mostly resolved. Here in the later parts of this one-act play, there was some brilliant acting from each of the actors. Each, also, had gags, prepared bits of ‘business’, that worked incredibly well. I even found myself, once or twice, just watching a soccer mom talking. They got my emotions going about three quarters of the way through. Then, there was a melancholia on me that I couldn’t quite shake, like I could feel the white-powdered field boundaries of my own life. Some really nice laughs, some real acting, a plot to follow, empathy evoked.

I might have let the lighting intensity in the main playing area remain but would have considered lowering the brightness of the rest of the stage where there was very little action. I have the feeling that the fourth wall illusions and audience focus might have been helped that way.

Thank goodness, after the intermission, the program lightened up with some very amusing, if a bit bawdy, musical numbers. All the members of the variety show troupe did a good job of making me feel good. I must say, though, that it was the finale song which had me whistling like a sailor. The Party Hat song was very nice and the Party Cat, specifically in this particular number, shone like freshly brushed calico. Amy Pope played and sang the cat with just the right intensity, with great acting, with great timing, with wonderful face mugging, with such surprising artistry, with such a great feel for moving in and out of the role of straight man, uh no, cat, uh… straight pussycat, that I left the theater as a real fan. There was some great work tonight. Is it possible that this really is the first repertory offering by Boiling Point Players? I’m excited to see more.

Past performance reviews

 May 22, 2014