The Arts / Reviews

Playcrafters lives up to its ‘Promises’

By David Burke | Wednesday, September 17, 2008 | () comments

With Jennifer Kingry’s direction and set design and Stephanie Naab’s costumes and makeup, Playcrafters creates an irresistible early ‘60s vibe with its newest production, “Promises, Promises.”

The parade of short-skirted, white-lipsticked young females and the pastel-painted set both look like they came straight out of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” and set the stage for an enjoyable night.

But what hooks you into the rare Playcrafters musical production (after two years of musical revues) is its leads, Chris Walljasper and Jaci Entwisle.

With Brylcreemed hair and a square jaw, Walljasper looks straight out of the Montgomery Ward catalog as rising executive Chuck Baxter, whose greatest attribute to the New York City insurance company where he works seems to be his bachelor apartment and a penchant for keeping quiet. Walljasper, co-founder of Davenport’s Harrison Hilltop Theatre, accentuates his performance with a series of Jim Carrey-esque facial contortions.

Entwisle is full of charm as Fran Kubelik, the object of Chuck’s affections and the subject of on-again, off-again flings with one of the company’s higher-ups. A St. Ambrose University student, Entwisle has had four very different roles this year in shows for Prenzie Players, Riverbend Theatre Collective, Harrison Hilltop and now Playcrafters. In each one, she’s been eminently watchable, the kind of performer who is tough not to notice. She exudes so much warmth that it’s easier to forgive some vocal problems with the Burt Bacharach tunes.

Among other outstanding performances are Greg Cripple as the cad of a philandering boss; Heidi Pedersen as Chuck’s Christmas Eve bar pickup; Jamie Bauschka as Cripple’s secretary and former fling; and Jim Pearce as Chuck’s doctor-neighbor, whose decidedly un-New York delivery grabs the heartiest laughs of the night.

The only collaboration between Neil Simon and songwriters Bacharach and Hal David, the show is not the best work by any of them but is early evidence of each blossoming later in the ‘60s. Simon’s second act takes a darker, more serious turn that Kingry and the cast handle well without turning it into a sitcom-ish execution.

A four-woman chorus is in the makeshift orchestra pit to generally provide the “buh-bop bop-bahs” — although one of them, Pami Triebel, steps out at the end of the first act to lead the dancing of “Turkey Lurkey Time” while wearing short-short dresses.

Music director Annie Shortridge leads a pit that adds some spark to the score, which is best known for “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” and the title song.

Though the script may seem dated at times — just Walljasper saying, “I have an apartment,” brought torrential laughs — it’s nicely kept as is for a nifty little 1960s time capsule.

Extra kudos to the cast and crew for pulling it together for Saturday night’s capacity-crowd show. Downed power lines from the rainstorm kept the power at Playcrafters off until about 7 p.m., with the 7:30 p.m. show lagging behind by only 10 minutes. From the audience’s standpoint, no one involved was any the worse for wear.

David Burke can be contacted at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com. Comment on this review at qctimes.com.

IF YOU GO

What: “Promises, Promises”

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday- Saturday, Sept. 19-20, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21

Where: Playcrafters Barn Theatre, 4950 35th Ave., Moline

How much: $10

Information: (309) 762-0330 or Playcrafters.com on the Web.