By: David de Young
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| Publicity photo by Jon Behm |
The farcical comedy takes place in an anachronistic 1930s Chicagoland. As an Illinois native, the local references to the “tri-state area” of Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, including the communities of Cicero and Joliet cracked me up.
The play’s title character, Big Daddy, is a mob boss who racketeers in the vegetable business. The role is played by Joe Herman, who with the help of a pillow for padding brought out his inner John Goodman for the part. His wife, Ma Ubu is played by an also extremely padded Caitlin Hammel.
The show abounds with analogies and similes that I found laugh-out-loud funny, even if overly-clever at times (and perhaps ultimately over-frequent.) Contributing to the anachronisms of the show were references to Prince, J.Lo, and Amy Winehouse. Visual anachronisms included copies of the City Pages, The Onion and Tiger Beat as random reading material.
Where the show succeeds is in its entertainment value. It is creative, fun and clever, the political commentary being somewhat lighter than Cragun’s recent TV Men. Where the show fails is in giving you too much of what in a smaller dose is a good thing. The decision to run the entire one-hour and 45-minute production without an intermission may have been a mistake as it contributed to the play seeming overly long. (I’m not sure which scenes might be cut or combined without disrupting the plot flow, but it also felt as if the play was broken up into too many small chunks.) Another drawback to the long stretch without a break as that it seemed to get rougher as it went on--as if the latter part were less well-rehearsed, or perhaps the actors were also getting tired. Many of the central characters don’t spend very much time off stage for the duration of the show.
Still, when Big Daddy Ubu shines, it shines. Many of the trademark Cragun zingers felt fresh off the press as when “Artichoke Alliance” honcho Clark (played by Jerome R. Marzullo) tells Big Daddy “I notice you’re not wearing an artichoke pin.” (A reference to the Obama flag pin controversy.) For the musically inclined, Big Daddy’s use of Enya’s “Orinico Flow” (along with miscellaneous other tranquilizing agents) to subdue his conscience which he had previously locked in a trunk gives you an idea of the fun you can expect from this production. (That conscience, mind you, is not just a fictional construct, but an actual character played by a convincingly-dazed Derek Dirlam.)
Other central cast members included Mitchell Frazier as Caruther (also of the Artichoke Alliance), Mark Rehani as the well-intentioned but easily deceived Dogsburough, Kecia Rehkamp in multiple roles as Dogsborough’s maid and later as Betty Dullfleet. Also in multiple rolls was Sam Ahern as Ignatious Dullfleet and as The Judge. In line with the old theater cliché, there really were no small parts in this play.
The production was held up by a versatile set by Ursula Bowden and fun, diverse and sometimes anachronistic costumes by Alexandra Gould.
The show runs through September 28. More info at www.nimbustheatre.com or call 651-229-3122.
Location Info:
Minneapolis Theater Garage
Artist Info: nimbus theatre
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