The Williamsburg Players production of A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine is half musical review and half short musical comedy. While Day was unfortunately a bit of a struggle to sit through, Night made up for it in spades. I think I’m a new fan of the Marx Brothers now.

The beginning set was very simple and minimalist. And as any experienced designer or artist can tell you, the less you give your audience to look at, the more they’re going to see. If I only have a painted floor, some hanging drapes, a few movie posters, and random costume pieces to look at, I’m going to notice when a curtain isn’t quite hemmed right or a drape doesn’t go all the way to the ceiling like the others beside it do. Especially when compared to the previous set in this space (Talley’s Folly), the execution of this design was disappointing. 

The most perplexing portions of the set were both upstage center. A couple of the songs in act one were staged to have the feet and legs of various cast members showing under a concealing drape. A flat curtain was hung a few feet over a platform to hide the actors’ bodies. This is fine. But what I don’t understand is why the top of the curtain didn’t reach the ceiling as the other hanging drapes did. I was left wondering if the piece was going to slide up and down or some other neat thing during the show. Nope. It just sat there.  

Also confusing to me was the bright white rope which was tied in the center and hung in two swoops to either side. No attempt was made to conceal the fact that is was, well, a bright white rope, and it was only actually used once in the entire show as a swinging vine for Tarzan. It was distracting and I would’ve rather it not been there at all. 

A Day in Hollywood is a review of the music from classic movies of the past. Like in most reviews, some performances come off better than others but overall I’d say that

the main weakness of Day and the main strength of Night lay in the script.

The one actor who shined in both acts was J. T. Hosack, a freshman at CNU. While his singing voice was strong but unremarkable, it was his energy and presence that really made him stand out. This youngster has the confidence of someone twice his age and experience and I expect to see great things from him in the future. 

Current WP president Rick Hinson’s best role was in A Night in the Ukraine where his purposefully-horrible Italian accent and his silent reacting to the ridiculousness of the other characters kept me in stitches. Singing may not be his main strength, but comedy obviously is. 

Other strong performances came from Ashley Payne (in one act a powerful singer, in the other a comedic mute) and Camille Schiavone (in one act a sexy seductress, in the other an over dramatic ditz). Jon Walker also put in a fun performance as the coachman in Ukraine and an amusing one as Tarzan in Hollywood.  

The script for A Night in the Ukraine seems to give the actors and director everything they needed to produce the show. Most of the blocking and gimmicks were written right in. Unfortunately, A Day in Hollywood (being a review) apparently lacked such easy-to-follow directions. This resulted in a lack of cohesion and creativity that I can only lay at the door choreographer Lauren Henry.  

Because the cast didn’t appear to have experienced dancers, most of the “dance music” was filled with awkward milling around the stage. Or worse… time steps.

The numbers that fared best either centered on comedy bits or acting.

The costumes were fine, my only complaint being that sometimes a cast member would appear in a group number in a different costume from everyone else. I’m sure they would’ve needed an exceedingly quick costume change in order to match everyone else, but it was still a bit distracting. 

Lights were fine for the most part – a few too many blackouts for my taste, but that’s a personal preference. When actors came too far downstage in a solo sometimes they had very dramatic shadows, but that’s a difficult problem to fix in that space. I do wish, however, that the bottoms of the hanging drapes were secured to the floor in some way. Every time an actor bumped into one, it set the framed movie poster swinging, reflecting a bright glare into the audience. 

Soloists shine in both acts, but the group numbers could use a bit more work.

As I said, A Night in the Ukraine is the real reason to buy a ticket. It’s nice to see a hysterically funny show that doesn’t focus on sex. No, no, this one’s all about money, really. Almost everybody wants more than they have. This show is chock full of those classic jokes that never get old.                

“It’s a funny joke, no?”
“You just answered your own question.”

“There stands a man with an open mind. You can feel the draft from here.”

 I still don’t understand why the serfs were there, but I enjoyed the show so much that I don’t really care. And maybe that’s the point. 

Occasionally, the lightning-fast pace would run away with the actors and there’d be a split second where they’d look like their brains were just catching up. I don’t fault them for that really… slapstick is hard. There were also a few section where I couldn’t tell is the dialogue was scripted or improvised. Awesome job if it was improve, a tad awkward if it wasn’t. In general though, the overall hilarity of the piece lets you overlook the little foibles here and there. 

In summary, A Day in Hollywood will be a hit with those that grew up in that time period with Bob Hope and Shirley Temple. It probably won’t be such a smash with most people under 40 however. The songs and staging just aren’t that captivating if you’re not already familiar with them. A Night in the Ukraine however, will have them rolling in the aisles with the serfs. It’s definitely worth the price of admission by itself. 

A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine plays at Williamsburg Players through June ____. Call __________ for ticket information.