'Corpse!'
erald Moon's Corpse!, the fi-
Since Thomson takes up a
nale of Meadow Brooks sea- great deal of the stage time, oth-
son, belongs to the phylum ers must struggle valiantly to be
of melodramatic thrillers noticed. Donald Ewer as the Ma-
which includes Sleuth, Dial M jor certainly conquers his char-
For Murder, with which it shares acter and squeezes every drop of
shades of coincidence, and Death- verisimilitude from the role.
trap. It is not, alas, in their class.
And so, too, does Patti Perkins,
But the play, set in London in the whose tipsy landlady has the
'30s, tries and sometimes suc- sound of Bow Bells in her accent
ceeds.
with the right touch of crust.
A seedy, out-of-work actor
Thomas D. Mahard is suit-
with a penchant for poison
ably snarky as the po-
and a grudge as long as
THEATER
liceman.
the Amazon inveigles a
The other star of the
criminal to kill his suc-
production is Phillip
cessful, wealthy, identi-
Locker who, well-
cal twin brother. The
known for his onstage
brothers, Evelyn and Ru-
work, makes his direc-
pert Farrant, are clever-
torial bow. I want to en-
ly impersonated by the
courage him — the
same actor, Peter Gre-
fussiness of cooking
gory Thomson. He also
lunch and the funni-
MICH AEL H.
plays, briefly, and amaz-
ness of the several sets
MAR GOLIN
ingly well, an elderly
of death throes (Eve-
SPECIA L TO THE
woman with a touch of
lyn/Rupert is/are killed
JEWIS H NEWS
larceny in her fingertips.
almost more times than
The killer-to-be who is
you can count) show an
the dupe is Major Ambrose Pow- awesome sense of the macabre
ell; stupidity and greed are his at- married to the minutiae of stage
tributes. This leaves us with one directing.
landlady, Mrs. McGee, and one
But, somehow, the pacing
policeman, Hawkins, to complete seems a tick slow. Still, Act II
the entire cast.
needs fireworks, and the last mo-
The complications grow as ment needs to explode on cue as
Evelyn secures the Major's par- certainly as the gun does when
ticipation in homicide during a it's fired. Playwright Moon's sec-
long and juicily complicated scene ond act becomes mired. Some-
— during which Evelyn changes how, Locker still needs to find the
one identity for another, bam- key to completely unearth
boozles his landlady and cooks — Corpse's manic rhythm.
yes, onstage — a light lunch of
By the way, Peter W. Hick's
blinis. Peter Gregory Thomson eloquent set is also star quality
shows us what one actor with A tacky bed-sit, with wonderful
three names can do with two cos- detail, turntables into an elegant
tume changes and
deco flat.
enough props to confuse
As it stands, actors
Peter G regory
a Ph.D.
Thomson , left, and and set outshine the
Thomson does quite Donald Ewer, right, plot, which gels rather
the yeoman's job as the are entren ched in the than thickens.
comedy thriller
twins. He knows his
way around Meadow Corpse!, n ow playing
at Mead ow Brook
Brook —15 productions
through May 12.
since 1983.
G
.
® c)
U)
LU
U)
LU
CC
LU
1-
80
'Celtic Pride'
selves in a position to Dan Ackroyd, left, and he won't call the police
influence the outcome Daniel Stem, right, play if they root for Utah.
Now, I know this
atching Hollywood Pic- of Game 7. This op- two diehard Celtic fans.
Wayans, center, movie meant well. It is
tures' new release Celtic portunity presents it- Damon
is a threat to the game. supposed to be a sweet
Pride, you almost forget self inadvertently as
and playful ode to
that Daniel Stern once ap- O'Hara and Flaherty
peared in some terrific films, in- chance upon Utah's star, Lewis sports, loyalty and friendship.
cluding Breaking Away , Diner and Scott (Damon Wayans), at a lo- And, I do not take issue with the
topic of kidnapping being made
cal watering hole.
Hannah and Her Sisters.
Quickly, the guys con- an object of humor. But is it un-
Similarly, Stern's co-star
spire to pose as Utah reasonable to ask for likable char-
in Celtic Pride, Dan Ack-
MOVIES
fans and get Scott so acters, conceivable plot twists or
royd, once seemed to have
drunk that he cannot pos- plausible consequences?
a flair for comedy but re-
No reaction in this movie cor-
cently has only shown a knack for sibly function in the final game
finding comedies that aren't fun- the next day. The following morn- responds with anything one might
ing, the three wake up together at expect to encounter on planet
ny.
As the title suggests, Celtic Flaherty's place, with Scott bound Earth Both Stern's and Ackroyd's
Pride is about the Boston Celtics, at the wrists and ankles with duct characters are crude, boorish and
altogether unpleasant. Wayans'
specifically two very zealous tape.
Although they can't remember character is intended to be cocky
Boston Celtic fans, Mike O'Hara
and Jimmy Flaherty, played by the kidnapping, O'Hara and Fla- and brash like Deion Sanders, but
Stern and Ackroyd. These guys herty find this turn of events to be only comes across as brazen as
are so loyal to their team that they even more fortuitous than they Dionne Warwick. Somewhere in
are willing to dc anything to help first hoped, and they inform Scott this muck there were some gen-
at gunpoint that he will not be uinely funny moments, but, most-
them win.
During the NBA Champi- freed until their beloved Celtics ly, this basketball flick tosses up
air balls.
onship Series between Boston are victorious.
For unknown reasons, Scott
and the Utah Jazz, they get an
Ot 1/2
opportunity to do more than just harbors little anger at this most
intrusive
transgression
and,
after
heckle and adorn themselves in
— Richard Halprin
green; they actually find them- escaping, tells his ex-captors that
Rated PG-13