There’s a screw loose in this theatre! (And damn skippy if it isn’t ever in the doorknob! IYKYK!) And holy heck and go-ta-war, if the Vagabond Players aren’t determined to find it with their current production of Room Service, directed by Steve Goldklang. Making its return to the Vagabonds’ stage (it appeared April and May of 2013 as a part of their 97th season!) with the same director but a brand new cast, this hilarious farce, which later became the basis for the acclaimed Marx Brothers’ movie, is zany, whacky, and all around goofy good fun. It’s a perfect comedic romp to chase away these January blues this winter season.
Four doors— count them— one, two, three, four. Two that go in and out, one to the closet, and one to the bathroom. You know from jump-street just by looking at Roy Steinman and Bruce Kapplin’s set that this is going to be a farce. (Especially when you count the number of functioning doorknobs!) The hotel suite— or swanky-ish room is painted in a banal yellow and sparsely decorated. It’s set up in such a way that you get the gist of the setting without the hotel room itself becoming a character— and believe me— there’s enough characters popping up here, there, and everywhere in this crazy show, you don’t need the scenery adding to the chaos any more than it already does.
The show must go on holds a whole host of meanings for a whole bunch of people, especially this day and age, but it meant a little something extra special to the cast and run-crew of Vags’ Room Service on their opening weekend, Saturday night performance. It’s rare that a set-based mishap is worth mentioning— live theatre, tis the way of things, note it and move on. But this set mishap stole the show at times and the cast handled it so sublimely that there was great debate in the audience that night as to whether or not the busted doorknob was actually a part of the play or a complete on-stage accident. The cast was impeccable with this delightful set-piece-malfunction and watching them scramble while trying to stay in character and address is only added to the layers of comic gold unfolding on the stage.
Picture it— The Empire Hotel. 1937. Broadway. Costume Designer April Forrer is helping you focus in on that timeframe; her costumes are on point for the era. The most impressive one is the one that gets seen for approximately two minutes’ stage time at the end of the performance when Senator Blake finally arrives. Talk about fabulous— that outfit slays almost as fiercely as the actress tackling the part! Add in some subtle and tasteful lighting design by Adrienne Cassara, complimenting Steinman and Kapplin’s scenery and you’ve got the show’s aesthetic poised and ready for the chaos that’s about to unfold in playwrights John Murray and Allen Boretz’ plot!
Where does one even begin to start to describe this incredible cast? With the Director, Steve Goldklang, and the Stage Manager, Jesse Stiteler, who made their performance run smoothly, efficiently, and effectively— doorknob or no doorknob! Goldklang understands the show’s comedic timing, the spatial alignment and awareness that the various actors need to have on stage in order for the farce to be received at maximum comic effect, and has an excellent right-hand assist in his Stage Manager, Jesse Stiteler, who keeps things rolling along swiftly. Timing is everything for a farce, and even though this performance lacked the emphatic door slams (that pesky show-stealing doorknob!) everything was happening with well-executed precision that made the comic timing and delivery of both lines, physicality, and overall interactions happen flawlessly.
She may arrive for but a moment at the end of the show but me-oh-my if Samantha McEwen Deininger doesn’t ever know how to make an entrance as the commanding and domineering Senator Blake. A true princess track if ever there was one, the role of Senator Blake is fleeting but redirects the entire outcome of the show and Deininger handles it with both panache and a powerful punch. Other notable popup characters include Dr. Glass (Nathan Rosen) whose deadpan delivery of lines adds a nuanced layer of humor to this zany farce, and Timothy Hogarth (Mike Kranick) who pops into the scenes thrice or maybe even four-times but you won’t be able to stop laughing at his antics. Kranick has extraordinarily vivacious facial expressions, which are perfectly suited for this absurdly necessary character, and the level of physical bumbling that happens to and around his character his hilarious.
There’s an uproarious flamboyance that accompanies Simon Jenkins (Anthony Rufo) into both of his scenes, particularly his second arrival where he’s flummoxed and overwhelmed by the chaos and is essentially doing anything conceivable to get the heck out of that hotel room! Rufo’s energy is a perfect addition to all of the madcap hooligans who populate the production, like Tim Sayles (who doubles up as the wise-talking Bank Messenger and the robustly proud Russian waiter, Sasha Smirnoff.) Everyone on stage finds their place— whether it’s adorably awkward meet-cute shyness from Hilda Manney (Natasha “Tash” Hawkins) when she’s falling over herself with nervous flirtations when encountering Leo Davis or the spirited Christine Marlowe (Sydney Marks) who keeps showing up with all the bad news. Marks has an extraordinary handle on the patois and cadence of a 1937 Broadway show-gal and those words slip seamlessly out of her lips as if she were really a time traveler from that bygone era. And don’t forget Faker Englund (Adam Garrison) whose ‘ideas’ are utter nonsense but he delivers them with such gusto and certainty that you’re busting a gut with laughter before he even gets a chance to deliver his recurring callback of “I’ll think of something better.”
There’s a quartet of leading-ish players in focus for Room Service but hovering just outside the periphery of that quartet is the Harry Binion character. Not quite the in-and-out cameo like some of the others but not quite substantial enough in Murray and Boretz’ book to be ‘supporting-male’ type, this Harry Binion (Andy Belt) is a comic plot device. And Belt’s shenanigans with the deer head…and later the beaver…give the audience a great deal of chuckles. Belt is another one who keenly understands the cadence and patois of the time in which his character is meant to be speaking and he adds a great deal of physical humor to the in-and-out-through-the-door chaos that accompanies this particular farce.
Joseph Gribble (Lucius Robinson), Leo Davis (Adrian Bagaric), Gregory Wagner (Stephen Deininger), and Gordon Miller (Matthew Lindsay Payne) the four horsemen of the Farcepocalypse. Whether or not these four have ever worked together before (and it’s a grand possibility; they all appear to be Baltimore-Theatre-Folk) the show they’re putting on in Room Service gives you the impression that they’re a set, they come together, they laugh together, they work together, it’s wild. Robinson’s Gribble is the epitome of nerves— think Fear from the original Inside Out— everything from his body language to his facial expressions to his vocal exclamations are sending out torrents of anxiety. Bagaric’s Leo is the human embodiment of naïve confusion. Just a giddy young playwright eager to make his mark on Broadway, he gets spun six ways to Sunday— both physically and metaphorically— and he’s a real scream in action. Then you’ve got Deininger’s Mr. Wagner who is this bombastic, explosive Mars-God-of-War meets Super Intendent Chalmers from The Simpsons with a dash of Tony Soprano’s menacing rage sprinkled on top. And Payne’s Gordon Miller is the reincarnation of Groucho himself, everything from the bird-neck-lean-ins to the flatlining facial expressions to the cheeky, one-lined-deliveries; he’s marching all around that stage channeling the spirit of Groucho Marx and Bugs Bunny like his very life depended on it. These four chuckleheads are running circles around the script, the stage, and each other, making for a most uproarious evening of madcap insanity and it’s a great theatrical experience to watch them all in action.
Trying to figure out which one of them is the loose screw…well…it’s all of them because they’re all so gosh darn funny— especially the doorknob! Don’t miss your chance to laugh for days with Vagabond Players’ production of Room Service!
Running Time: 2 hours and 5 minutes with one intermission
Room Service plays through February 2nd 2025 at Vagabond Players— located in the heart of Fells Point: 806 S. Broadway in Baltimore, MD. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at (410) 563-9135 in advance online.
