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THEATER A main drawback of live theater is that the audience can't adjust the volume if needed. It's considered simply much too gauche to call out, "What? Could you say that louder?" No matter how witty the playwright is, or how experienced the director may be, or how well the actors emote, if the lines can't be heard on a consistent basis, then all that talent is wasted, not to mention the audience's time. This was the main complaint voiced by theatergoers exiting the Actors Cabaret Annex after last Friday's performance of Prelude to a Kiss. Lack of volume is the swiftest way to kill the celebrated "Power of Live Theater!" Even first-time ACE Director Jesse D. Lally should know this simple rule. To quote Lally from his own program notes, when "The narrative asks us if true love can in fact prevail," the director, and the cast, must make certain that the question may be heard fully and clearly by all. Otherwise, it's just no fun. The cast at ACE consists of fine actors and many are at ease on the stage. Yet in their effort to be natural in their roles, the actors are advised to be less articulate, because real people allegedly "ain't real ar-tickle-it." By a similar logic, the actors use normal voices which, particularly when canned music also is being played, hover round the low end of audibility. The play begins as a conventional love story. Peter is an affable fellow and Rita aspires to be an artist. Their romance blossoms quickly and they marry. During the wedding, a strange old man wanders by, asking only to kiss the bride. The kiss changes everything. Of course, we know it's magic, but Peter is slow to suspect. First he becomes convinced that Rita is no longer the person he fell in love with, but everyone tells him marriage just changes people -- that's life. But when he happens upon the old man, Peter quickly realizes that, somehow the person he loves is now someone to whom he's not attracted. Put this way, the play touches upon one of those ugly issues we seldom like to acknowledge: What happens when the people we love, for whatever reason, aren't beautiful. Perhaps because we don't like to discuss this subject, we choose to laugh about it instead. For playwright Craig Lucas, this means a good deal of humor designed for those who giggle at the mere utterance of naughty words. In fact, the screen version adapted from the play treats the material much more maturely. It is likely because of the movie's success that the director and cast made choices more suitable for film than for stage. Nowhere is this more evident than the musical montage used toward the end of the play. When the theater cannot produce a full blackout and the audience sees the actors scurry to their next positions, the result appears painfully unrehearsed. On the other hand, when the script offers moments, like Peter's candid asides to the audience, the essence of which video can't reproduce, these points are rushed over in the attempt to speed up the play's transitions. A production like this does better to reduce or omit those parts that draw attention to its limitations and, instead, slow down to focus upon the vitality unique to a live performance. This said, ACE veteran Michael P. Watkins is charming as the old man. Chad Goodell, charged with the task of carrying the play's action from beginning to end, is very engaging as Peter. When playing Rita, Hillary Gorsegner Heinz appears somewhat cool and detached. As a result, the change in her character is less apparent to the audience than it might be otherwise, prompting her into an erratic Brooklyn accent to make the distinction. Among the supporting actors, Gary LaMoin gives a fine performance as Rita's father. It's a shame to have to recommend
that people would be better off watching the movie with Alec
Baldwin and Meg Ryan. Yet if actors in live theater fail at
such basics as sufficient volume, then video rentals will
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