Mark St. Germain is a founding member of Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield and its practically-resident playwright, having debuted eight scripts there over the years. His best-known works are fictional peeks into the lives of real people, including Sigmund Freud and Dr. Ruth. He’s also co-author of The Fabulous Lipitones, the semi-musical now playing at the Theater Project in West Springfield.
St. Germain wrote this change of pace with John Markus, who cut his teeth writing for TV sitcoms (Taxi and The Cosby Show, where St. Germain also worked for a while). The script has a classic sitcom structure, much of the dialogue consists of setups for one-liners, and the jokey plotline pauses frequently to be heartwarming.
The premise is rich: a middle-aged, middle-class Midwestern barbershop quartet, the self-styled Fabulous Lipitones, poised for one last go at the national championship – and facing their perennial nemesis, the Sons of Pitches –suddenly becomes a three-quarter when their lead singer drops dead in the middle of a high B-flat and they have to find a replacement quick. Enter “Bob,” a friendly fellow with a fine voice, but who’s, er, different from the others – i.e., not American and not white. He’s Baba Mati Singh, a turbaned Sikh and possibly an illegal immigrant.
The play bills itself as a “social comedy,” and there are plenty of satirical barbs – on race, class, red/blue politics, and immigration policy, not to mention affectionate tweaks of that distinctly white-bread culture that is barbershop harmony. But much of the script travels well-worn comedic ruts, including a running gag about seniors and smartphones that morphs into a send-up of online dating sites, along with the inevitable joke about the similarity of the group’s name to a well-known cholesterol drug. For dramatic texture, there’s an I.N.S. deportation scare and a subplot concerning an estranged wife who has come back home to die.
All four members of the quartet are time-honored types: Phil the abrasive bully who is sure Bob must be a terrorist; Wally the lonely live-at-home mama’s boy; Howard the faithful husband constantly on call to his invalid spouse. Even Bob, the surprise ingredient, is a recognizable archetype: the affable foreigner with the amusing accent (reminiscent of Dev Patel’s role in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel movies).
Two of the cast are popular fixtures in the local music scene: Luis J. Manzi, appealingly wishy-washy as roly-poly Howard, who has taken his wife back in after a sordid affair; and Freddie Marion, gruff and fractious as Phil, the gym owner who flaunts his own flab-and-muscle physique while fondly recalling his brief stint as a Tom Jones impersonator (his ringtone is “Delilah”). Bill Nabel, as shy pharmacist Wally, is visibly older than his fellow Lipitones, but that adds a touch of comic desperation to his obsession with a pharmacists-only dating site, whitecoatlove.com.
These three work nicely together, their clashing personalities meshing when they harmonize. But it’s Asante Gunewardena, as Bob, who just about walks away with the show. He’s got an persistent geniality that perfectly straddles enthusiasm and cockiness. His is the production’s most polished performance, and no wonder: He’s currently making a mini-career of this role, having come to West Springfield straight off a run of the same show on the West Coast.
The actors are all good singers, too, and give credible renditions of straw-hat standards like “Beautiful Dreamer” and “Bird in a Gilded Cage.” Director Danny Eaton moves the quartet briskly through their paces, abetted by Meghan Lynn Allen’s delightfully hokey choreography that suggests a geriatric doo-wop group. Greg Trochlil’s set is an authentic rendering of Howard’s basement den/rec-room/bar, complete with knotty pine paneling, neon Bud sign and a twirling barber pole.
Celebrity voice-overs by local TV personalities Ray Herschel, Dave Madsen and others give some panache to the show’s prerecorded phone conversations, radio bulletins and competition announcements. And another local celebrity, restauranteur extraordinaire Pintu Chawla, gets a program thanks for consulting on all things Sikh.
Through Dec. 6, Majestic Theater, 131 Elm St., West Springfield, (413) 747-7797, majestictheater.com.
Chris Rohmann is at StageStruck@crocker.com and valleyadvocate.com/author/chris-rohmann
