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Genre: Comedy-Drama
Written by: Jack Dyville
Directed by: Joan Eileen Murray
Performed by: Ron Palillo, Keith Everett, Kelly K. Griffith,
Theresa Rose
Running time: 75 minutes
Web site: home.netcom.com
Despite great potential, Daddy Was the Biggest Stagemother in
Texas! doesn't quite live up to the promise inherent in its
title. Based on playwright Jack Dyville's own life, Daddy
is the story of Jack (Keith Everett), a young boy whose desire to
sing and dance receives surprising and eventually overbearing support
from his titular father, played by Ron Palillo of Welcome Back,
Kotter fame. The joke is supposed to lie in the paradox between
Daddy's gruff, alpha-butch temperament and his Mama Rose-like dreams
of stage glory for his son. While this works initially, it quickly
becomes a one-note gag further compromised by Palillo's labored
attempts at a Texan accent and Dyville's pat, unconvincing solutions
to complex dilemmas. Despite its flaws, Daddy does showcase
strong work from its two actresses, particularly Theresa Rose, who
plays numerous characters and has enough charisma and range to suggest
that whatever the Fringe cooks up next year, a one-woman show for
Rose should be on its menu.—Rebecca Marx
• Where: The Players Theatre-Studio 3C
• When: Wed, Aug 18 at 8 p.m.; Thu, Aug 19 at 5 p.m.;
Sat, Aug 21 at 7:45 p.m.; Sun, Aug 22 at 2:15 p.m.; Thu, Aug 26
at 5 p.m.; Fri, Aug 27 at 10 p.m.; Sat, Aug 28 at 10 p.m.
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