This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/10/2021 11:01 PMThe funniest jokes are often the old jokes; the ones we’ve heard before but we still laugh out loud when we hear them for the umpteenth time.
You only have to see Say Goodnight, Gracie by Rupert Holmes at the Ivoryton Playhouse through Sunday, Nov. 21 to discover that all over again. The one-man show performed by R. Bruce Connelly was done at Ivoryton in 2014 and it’s been performed throughout the world.
The premise is that George Burns, the comedian, straight man, and the actor who played God three times in films, must tell his story to the real God.
His story spans almost three centuries (he was born in 1896 and died in 1996) and includes success in all forms of media. He began in vaudeville, moved on to radio, then television, and finally movies.
It is also the love story between him and his wife and partner, Gracie Allen.
During his life he went from singer/dancer to comedian and later straight man for Gracie, whose delivery was naturally funny.
Even if you never saw the couple’s TV series, The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, which was one of the early family sitcoms, I bet you will recognize Burns and know some of the bits.
With the help of photos and film clips from the TV series, Burns talks about his childhood in the tenements of the Lower East Side and the struggles to make it in vaudeville where he eventually met and partnered with Gracie.
Though she was the one who got the laughs, much of the material was written by Burns and featured what he called “illogical logic.” Even if it was illogical, it never portrayed Gracie as stupid or ditsy; she just looked at the world a little differently than most people.
The show depends on the actor playing Burns; he must have the comedian’s comic delivery down cold but also be able to display his deep feelings for Gracie, and even his sincere regret at the times he hurt her.
R. Bruce Connelly has performed the role multiple times, and it seems as if his performance has deepened over time. He has the moves within his control, the playing with the cigar, the sideways head tilt, the pause to wait for the laugh that always comes, as well as the vocal tics. Quickly you are convinced he is George Burns.
Martin Scott Marchitto has created a set that allows Connelly to roam about. On one side is a worn leather armchair and on the other a table. At one point, the latter is used to enact a lunch with his good friend, Jack Benny. Columns on the sides represent the vaudeville theaters where the Burns and Allen got their start.
Director Jacqueline Hubbard keeps the play moving and keeps Connelly moving. Too often, one-person shows can be static, but here the movement not only prevents that but lets Connelly incorporate Burns’s well known stance and movements.
Say Goodnight, Gracie, which is subtitled “The Life, Laughter and Love of George Burns and Gracie Allen,” gives us a love story and the humor that made them famous.
It is a warm and very funny evening in the theater.
For information, visit IvorytonPlayhouse.org