STAGE REVIEW : ‘Murder at the Howard Johnson’s’ Like a TV Skit--a Long One at That

“Murder at the Howard Johnson’s” has the feel of a television comedy skit--a very long television comedy skit.

This full-length Ron Clark/Sam Bobrick farce is reminiscent of Carol Burnett--you know, Carol doing her thing while Tim Conway or one of her other leading men pratfalls all over the place. Burnett could have done the same bit in 10 minutes, but here it’s overextended to two hours.

“Murder,” now performed by the San Clemente Community Theater at the Cabrillo Playhouse, gives us Arlene and Paul and Mitchell, slow thinkers whose thoughts linger on romance and murder.

Arlene and Paul are deadlocked in a bad marriage (she’s a hyper-sexed ditz, he’s a monotone bore). Mitchell is their womanizing dentist. He’s also Arlene’s lover, an overactive type who wears alarmingly loud clothes.

She wants a divorce, but Paul refuses. That spells trouble, so Mitchell and Arlene decide to kill him in a nondescript room at the Howard Johnson’s. Give some credit to Douglas Hartman; his modest set has the motel’s look down, from the chintzy lamps to the crummy wall art.

Mitchell and Arlene’s plans don’t work out, of course, because there are minutes upon minutes to fill before this baby is put to rest. All three get on each other’s nerves something terrible, and it’s safe to say that, at one time or another, each becomes the murder target as alliances shift.

At the outset, “Murder” is sort of amusing, in a let’s-moon-the-audience kind of way, but it gets weary after the first scene. The humor becomes strenuous, primarily because of the plot’s limitations. The basic premise doesn’t leave a lot of room, and the main gag keeps getting repeated. How many times are we supposed to laugh at the idea of bumping off a loved one who annoys us?

Anyway, director B.J. Scott does make a few comic impressions here and there. She has Mitchell put on his starched dentist’s smock as preparation to the actual messiness of murder, and that’s funny, as is the wobbly gallows that’s erected on stage for the final scene.

The cast is also game, despite some overreaching. Laura Hoffman’s Arlene is dizzy enough to be influenced by every passing emotion, and Tom Klein’s Mitchell is, as Paul keeps telling everybody, just a big baby. As for Paul, Ron Lance gives him a befuddled air.

‘MURDER AT THE HOWARD JOHNSON’S’

A San Clemente Community Theater production of Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick’s comedy. Directed by B.J. Scott. Set and lighting by Douglas Hartman. Costumes by Diane Green. Plays Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. through Jan. 27 at the Cabrillo Playhouse, 202 Avenida Cabrillo, San Clemente. Tickets: $7. (714) 492-0465.