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Theater Review : Some of ‘Best Friends’ Is a Dog; the Rest Is Worse

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Every now and then at the Way Off Broadway Playhouse, the charm at the core of “Some of My Best Friends” will pop to the surface. But it’s like an occasional bubble in what should be an effervescent evening.

Stanley Hart’s comedy concerns a widgets tycoon named Andrew who has come out the other end of mental and spiritual trauma and who, now settled happily in a humble life of painting in Greenwich Village, finds he is able to talk with non-human creatures.

Originally (15 years ago), the play was directed by no less than Harold Prince with Ted Knight as Andrew, which was wonderful casting. Even in his adopted, carefree bohemian lifestyle, Andrew still has something of the tycoon about him, advising and determining his hapless family members’ business affairs. That two-sidedness is what makes him so funny and odd: He can ace a stock portfolio in two seconds flat and carry on deep discussions with his effete dog.

After losing actor David Walloch to injury (and postponing the opening of the show three times), Tony Reverditto, who directed “Best Friends” with Jolynn Jones, decided to play the role himself. But he is too young for Andrew by a good two decades, a fact that no amount of makeup and beard growth can hide.

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And the problems are more than skin-deep: Reverditto is all hesitancy, static pace and palpable fatigue. This is a play that should be merry and light on its feet; here, it plods from beat to beat as if under some sort of obligation.

The focus shifts from Andrew’s fancy-free spirit to his wife Dorothy’s self-centered Angst and their moody son Lawrence’s insecurity--even though Robert Germon wrenchingly overplays Lawrence’s juvenile outbursts.

Jane Sharp grows into her role as the rich yet highly confused Dorothy; Ron McCaw’s energetic clowning wins us over as he romps about as Albert, the world’s most opinionated dog; and there is nice interplay between Reverditto and Jan Tiehen as Irma, who happens to be a ficus tree in this lifetime (having been Millard Fillmore in a previous one).

Tracy Merrifield injects some much needed warmth as Sari, a dog-walker and desperate single mom (with a very loud baby, played very loudly by Adam Jaso). But by then it’s too late in the game.

The basement apartment setting fits comfortably into Way Off Broadway’s own basement space, and Perry Ash clearly had a ball with some of the play’s outlandish costuming opportunities (although he may want to deck Tiehen out with more leaves). But a lot of comic business involving stylized flashbacks is ill-timed and hampered by a primitive lighting system.

In the end, the telling of Andrew’s tale seems so much more a chore than it should have been. Somewhere, one suspects, the play’s innocent fancy was lost, still to be found.

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* “Some of My Best Friends,” Way Off Broadway Playhouse, 1058 E. 1st St., Santa Ana. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m. Ends Oct. 15. $12-$14. (714) 547-8997. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.

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