‘The Gazebo’ is charming, suspenseful

Dink O’Neal, Enjoy!

GLENDALE -- Comedies are a tricky beast. Stir in a mystery plot and

the chances for ending up with mush grow exponentially.

Fortunately, Glendale Centre Theatre’s offering of Alec Coppel’s “The

Gazebo” is crisp, charming, suspenseful and at times laugh-out-loud

funny.

GCT mainstay director George Strattan of Burbank delivers a smart

production, calling on his own extensive acting background to capitalize

on the script’s comic elements while never letting the story deteriorate

into melodrama.

Leading this near-flawless cast is Wynn Rowell as 1950s-era television

screenwriter, Elliott Nash. Hateful of the suburbs to which his

soap-opera actress wife, Nell, has dragged him, he passes the time

struggling to concoct detective show storylines.

Rowell’s everyman quality, reminiscent of early TV’s William Bendix,

is never better than when he becomes embroiled in a blackmail attempt

against Nell, played with elegant sophistication by Ferrell Marshall.

Our hero is supported by a bevy of wonderful characters including

Thomas Boylan as a neighborly assistant district attorney, Denise Lowe as

a pushy Realtor and John Dickey’s role as a gardener, whose in-the-dark

flashlight moment with Rowell is one of the comic highlights of the show.

Finally, it would be unfair not to mention Logan Newell, whose final

scene appearance as Detective Jenkins is without comparison.

Epitomizingly square-jawed and hilariously all business, Newell could

have been lifted straight out of “The Untouchables.”

Blessed with the luxury of a single-set show, director Strattan and

his co-set designer Grant Gorrell treat the audience to a fully furnished

living room that allows for the movement patterns so important to the

theater’s arena-stage configuration.

Costumer Debbie Gluck is to be commended for capturing the mood of the

show’s 1958 setting, most notably in the cop’s uniform and the Kitty

Carlisle-esque gowns worn by Marshall as she prepares for a game show

taping in the city.

The uncredited sound design includes perfectly timed out underscoring

for the moments of tension as well as a re-creation of every suburban

home’s requisite hi-fi stereo.

If you’ve never attended the Centre Theatre, “The Gazebo” with its

twists and turns is a perfect first time outing. Don’t miss it.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: “The Gazebo” by Alec Coppel, directed by George Strattan.

WHERE: Glendale Centre Theatre, 324 N. Orange St., Glendale.

WHEN: 3 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday; 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and

Saturday through Nov. 17.

TICKETS: $13 to $16.

PHONE: 244-8481 and www.glendalecentretheatre.com.