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Red, White, and Tuna First there was Greater Tuna, then came A Tuna Christmas, and now Red, White, and Tuna. The Greater Tuna company, Joe Sears and Jaston Williams, portray an array of characters, male and female, young and old, pregnant, horny senior citizens, even a space alien. Sears and Williams add hilarity to the portrayal of the Tuna townsfolk through facial expressions, body movement, comic timing and pace, and plenty of one liners throughout the evening. And these characters come equipped with full costume changes - wigs, jewelry, shoes, and full clothing. In Red, White, and Tuna, the Tuna townsfolk are celebrating a trio of social events in the hot Texas heat: a 4th of July celebration, a wedding, and a pageant. Mr. Sears (who earned a Tony nod in 1995 for A Tuna Christmas) portrays such characters as Pearl Burras, one of the contestants for the crown of Tuna Reunion Queen, Star Birdfeather, a hippie who comes back to the reunion, Inita Goodwin, a gal in charge of a food booth and also in the square dance competition, and Joe Bob Lipsey, the theatre director of the Little Tuna Theatre where they did a musical version of Oedipus Rex called "Momma's Boy!". Mr. Williams has some downright sidesplitting characters such as Didi Snavely who wears plastic for a dress and owns "Didi's Used Weapons." The way she stops midway in a song to take long puffs of her cigarette, pausing with perfect comic precision before resuming the song just killed me in laughter. Another comic gem of a role is Vera Carp, a rich and very politically incorrect broad with bad taste in fashion. This character has the best comic one liners of the evening. Williams' impeccable facial expressions and comic delivery are major highlights of the evening. The strongest scenes of are between Vera and Pearl in Lupe's stolen car and the scene at the Reunion Food Booth. Both are filled to the brim with wonderfully written comedy. The problems in the production lie with some of the diction and delivery from both actors. Their Texas twangs are so strong that some of their lines and comic punch lines get lost. At times the diction becomes mushy and swallowed. Also, a few times both actors lower their voices so deep that diction and volume is completely gone. Another problem is that a couple of the jokes are perhaps just a little too harsh. The jokes concerning Vera's Hispanic maid Lupe, while funny, sting a little. I know that we all need to loosen the noose on politically correctness, but an audible "oooooh" from the audience says that maybe the line is crossed here. The play, while extremely enjoyable, begins to lose steam by scene five of act two. The high energy and comedy from earlier scenes needs to be sustained. Still, I laughed quite a lot and enjoyed my visit to Tuna, Texas. In fact I can't wait to make a U-turn and drive back down to Tuna and visit them for the Christmas holidays, but I know I won't eat any of their potato salad; I don't like it tangy. Red, White, and Tuna runs through October 28. Tickets: The Box Office, 6013 Berkshire Lane, all ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, or charge by phone (214-631-2787) Red, White, and Tuna |
