Twisty Turny Fun

Last week, Linda and I went to the Hollywood Fringe Festival to see a preview performance of "Kill A Better Mousetrap".  The play was written by my fellow Anteater, Scott Ratner, whom lived in the Fine Arts dorm, Prado, at UC Irvine when I was a freshman there.  Scott was always quite talented and shared his talents with us and the rest of Mesa Court when he put on productions for our Cafe Prado shows as well as for his own degree.  I remember playing the part of an Andrews sister during a radio show play thing.  My friends did my hair and everything.  Where are those pictures?  Anyway, Linda and I made it to Hollywood and were quite confused about which little theater we were supposed to be in, and so were a lot of other people.  We were also amused by the girls that didn't know that the doggie in a nearby window was an actual dog, and they screamed when he barked at them.  So here are my biased thoughts about the show.

• The play is about a guy who wants to end the Agatha Christie play, "The Mousetrap", which is the longest-running play in London.  He has his reason.  It is funny.
• Three actors portray four characters, and Scott plays the lead.  His monologues are hilarious.
• You know how Christie works are filled with mysterious twists and turns?  So is this play, which is quite the homage to Agatha Christie, of whom Scott is a huge fan.
• I thought Scott had a voice like Jimmy Stewart, although I think others have compared him to more of a Jack Lemmon, which was one of his models for the role.
• Laura M Hathaway, whom plays the analyst handles the big twist quite well.  Didn't see that coming!
• John M Scoggins plays two parts, and I think I prefer his portrayal of a playgoer best.  Perhaps it's because the British/kinda-cockney accent is more humorous than the accountant guy.
• Before we saw the show, I took Linda to my favorite ice cream place, Paradis in La Crescenta.  I was telling her about how the owners were from Denmark.  I wondered why people and stuff from Denmark are called "Danish".  "Isn't that pastries?"  There is a line in the play that also refers to "Hamlet" as "The Danish Play", and something about pastries, and I just about lost it completely.
• I really miss seeing my fellow artists work their craft on a regular basis.  Back in college, we saw shows at least once a week, sometimes 2 or 3 of them, depending on who made it into what production.  I now wonder what they're all doing, and hope that they're still living their dreams and sharing their talents with the world somewhere.  Ah, there she is!  Sherry the Idealist!  Ah, how so many have missed her.  :)
• Even if I didn't know the playwright personally, I would recommend this show.  It's a delight from beginning to end.  Linda met Scott that night, and she loved it, too.  
• I would so totally have gone to see "Wet the Hippo" had it also been showing that night, based on the name of the play alone.  However, it is showing when I am unavailable.

Kill A Better Mousetrap has showings on June 22 and June 29.  Please support your local artists and get your tickets here:  http://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/1365?tab=dates