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Home > Blogs > Arts and Entertainment > Archives > 2008 > August > 12 > Entry
It’s all blue skies for ‘Lawnchair Man’
“The Flight of the Lawnchair Man” was the little musical that could during the weekend of Aug. 8-10 at the Mathile Theatre in the Schuster Performing Arts Center.
It could have aborted takeoff, crashed, been diverted, or completed its route with empty seats, but did none of the above in the Encore Theater Company’s pleasing local premiere.
Here’s why: imaginative staging by Adam Leigh, high-rpm and unified ensemble energy, clever lines in the book by Peter Ullian that seem even wittier in juxtaposition with the expected predictable ones, and a couple of really nice songs by Robert Lindsey-Nassif. In or out of context, “The Air Is Free” is just wonderful.
Shawn Hooks played the central character, Jerry Gorman, a New Jersey nobody who goes from discount store snack bar manager to celebrity when he takes to the skies in a lawn chair borne by helium balloons. Leigh and company render that by seating Hooks high on a platform that wheels in and out, between the spectators.
Hooks, with a convincing hangdog expression while tethered by gravity, hit some sweet tenor notes in “I Want to Fly” during Saturday night’s performance, but others were just as crucial to the show’s spirit.
Robin Smith was a focal point for empathy as Gracie, the girlfriend who remains sweetly supportive and loyal even though Jerry leaves her on the ground. Errik Hood and Valerie Jonkoff were the over-the-top and sometimes operatic establishment aviation duo of pilot Big Jack Preston and flight attendant Blaire.
The supporting cast of many provided a squadron of versatility.
Anyone who converses with Leonardo Da Vinci, Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart in midair, as Jerry does, probably isn’t coming back. Rather than regrets, “Lawnchair Man” leaves behind a pleasant breeze.
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