On the Razzle! is a Linguistic Delight and a Very Enjoyable Farce at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul

On the Razzle by the late Tom Stoppard opens Park Square Theatre’s 51st season to much laughter from the appreciative audience. This farcical comedy has quite the heritage. The story began as a Viennese play in 1842 titled Einen Jux Will er Sich Machen by Johann Nestroy. It was then adapted twice by Thornton Wilder, first in 1938 as The Merchant of Yonkers and then again in 1955 as The Matchmaker, which was then the basis for the musical Hello, Dolly!. Stoppard’s version eliminates the Dolly Levi character altogether. She isn’t missed, though certain aspects of the plot of Hello, Dolly! are still present. This feels completely fresh. Nestroy’s almost 175-year-old play was clearly a fertile source of inspiration.

The plot revolves around… well, it’s kind of complicated. There is a pair of young lovers whom the guardian of the young woman is trying to keep apart. He is sending her to his sister-in-law’s to get her away from the young man. Meanwhile, he has hired a new servant who he sends to arrange for a dinner for him and Ms. Knorr, whom he plans to marry, in the city. The guardian, Zangler, happens to be the owner of a fancy grocery store. Before leaving, he promotes his head clerk to partner and the apprentice to clerk. Of course, as soon as he leaves, they close shop and head to the city as well, looking to have some fun.

From there, a lot of things you may have seen on Three’s Company happen. The humor comes at you from various directions. There are mistaken identities, multiple tartan capes, and more malaprops than you can snake a tick at. The script is very adept at finding humor in the language, but it doesn’t shirk at some good old fashioned physical humor as well.

A play like this works or doesn’t work based on the cast. Stoppard’s script is nonstop with the verbal and physical humor, and it needs a certain skill set from the performers to pull off. This cast, for the most part, makes the show succeed. In the main roles, Christopher Hayhurst and Nate Turcotte are superb as Zangler’s employees who get mixed up with two women, one of whom is Zangler’s fiancée. They are played by George Keller and Greta Oglesby. The four of them are great fun to watch. In fact, those are the most interesting characters in the show, and thankfully, we spend the most time with them.

There are a couple of scene stealers in the cast. The first is Norah Long, who plays multiple characters. The one that sticks out the most is the woman who works in the shop, Gertrude, but a close second is the sister-in-law whom the young woman is being sent to stay with, and her story about her brush with love.

The second scene stealer, and he’s a highlight of the show, is Brendan Nelson Finn. Again, he plays multiple characters, but there are two that are outstanding. The first is as a waiter, and the second, and best, is as a coachman obsessed with women. It’s a hilariously over-the-top character that elicited big laughs from the audience.

The final star of the show is the set design by Benjamin Olsen. I think we make about eight changes in location during the course of the show, and the transformations are more than wheeling a table on stage or flying in a couple of flats. Large walls and even staircases are shifted around. It’s an impressive set, and the cast and crew do a good job of making the transitions quick.

Director Stephen DiMenna assists with this by having characters at times come off of the stage into the auditorium to continue scenes as the transitions are being made on stage. It’s a very effective choice to minimize the distraction of the set change.

On the Razzle runs through October 25 at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to https://www.parksquaretheatre.org/on-the-razzle

I want to alert you faithful readers to a new Website that has just started up in the Twin Cities. It’s called 79 Seconds on Stage and it is a free and full guide to local theatre in the Twin Cities.

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