Theatre Aspen 'Rounding Third'

July 10th, 2008 at 11:26pm Michael Conniff 2

[Click here for the complete schedule of Theatre Aspen's summer 2008 season.] 

In the interests of full disclosure I first have to say Theatre Aspen is a sponsor of my "Con Games" radio show and so I am predisposed to like what I see. But I should also point out that no one bemoaned the loss of former artistic director David McClendon any more than me--he was both a friend also a person who I believe lifted the company out of the primordial ooze. Loving Theatre Aspen without my good friend around has been a monumental task: this town has not been the same for me since he left.

With disclosure in the books and off my chest, I can also say--based on performances of "Little Shop of Horrors" and the premier of "Rounding Third" Thursday night under the tent in Rio Grande Park--that Theatre Aspen is on the way to something special under artistic director Paige Price in the continuing evolution of what used to be an off-the-beaten-track venue for community theatre in the valley.

Here's something special: "Rounding Third" features Aspen resident Jay Sandrich--director of more legendary television sitcoms than anyone on the planet--who used the baseball comedy for his stage directorial debut, eliciting a warping and woofing of emotions from Kevin Stapleton and Richard Gallagher, two brilliant actors who play the Little League coaches brought to their knees by death, divorce, aand just trying to be passable Dads in an imperfect world.

Both actors deserved the standing ovation they got at the end of opening night. Stapleton gives a muscular, massive performance that descends into bathos and pathos before coming up for air, while Gallagher takes what could be a gee-whiz role and turns it into something full of layers and the loss of love.

Not surprisingly, the Sandrich touch in "Rounding Third" is sure and nuanced, never sacrificing the cheap laugh for the telling moment. That mastery is particularly welcome in a first act where the "Odd Couple" cliches of the script never quite fall away. In a far superior second act--when roles get reversed and the laughs start to click like a metronome at the Met--Sandrich performs that niftiest of tricks when his direction melts away in the face of comedy that flirts with tragedy without ever having to descend into hell. It's no surprise that a man associated with everything from "I Love Lucy" to "Get Smart"--not to mention a couple of fair comedians named Mary Tyler Moore and Bill Cosby--would know how to mix the high heat with the knuckle-curve to get his team off the field and into the dugout.

"Seussical" is coming to Theatre Aspen starting Friday morning and the drama/black comedy "Crimes of the Heart" arrives under the canvas July 24, 2008. Sales for "Little Shop of Horrors" have been of the sellout variety and "Rounding Third" is more than likely to put fannies in the bleachers.

I miss my friend McClendon but will remind him that he can take a bow for bringing Paige Price to Aspen as an actress at Rio Grande Park. With things going so well at Theatre Aspen in her first season as the boss lady, there's plenty of credit to go around.

Entry Filed under: Theater, Sports, Aspen, Comedy