On opening night of Venice Theatre’s season-closing production of Driving Miss Daisy, the biggest laugh of the evening (an unintended one) came early on, when Daisy Werthan’s son, Boolie, tries to talk her out of driving after an accident. After all, he tells her, “You’re 72 years old.”

Since many of the audience members, who had presumably driven themselves to the theater, are that age and then some, it served as a reminder that things have certainly changed since 1948, when that opening scene is set, and even from 1987, when Alfred Uhry’s prize-winning play debuted. But as we age, we can all still relate to the fear Daisy (Suzanne Coccia) has of losing her treasured independence.
 

 

So we empathize even as we see her initial unpleasantness to the chauffeur Boolie (Mike Gilbert) hires for her, a black man a few years younger than Daisy herself, Hoke (Autry Davis). At first Daisy won’t even let him drive her on errands around Atlanta, and when she does she insists on giving instructions and, in general, treating him like a child.

But as any who have seen the show or the film version before know, over a period of more than 20 years, Daisy gradually comes to realize that Hoke is not merely her servant, but her friend. And we glimpse, in this intimate story, a wider view of the societal changes that swept through the 1950s and 1960s in America.

Under the direction of VT artistic director Murray Chase, Gilbert, Coccia and Davis all give nicely nuanced performances, gathering the expected laughs from certain guaranteed lines and situations (often when Hoke, portrayed with professional skill by Davis, is managing to best Daisy or Boolie) but also achieving some poignancy, especially as both Daisy and Hoke face the diminishments of old age while trying to maintain their dignity. The play occasionally moves a little too slowly, even for a piece that depends so much on establishing the right reflective mood; and the placement of an intermission feels awkward. (The play is sometimes performed without one.)

But for a show that I’ve seen numerous times, and one that is certainly predictable, although polished, to begin with, this Driving Miss Daisy was surprisingly effective. It continues through May 20; call 488-1115 or go to venicestage.com for tickets.

When people say, “They don’t write them like that anymore,” the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, now onstage at the Manatee Players Riverfront Theatre,  might be just what they’re talking about.

This tale of a frontiersman who goes into town to find himself a bride, encouraging his six brothers to do the same, is certainly old-fashioned, not only in its simple storytelling but its approach to male-female relationships. We’re supposed to be amused, not outraged, that oldest brother Adam (William E. Masuck) picks orphaned waitress Milly (Wendy James) as a bride in lickety-split fashion, not so much because he’s fallen for her as that he and his brethren need a maid of all work. And of course don’t even get a feminist started on the way the boys slink into town to kidnap brides of their own.

But it’s all too silly to inspire any real wrath, especially when we know it’s all going to end up all right, with everyone getting what they want--thanks mostly to Milly’s cleverness and strength.

The 1954 movie, a classic in Cinemascope, was famed largely for its inventive Michael Kidd choreography, which turned such mundane chores as a barn raising into lively dance numbers and took full advantage of the wide screen and richly saturated colors. The 1979 stage version of the show by Lawrence Kasha and David Landay (utilizing the original’s Johnny Mercer-Gene De Paul tunes, and adding a few new songs as well) can’t reach for the scale of the film, but under the direction of Rick Kerby it manages to radiate a charm of its own.

Kerby’s familiarity with and fondness for Seven Brides (he both played in the show and cut his director/choreographer teeth on it, years ago) is evident throughout the production in every way, but especially in the athleticism of numbers like the dance at the town social or Sobbin’ Women. He’s rounded up a cast of some pretty strong young men (Jason Moore, Alex Beach, Joseph Rebella, Keston Law, Killam Tyler Johnson and Jason Ellis) for the brothers, and they pull off the most challenging feats of footwork with relative ease, after what was undoubtedly many hard hours of rehearsing.

Kerby was also lucky to snag Wendy James for Milly; not only she is strong vocally on numbers like I Married Seven Brothers and Goin’ Courting, but she adds a measure of zest and spunk to everything she does. It’s not easy for Masuck to match her, and he can’t quite achieve Adam’s swagger, but he manages to keep his character somewhat sympathetic despite his wrongheaded choices at almost every turn.

The production is aided by some eye-pleasing country costumes from Jean Boothby and by the bright, childlike surround of trees by Marc Lalosh, who also contributes projections that sweep us along with the mountain scenery and changes of seasons. Musical director Aaron Cassette and his musicians deserve credit, too, for powering the show’s energetic numbers and smoothly switching gears for the occasional ballad.

All in all, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers is a tuneful piece of Americana that wraps up the Manatee Players season with spirit and fun. The show continues through May 20; for tickets call 748-5875 or go to manateeplayers.com.  

Watching a group of “average” guys strut their stuff, nude or nearly so, on stage may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But it’s seemed to work for an awful lot of people over the years since The Full Monty first hit Broadway in an adaptation of the hit British movie. And judging from the opening night reaction to the Players Theatre production, it’s working big time in Sarasota right now.

That’s in large part, of course, because of what lies beneath the decision of six out-of-work men to take a desperate gamble for money and their self-respect with one night of stripping for an audience that includes their wives. At first, the idea that this very mixed group would ever—ahem—pull it off is unlikely; each one has his reasons for being reluctant to bare not only his body, but his soul. But they also have compelling reasons to do it, and you’re disposed to root for them from the beginning.

Laid-off steelworker Jerry (Players artistic director Jeffery Kin, playing hooky) and his longtime buddy, Dave (Tim Fitzgerald), feel like Scrap, as they sing in the strong opening number, with no jobs to go to and suffering an accompanying loss of manhood. Jerry needs money to retain joint custody of his son, Nate (Jacob Lutz), and Dave, who struggles with his weight and body image, has been rejecting his amorous but concerned wife, Georgie (Dawn Dougherty). Then there’s former steel plant exec Harold (Mike Phelan), who’s so worried about losing his wife, Vicki (Sue Cole), that he hasn’t even told her he’s out of work. In cleverly contrived scenes (in the show’s book by Terrence McNally, boosted by the music and lyrics of David Yazbek), Jerry’s plan for one night of glory picks up steam in encounters with sad sack Malcolm (Tony Boothby), still living at home with his mother, and the remaining two members of the team, well-endowed Ethan (Steve Bikfalvy) and Horse (Gordon Gregory)—who’s well aware that all women love a Big Black Man.

All of the main performers (as well as the large and enthusiastic ensemble cast) are high energy throughout, and, in a major stroke of luck, the crucial six amateur strippers fit well within the defined physical and character types they need to be. They’re given extra juice by a larger than usual orchestra led by Rick Bogner that packs a lot of punch in rocklike numbers (but can also shift gears for the occasional touching tune), and, most especially, by the choreography and direction of Jared E. Walker. Virtually every scene in the show hits the mark, but the audition sequence (where we first come across cynical show biz vet Jeanette, played perfectly by Bobbie Burrell) is particularly boffo, as is the Act I closer, Michael Jordan’s Ball, where the guys first start coming together with their moves.

I could go on, but you get the picture: The Full Monty is a winner. It’s onstage through May 13; for tickets call 365-2494 or go to theplayers.org.