Guys On Ice

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Dey live very far away.

John Arp and Mark J. Middlebrooks star in Guys On Ice.

Dey live in some other universe.

Dose guys wrapped snuggled in snowmobile suits, furry hats with flaps to cover their ears, laced up boots, oversized gloves, not only willing, but eager to sit in a small hut on ice all day dangling a fish pole in a hole hoping more for a story to tell about the one who got away rather than actually catching something.

Dose are the guys who go ice fishing in Wisconsin, live for it, swear by it, scheme for it, pray for it. They live in their own little world, with their silly fish jokes, and cracker barrel language sculptured to fit their very cold mouths with very cold teeth. And they can be very, very funny deliberately and accidentally.

Add another element of total incongruity to the picture and funny turns hilarious. Ice fishermen singing and dancing? Oh, yea.

With the brilliance of Charles Dean Packard, the stage at Aurora Fox has been transformed into a frozen Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Packard’s imagination reveals the disorganized organized clutter of what those ice shanties look like inside.

Under the direction and choreography of the gifted Nicholas Sugar, the Aurora Fox goes ice fishing with Fred Alley and James Kaplan’s upside-down inside look at Guys On Ice.

Under the musical direction of Mary Gottlieb, the snuggled up Mark J. Middlebrooks as the somewhat confused and rattled Lloyd and John Arp with his perpetual cherubic grin as Marvin sing and dance their way through confusion, hope, dreams, disappointments, silly fish stories and jokes that have been told over and over and over again, and solutions to numbing problems. And then there is Ernie the Moocher who always gets what he wants because he knows how to just take it while distracting Lloyd and Marvin by asking. Played deliciously by Steven J. Burge, Guys on Ice is one raw giggle after another.

Since 1998 Guys On Ice has thrilled audiences not only in Wisconsin but also in California, Michigan, Oregon, and New York. Little wonder, since a common thread weaves through out their funny talk, loose sense of humor connecting them to the human race with their ties to life and love, and everyday concerns.

This is a special day for Marvin. The host of a local cable TV fishing show says he will drop by the shanty to interview Marvin. And because of the set up, Marvin can invite a buddy, which, of course happens to be Lloyd. Which, of course happens to be a good “ting” for Lloyd who struggles through frozen waffles and beer. Lloyd, as it turns out has a serious problem. He has tickets to the Packers and Bears game on Sunday, which also happens to be his anniversary. Incensed Lloyd would treasure the game over their wedding anniversary, his wife Debbie has moved out.

Snug in their ice fishing world, Lloyd and Marvin take Trojan delight in involving the audience with their schemes. When they sweep and shovel the snow from their shanty, where does it go? Into the audience, of course.

The colorful songs “The Wishing Hole,” “The Guy From Tee Vee,” “Ode to A Snowmobile Suit,” and “Twelve Beers In A Twelve Pack,” shine a brilliant light of compassion and concern on these two very simple members of the human race. Just prior to the song and dance of “Fish is A Miracle Food,” Lloyd ponders if fish feel pain. Middlebrooks worries the question as though Lloyd never considered the possibility before.

Marvin pins his hopes of becoming a TV celebrity to give him the extra oomph to ask out, Bonny, the check out girl at the Pick N Save. For the first time in his life he will be important, as he shadows his dreams into the melodic “The King.” The idea is rich enough, of a lonely man disenchanted with his job at the factory, dreaming of a local cable TV show turning him into a star, and then two dancing fish that play into his imagination and play with him is almost more than what the giggle ribs can take. It’s a priceless serendipity moment.

Arp and Middlebrooks fit their characters as snugly as their snowmobile suits while keeping time to the music with kicks, leaps, pointed toes, and bows, all the while with keenly chiseled expressions, savoring every line swallowed by every mood.

Almost more precious to them than life itself is their treasured Leinenkugel Beer, which they know Ernie wants, which they want to be sure Ernie doesn’t get. Burge knows how to wrap himself in Ernie’s long arms, because Ernie always gets what Ernie wants: the beer.

Although Ernie keeps Marvin and Lloyd buffaloed into thinking he wants everything for himself, Ernie reveals his giving nature with a “Half Time Show” for the audience with special fishing prizes like bait, pickled eggs, and yes, beer. Burge keeps Ernie rolling with the punches and is obviously having as much fun with the audience as he does with tripping over Marvin and Lloyd.

There is nothing very deep about this musical, except maybe the fish know where the depth is since Ernie and Lloyd spend the day without catching anything. The characters have as much fun playing with the actors as the actors do playing with the characters.

Compassion for each other as members of the human race, sensitivity to each other’s concerns, polishes the thread that slides through the human race onto their fishing lines.

Lloyd is convinced work is for guys who don’t know how to fish.

Something gigantic keeps the local TV host from showing up, but the day is far from lost, Lloyd finds a solution to his marital twist and Marvin finds a solution to asking out Bonny. There is something to be said for sharing silly jokes, just talking, wondering if the fish will bite, and sharing humanity with a down to earth real buddy.

Middlebrooks, Arp and Burge take the script, dive in, and make these characters their own, bringing them alive, making them fun and funny and real.

Dose guys on ice are more fun than two frogs in a mud puddle balancing a banjo singing “pollywolly doodle all the day.”