A Shot In The Dark

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

Unfortunately this production completed its run. If you missed it, you missed a strong, solid A Shot In The Dark. I tried to get to it earlier, but the weeks ran out of days while life seriously interrupted.

Jessica Laulhere as Josefa in A Shot In The Dark. Photo by Ellen Nelson

Jessica Laulhere as the dimwitted blond bombshell “smarter than the average bear” Josefa Lantanay took center stage and never let up with her I-may-be-dumb-but-you’re-dumber-
because-I-can-out-con-you-any-day attitude played her fun and games shoulder to shoulder with an ever so delicious cast.

Directed by Craig A. Bond, A Shot In The Dark ran smoothly, quickly at an even hysterical pace on Quinn Lantaff’s neatly appointed stage design in the Chamber of an Examining Magistrate.

The Chamber belonged to Paul Sevigne, richly played by Scott Glennon who bumbled and stumbled his way into dubious success. Recently promoted, his success depended upon solving a murder mystery that appeared up front to be an open and shut case.

Although the 1964 film A Shot In The Dark, the second in The Pink Panther series, was re written to accommodate Peter Sellers bumbling stumbling inspector Jacques Clouseau, turning Sellers into a household name, no one expected Glennon to compete. The truth being no one could compete with Seller’s Clouseau. He was one of a kind. No question, but it needs to be said Glennon held his own as Sevigne molding the bumbling stumbling character into his own creation.

Josefa, a maid, found passed out and naked in her bedroom with gun in hand and her lover, Miguel, shot to death a few feet away told the whole story. Sevigne believed otherwise, and set out to prove her innocence. Not so easy with the rambunctious, playful, roller coaster Josefa. Josefa led him on a straight and narrow path unexpectedly turning sharp corners leaving him to flounder in desperate confusion.

Of course, the plot turns complicated summersaults. Josefa not only carried on an affair with Miguel, her employer’s chauffeur, but also carried on an affair with her employer, Monsieur Benjamin Beaurevers played with command, humor and oiled overly confident sex appeal by David Harms.

Of course, the Monsieur oozed overly strong sex appeal, his wife Madame Dominique Beaurevers advertised her strong relationship to Attila the Hun with every word she spoke every step she took. Boni McIntyre grabbed Dominique by the throat and let this female Attila know who was boss. McIntyre engulfed her and, in turn, Dominique engulfed McIntyre with a determined performance.

Whitney Nichols commanded attention as Sevigne’s jealous wife, Antoinette. After all, her husband would be spending long hours with this mysterious maid. Was she pretty? In spite of Sevigne’s attempt to keep her out of the picture, a suspicious jealous wife uses all of her wit, wisdom, and wiles to get answers in her own way. Nichols gave Antoinette every punch she needed and wanted.

Morestan shares the office with Sevigne, or vice versa as the case may be. Bill Thompson played him straight, maybe a little too straight and stuffy. A few very funny lines got tangled in the straightness of judicial professionalism. There were moments when Thompson sounded as though he was running lines rather than aiding and abetting a character for Sevigne to bounce off of. The same can be said for Ted Bishop’s take on Lablache. The two minor roles did provide chewable information and certainly didn’t interfere with the cockeye antics of the other characters.

Peter Burghart’s take on the Guard was exactly what one would expect from a guard, solemn, expressionless, mechanically walking through his duties, giving a glimpse in the hall way off stage that even a guard can be enticed into humanity by the wiles of Josefa, thrown off balance by the determined Antoinette, and startled to attention by the “Attilla-nish” Dominique.

Bill Huggins’ lighting design played joyously with the hilarious twisting shadowboxing plot. Sylvia Rognstad’s costume design fed into the quirky characters’ outward personas.

Having a permanent home provides Vintage Theatre with stability, definitely freeing the company for depth exploration in their productions. The spruced up Old Lady made famous by John Ashton and The Avenue Theatre, sports a decorative new gown. The theatre now features photos from past Vintage theatrical productions smiling with comfortable inviting warmth.

The lobby also features works by local artists creating intriguing conversation with whoever happens to be operating the box office. Thankfully, Vintage left Daniel Lowenstein’s spectacular mural on the Lobby walls commanding its own center stage appearance reaching out to East 17th Avenue traffic.

Although you may have missed this delightfully, giggly production, the good news is Vintage Is here to stay.