By Vicki Paris Goodman
Arts & Entertainment Editor
When playwright Roy Battocchio wrote the pun-filled Dead Wrong, he must have been seeking a repository for the priceless one-liners that emerged as discards from his TV-writing career. After all, not every great joke suits the sitcom at hand. So why waste?
Well, however Dead Wrong came to be, its silliness and endearing characters brought welcome laughter to its end-of-the-work-week pre-opening-night audience at the Long Beach Playhouse.
Battocchio’s slim plot takes us into the world of the well-meaning Corelli family, whose tradition it is to bury the ashes of loved ones, not in a local cemetery, but in the family’s garden.
Dyslexic mailman Eddie (John Gilbert) makes himself right at home in the Corelli kitchen as he helps himself to Fig Newtons from mama Rose Corelli’s (Andrea LaVela) cupboard. Eddie’s dyslexia is exacerbated by the abundance of similar-sounding Italian names–Corelli, Pirelli, you get the picture–in the neighborhood, but goes largely unnoticed until he delivers a container of ashes from Florida to the Corellis by mistake.
Since Rose’s brother Albert (Skip Blas) has recently “departed,” and his wife Gertrude (Ricci Dedola) has promised to send his ashes to Rose for burial, the Corellis faithfully and unwittingly bury the wrong ashes in the garden. Then Albert’s ashes really arrive and a mafia-connected neighbor shows up looking for the missing remains of a cremated loved one. Uh oh.
So how can the Corellis own up to the irreversible faux pas they have unintentionally committed when neighbor Paulie “Pug” Pirelli (Mitchell Nunn) comes around making demands and threats? In the meantime, the unfortunate Pirelli ashes are at least serving a useful purpose by fertilizing the Corellis’ zucchini. Ahem.
More ashes are buried by mistake. The family looks to blame the Fort Lauderdale mortuary called Krisp & Burns–yeah. The Correllis complete construction of a backyard shrine/BBQ–uh huh. And Rose’s rather voluptuous daughter Marie (Terra Taylor) vies with Aunt Gertrude for the position of family queen bee.
In the meantime, Rose’s visiting son Tommy (Norman Wilson), who seeks funding for his new off-off-Broadway play, adds a note of normalcy amid the whackiness. And 98-year-old Grandma (Eleonora Petri), who has been moved from the basement to the attic, is never seen but is frequently heard.
My personal favorite was Dr. Flanken (Murray Rubin), the Correllis’ cigar-wielding physician, and a George Burns wannabe who never finds his way out of the Correlli house on the first try.
Very astutely directed by Beverly Turner, Dead Wrong has some roles that might be expected to take a back seat to others. Dedola, Taylor, Nunn, Rubin and Blas certainly make the most of the ample personalities their characters possess. But amazing though it may seem, Gilbert, LaVela and Wilson hold their own by offering a more natural and believable presence. The balance is striking. And Dead Wrong, which gains momentum throughout its two acts, is dead on, positively killing us with more than a laugh a minute.
Dead Wrong continues on the Long Beach Playhouse Mainstage through October 27. General admission tickets are $22; $20 for seniors. Student tickets are $12 on Fridays and Saturdays with valid student ID. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Sunday matinees on September 30, October 7, 14 and 21 at 2 p.m.
Call (562) 494-1014 for reservations and information. Tickets are also available online at www.lbph.com.
